From Wednesday 26th May 2021, the following changes will take place within Maternity services in Barnsley.
The Government has announced that twice weekly rapid (lateral flow) testing is available to everybody. Pregnant women and their birth partner are advised to take up this opportunity and undertake testing twice weekly during pregnancy because this will help make sure any COVID infection is picked up early and managed.
In instances where you have a planned appointment e.g. scans, clinic appointments, visits to the ward, women should self-administer a COVID test within 24 hours before an appointment. If the woman wants a support partner to accompany her to the appointment, they should also undertake a test within 24 hours before the appointment.
The test is undertaken at home prior to the woman and support partner attending. Tests are widely available to be collected from local pharmacies in Barnsley – see https://maps.test-and-trace.nhs.uk/
Once the test has been undertaken you should register the result here https://www.gov.uk/report-covid19-result
Antenatal/Postnatal Ward
Any planned attendances for either induction of labour, planned caesareans or any visiting by a birth partner, will be asked to provide evidence of a negative test within the last 24 hours. This can be done by showing the e-mail or text message to the staff who greet you on arrival. If you are unable to perform a lateral flow test before your visit, please contact the ward on 01226 432242/435474 and a member of the team can advise you.
Barnsley Birthing Centre
Women attending for review in this area will not be asked to provide evidence of a negative test, due to the urgent nature of attendance – we do recommend though that pregnant women and support partner undertakes the recommended twice weekly rapid lateral flow tests.
Antenatal Clinic/Ultrasound Department
Woman attending for any appointment in antenatal clinic or ultrasound scan will be asked to provide evidence of a negative test within the last 24 hours. This can be done by showing the e-mail or text message to staff on reception. If you are unable to perform a lateral flow test, please contact our reception team on 01226 433985 who will advise you further.
If you have an appointment this week, we will be contacting you to advise of the new recommendations.
Antenatal Day Unit
Women attending for review in this area will not be asked to provide evidence of a negative test, due to the urgent nature of attendance – we do recommend though that pregnant women and support partner undertakes the recommended twice weekly rapid lateral flow tests.
Community Midwifery appointments
Unfortunately, at this time, we are unable to make any changes to partners attending appointments in community settings, as the buildings are not under the ownership of Barnsley Hospital. We will however continue to monitor this position closely and will communicate any information as the situation changes. Pregnant women are recommended to undertake the twice weekly rapid lateral flow tests as recommended by the Government prior to community appointments.