Brighton’s main hospital trust is leading the way in reducing the number of women giving birth naturally having previously had a caesarian section, according to its chief executive.
Duncan Selbie, who runs Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Reducing avoidable intervention during birth has many benefits for both mothers and babies.
“It also enables us to plough money not spent on avoidable procedures back in to improving maternity services and to fund developments such as our first midwife-led maternity unit, scheduled to open in the Royal Alex early next year.
“Changes to ways of working have already produced impressive results in labour wards across the region.”
Mr Selbie said that the trust, which includes the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, ranked best in class for rates of women delivering naturally having had a previous caesarean.
He said that this was recognised internationally as one of the key measures of overall maternal care.
Tony Kelly, who works as a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist for the trust, is leading a project to reduce the rate of births by caesarian section across the South East.
