UHSussex Maternity and Neonatal Services

Download and print as a PDF (927kB pdf)

What is this information about?

This information is about Maternity (for pregnant women and people) and Neonatal (for newborn babies) services that UHSussex provides at its four hospital sites.

Why have I been given this information?

You have been given this information so that you know about the maternity and neonatal services that UHSussex offer at the different hospital sites.

Will I always be able to have care or give birth at my first choice of hospital?

We will do our best to make sure that you are able to receive care or give birth in the maternity unit you have chosen but sometimes this is not possible. This might be if the maternity unit you have chosen is full and so cannot give you and your baby the safest care.

Where are the four UHSussex maternity and neonatal units?

UHSussex is one Trust (organisation) but provides maternity and neonatal care at four hospital sites:

• The Royal Sussex County Hospital (Brighton)
• St. Richard’s Hospital (Chichester)
• Princess Royal Hospital (Haywards Heath)
• Worthing Hospital (Worthing)

All our maternity units have excellent facilities to care for you and your baby. We have both midwife-led and consultant-led units.

Which maternity services (services for pregnant women and people) are available at the different hospital sites?

• Midwifery 1 to 1 care in labour and during birth
  • Is available at all sites:
    • Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton
    • St. Richard’s Hospital, Chichester
    • Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath
    • Worthing Hospital, Worthing
    • Chichester Birth Centre

• Medical cover
  • Is available at:
    • Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton (medical cover 24/7)
    • St. Richard’s Hospital, Chichester (medical cover 24/7)
    • Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath (medical cover available during working hours. “On call” cover is available out of hours)
    • Worthing Hospital, Worthing (medical cover 24/7)
  • Is not available at:      
    • Chichester Birth Centre

• Obstetric consultant (available 24/7)
  • Is available at:
    • Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton
    • St. Richard’s Hospital, Chichester
    • Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath
    • Worthing Hospital, Worthing
  • Is not available at:      
    • Chichester Birth Centre

• Care for women and people who have complex pregnancies and labour
  • Is available at all sites:
    • Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton
    • St. Richard’s Hospital, Chichester
    • Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath
    • Worthing Hospital, Worthing
  • Is not available at:
    • Chichester Birth Centre

• Neonatal unit
  • Is available at:
    • Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton (babies from any gestation)
    • St. Richard’s Hospital, Chichester (babies from 32 weeks)
    • Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath (babies from 34 weeks)
    • Worthing Hospital, Worthing (babies from 32 weeks)
  • Is not available at:      
    • Chichester Birth Centre

• Specialist obstetric theatre
  • Is available at:
    • Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton
    • St. Richard’s Hospital, Chichester
    • Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath
    • Worthing Hospital, Worthing
  • Is not available at:
    • Chichester Birth Centre

• En-suite
  • Is available at all sites:
    • Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton (not all rooms)
    • St. Richard’s Hospital, Chichester
    • Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath
    • Worthing Hospital, Worthing     
    • Chichester Birth Centre

• Epidural 24/7
  • Is available at:
    • Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton
    • St. Richard’s Hospital, Chichester
    • Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath
    • Worthing Hospital, Worthing
  • Is not available at:
    • Chichester Birth Centre

• Birthing pools
  • Is available at all sites:
    • Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton (1 pool)
    • St. Richard’s Hospital, Chichester (3 pools)
    • Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath (3 pools)
    • Worthing Hospital, Worthing (2 pools)
    • Chichester Birth Centre
• Homebirth service
  • Is available at:
    • Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton
    • St. Richard’s Hospital, Chichester
    • Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath
    • Worthing Hospital, Worthing
    • Chichester Birth Centre (N/A)

• Alongside birth centre
  • Is available at:
    • St. Richard’s Hospital, Chichester (all women booked under UHSussex Maternity Services can access this).
    • Chichester Birth Centre
  • Is not available at:
    • Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton
    • Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath
    • Worthing Hospital, Worthing

• Private room paid for
  • Is available at:
    • St. Richard’s Hospital, Chichester (all women booked under UHSussex Maternity Services can access this).
    • Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath (depends on availability)
  • Is not available:
    • Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton
    • Chichester Birth Centre
    • Worthing Hospital, Worthing

• 24/7 Maternity Triage assessment
  • Is available at all sites:
    • Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton (called MAU)
    • St. Richard’s Hospital, Chichester (called MAU)
    • Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath
    • Worthing Hospital, Worthing (called MAU)
    • Chichester Birth Centre

About the Royal Sussex County Hospital (Brighton)

What facilities do you have?

