Supporting your Partner at Night on the Maternity Ward: We understand that having a baby is a special time, and that families often want to spend as much time together as possible during this experience. Women and birthing people often feel that they would appreciate support from their partner or another person, perhaps a friend or family member.
Leaflet Details
| Title | Supporting your Partner at Night on the Maternity Ward |
| Department | Maternity |
| Author(s) | Jan Thurgood |
| Review Date | November 2024 |
| Next Review | November 2027 |
| Download | A5 Booklet PDF |
| Accessibility Options | Click on the Recite Me button to show our accessibility resources |
Patient Information
Why stay with your partner?
We understand that having a baby is a special time, and that families often want to spend as much time together as possible during this experience. Women and birthing people often feel that they would appreciate support from their partner or another person, perhaps a friend or family member. This support is often particularly appreciated at night when they are tired and want to rest but are experiencing labour or have a baby who needs to be cared for.
However, we also recognise that having a large number of people on the ward at night can make it difficult for other people to rest. For this reason we are unable to facilitate more than one support person per woman or birthing person. We can also only accommodate support partners in single rooms and not in the multi-bedded bays in order to minimise disturbance for other people.
Making your stay more comfortable
We are able to provide recliner chairs at the bedside to facilitate periods of rest, although you should not expect to get a good night’s sleep as your new baby and/or partner will need you to support them. If you are feeling tired and need to sleep it may be better to go home and return in the morning refreshed and more able to support your partner or care for your baby. We are also unable to provide meals. You are welcome to bring in food but there are no facilities for this to be stored or reheated.
Please remain dressed at all times as a courtesy to other women and staff. Due to the risk of infection, beds are solely for the use of patients. Please avoid bringing large amounts of luggage or other personal items as clinical staff will need to be able to access the beds and cots to provide care. Roll mats and other items on the floor are a safety hazard in an emergency and should not be brought in.
Having a large number of people on the ward at night can make it difficult for others to sleep and rest. So, please use low voices, avoid using audio devices without headphones, and keep phone conversations to a minimum.
To avoid having excessive traffic through the ward, as well as noise disturbance from the door buzzer, we will be limiting access to the ward between 10pm and 8am. If you leave the ward during this time you may not be able to return. Please discuss this with staff if it is likely to cause problems. Please also avoid using the call bell unless there is an emergency and instead come to the desk to speak to staff.
For safety reasons, including in case of fire, we will ask you to sign in and out of the ward, and to say that you have been informed of this guidance.
Tips for supporting your partner
It is important for new mothers to get plenty of rest. Whatever kind of birth they have had, they will be tired and needing physical and emotional recovery. You can help with this by encouraging your partner to sleep when the baby sleeps, or by taking it in turns to comfort the baby to avoid either parent becoming overwhelmed.
Support with feeding is also very much needed. All clinical staff on the ward are able to give feeding support but it is also important that partners and other supporters are involved in this. Get to know the feeding plan for the baby so that you can remind her when a feed is due, watch for signs that the baby is feeding well, or get support from staff when needed.
Make sure that everyone caring for the baby is eating and drinking well. There is a water cooler in the corridor to refill water jugs or bottles, and a hot drinks trolley with biscuits and cake. If patients need more substantial food outside of meal times this can be provided, please ask a member of staff.
Feedback
We welcome feedback about our services so that we can learn and improve for the future. If you would like to let us know about your experiences you can use the QR code below to access an anonymous survey.
