27/05/2026
South West Acute Hospital recently welcomed a new cohort of midwives to the Western Trust, with a dedicated training session focused on water birth. Katherine Robinson, Consultant Midwife based in South Eastern Trust was invited to support the teaching and development of skills, helping new staff build confidence in this important area of maternity care.
The hospital’s Midwifery-led Unit offers excellent water birth facilities, designed to provide mothers with a positive and supportive birthing experience. The training session gave midwives the opportunity to refresh existing skills or learn new techniques, with enthusiasm evident throughout the group. A combination of newly qualified midwives; new midwives to the trust; experienced midwives from both the hospital and the community all came together to benefit from this refresher training and also to welcome the new appointments to the team.
June Graham, Interim Clinical Practice Facilitator, highlighted that a range of staff working in the hospital and community staff are now fully updated in water birth practices and that the Midwifery-led Unit is open and available to expectant mothers who may also wish to pursue this as an option for their birthing choice.
Lead Midwife Brenda McCabe would advocate that all women who are interested in a water birth are encouraged to speak with their community midwife to explore their options and find out more.