• All our labour rooms (rooms where you give birth) are en-suite.
• We offer a 24-hour epidural service.  
• We have a specialist obstetric operating theatre on delivery suite and recovery beds on the ward for both elective (planned) and emergency care.
• We have a medical and surgical neonatal intensive care unit on site.
• We have a unit where your baby can have an operation if they need it.

What equipment do you have?

We have:

• one birthing pool
• birthing balls, bean bags and birthing mats available to help an active labour.

What staff are available to look after me and my baby?

• We aim to offer 1 to 1 Midwifery care during labour and birth at home or in hospital.
• Obstetric doctors are available 24 hours a day in case you or your baby need their specialist help. A consultant Obstetrician is on-call 24 hours if needed.
• A Neonatal consultant is on call 24 hours a day if needed.

What else do I need to know about services at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton?

• We are experienced at looking after pregnant women and people with both complicated and low risk pregnancies.
• You are encouraged to be as mobile (to walk and move around) as possible during labour.

Video tours of Royal Sussex County Hospital maternity services:

• Maternity Triage (MAU)
• Postnatal Ward
• Labour Ward

About the Princess Royal Hospital (Haywards Heath)

What facilities do you have?

• All of our labour rooms are en-suite.
• We offer a 24-hour epidural service.
• We have a specialist obstetric theatre on delivery suite and recovery beds on the ward for both elective (planned) and emergency care.

What equipment do you have?

We have:

• three birthing pools
• birthing balls, bean bags and birthing mats available to help an active labour.

What staff are available to look after me and my baby?

• We aim to offer 1 to 1 Midwifery care during labour and birth at home or in hospital.
• Obstetric doctors are available 24 hours a day in case you or your baby need their specialist help. A consultant Obstetrician is on-call 24 hours if needed.
• Our neonatal unit is run by advanced neonatal nurse practitioners and medical staff in working hours, and advanced neonatal nurse practitioners out of normal working hours with a Neonatal consultant on call.

What else do I need to know about services at the Princess Royal Hospital?

• We are experienced at looking after pregnant women and people with both complicated and low risk pregnancies.
• You are encouraged to be as mobile as possible during labour.

Video tour of Princess Royal Hospital 

• whole Maternity Unit

About Worthing Hospital (Worthing)

What facilities do you have?

• All of our labour rooms are en-suite.
• We offer a 24-hour epidural service.
• We have a specialist obstetric theatre on delivery suite and recovery beds on the ward for both elective (planned) and emergency care.

What equipment do you have?

We have:

• two birthing pools
• birthing balls, bean bags and birthing mats available to help an active labour.

What staff are available to look after me and my baby?

• We aim to offer 1 to 1 Midwifery care during labour and birth at home or in hospital.
• Obstetric doctors are available 24 hours a day in case you or your baby need their specialist help. A consultant Obstetrician is on-call 24 hours if needed.
• Our neonatal unit is run by our neonatal nursing and medical teams and a paediatric consultant is always on call.

What else do I need to know about services at Worthing Hospital?

• We are experienced at looking after pregnant women and people with both complicated and low risk pregnancies.
• You are encouraged to be as mobile as possible during labour.

Video tours of Worthing Hospital

• Postnatal Ward (Bramber)
• Delivery Suite

About St. Richards Hospital Maternity Unit (Chichester)

What facilities do you have?

• All of our labour rooms are en-suite.
• We offer a 24-hour epidural service.
• We have a specialist obstetric theatre on delivery suite and recovery beds on the ward for both elective (planned) and emergency care.

What equipment do you have?

We have:

• three birthing pools
• birthing balls, bean bags and birthing mats available to help an active labour.

What staff are available to look after me and my baby?

• We aim to offer 1 to 1 Midwifery care during labour and birth at home, in hospital or in our alongside birth centre.
• Obstetric doctors are available 24 hours a day in case you or your baby need their specialist help. A consultant Obstetrician is on-call 24 hours if needed.
• Our neonatal unit is run by our neonatal nursing and medical teams and a paediatric consultant is always on call.

What else do I need to know about services at St. Richards Hospital Maternity Unit?

• We are experienced at looking after pregnant women and people with both complicated and low risk pregnancies.
• You are encouraged to be as mobile as possible during labour.

Video tours of St. Richard’s Hospital

• Antenatal and Postnatal Ward
• Labour Suite

About Chichester Birth Centre, St. Richards Hospital

What facilities do you have?

• There are two rooms in the birth centre each with birthing pools.

What equipment do you have?

We have:

• There are birthing balls, bean bags and birthing mats available to help an active labour.

What staff are available to look after me and my baby?

• The Birth Centre offers Midwifery-led care.
• If you need more specialist help, the main delivery suite is just seconds away. You can be taken there quickly if you or your baby need medical care.

What else do I need to know about services at Chichester Birth Centre, St. Richard’s Hospital?

• The birth centre is next to the labour ward on our St. Richard’s site in Chichester.
• It offers midwifery led care for low-risk women and people in labour who want a more homely and less medical environment for giving birth.

Video tour of Chichester Birth Centre:

• Chichester Birth Centre

Where can I give birth?

Your Midwife will support you in your choices. You can give birth at any of our hospital sites and we offer a home birth service.

Might I be asked if a student midwife can take part in my care or if a medical student can observe my care whilst me or my baby are having care at any of the hospitals or at home?

Yes. We are a training hospital, which means we may ask you if:

• a student midwife can take part in your care under supervision
• a medical student can observe your care.

Where can I find out more about the UH Sussex maternity units?

You can find out more about the UHSussex maternity units on our web-page

Neonatal Services at UHSussex NHS Trust

There are four hospitals in UHSussex where you can choose to have your baby, depending on how long you have been pregnant (your gestation).

• St Richards (SRH) in Chichester from 32 weeks
• Worthing Hospital (WH) in Worthing 32 weeks
• Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Haywards Heath from 34 weeks
• Royal Sussex County Hospital (RSCH) in Brighton. All gestations

What Neonatal services and staff are there at the different hospitals?

• Neonatal services at SRH, WH and PRH provide onsite special care baby units (SCBUs). These provide extra medical and nursing care to newborn babies who need short term high dependency care or special care.
• Your care at PRH is mainly given by Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioners. A Neonatal consultant is available 24/7 and will help the staff on site if they are needed.
• The Trevor Mann Baby Unit (TMBU) at Brighton (RSCH) has three nurseries for special care, high dependency care and intensive care for babies who need more care than usual. The unit also cares for babies who need surgery.

We have our own neonatal transport ambulance and team for babies who need a higher level of specialist care. This means they can be moved safely from the hospital they were born into other units in Kent, Surrey, Sussex and beyond.

Where can I find out more about the UHSussex Neonatal services?

You can find out more about the UHSussex neonatal units on our web-page.

Video tours of Neonatal Units:

• Trevor Mann Baby Unit, Royal Sussex County Hospital Brighton
• Special Care Baby Unit, Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath
• Special Care Baby Unit, Worthing Hospital

What does it mean? Glossary of terms

• Antenatal Ward. Where you and your baby are cared for in pregnancy if there are complications, or during early stages of induction (where labour is started artificially if needed using medication).
• Delivery Suite (sometimes called Labour ward). Where you are cared for when giving birth or if there are complications
• Epidural. Local anaesthetic (pain relief) for when you are in labour and giving birth
• High-risk pregnancy. Any pregnancy that carries increased health risks for the pregnant woman and person, their baby, or both. People with high-risk pregnancies may need extra care before, during and after they give birth. This helps to reduce the chance of complications.
• Homebirth Service.  Service to support you when you are in labour and give birth at home attended by Midwives
• Maternity care. Care of pregnant women and people and their babies in pregnancy, during birth and after giving birth
• Maternity Triage. A service led by a Midwife 24/7 on the maternity unit in hospital. They answer urgent telephone calls from you and invite you in to check you or your baby if there are concerns because:
  • you are bleeding
  • you think you may be in labour
  • you are in a lot of pain
  • your unborn baby is not moving as much as usual
  • you think you may have an infection or are feeling very unwell
  • you think your waters (amniotic fluid) around your baby have broken or released
• MAU. Maternity Assessment Unit. This is a combined Maternity Triage and Day Assessment Unit which provides 24/7 care.
• Neonatal care. Newborn baby care.
• Postnatal ward. Where you and your baby are cared for after giving birth

Which Maternity and Neonatal healthcare professionals might care for me or my baby?

• Midwife.  A Midwife provides care and support to women and their families while pregnant, throughout labour and after birth.
• Obstetrician. A doctor who specialises in dealing with complications during pregnancy and birth. They can give help and medical care if you need things such as:
  • an instrumental (assisted) birth
  • caesarean birth
  • emergency interventions
• Anaesthetist.  A doctor who specialises in anaesthesia (pain relief such as an epidural or spinal) to patients for operations and procedures as well as birthing women and people in hospitals.
• Paediatric Consultant.  A trained paediatrician (doctor) who cares for people from birth to 18 years old.
• Neonatal Consultant. A trained paediatrician (doctor) who has done specialist training in care of the newborn, particularly newborn intensive care.
• ANNP Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. A nurse with advanced skills in looking after newborn babies.
• Neonatal Nurse. A nurse who specialises in looking after newborn babies.

Where are the hospitals?

What should I do if I need to contact someone about maternity or neonatal care?

You can:

Find contact details in your personal digital maternity record, or: