Call for children born at Spires to join unit's 10th birthday celebration

Children who were born at the Oxford Spires Midwifery-led Unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital are being invited to take part, along with their families, in celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the unit.

On Saturday 1 September 2018 Spires staff will hold a coffee morning event, including a birthday cake, at the John Radcliffe Hospital's Women's Centre. Pregnant women are also invited to come along to a tour of the facility, including a visit to the water birth rooms, that will take place during the day as a part of the event.

Rosalie Wright, Director of Midwifery, said: "The Midwifery-led Unit has been a great addition to the Women's Centre and is very popular with pregnant women. It combines the comfort of a relaxed and homely environment in the care of our skilled midwives with the reassurance of the ability to be very quickly transferred to the main delivery suite if things do not go quite to plan.

"This event aims to celebrate the success of the unit over the last decade where over 7,500 babies have born. Therefore, I ask families who had their children at the Spires to come along and share their memories."

Based on Level 7 of the Women's Centre, the Spires opened in September 2008 to provide a midwifery-led unit to people living in Oxford and the surrounding areas, and is one of five facilities of this sort Oxford University Hospitals runs in the county. The others are the Horton Midwifery-led Unit, the Cotswold Birth Centre in Chipping Norton, the Wallingford Maternity and Birthing Centre and the Wantage Maternity Unit.

The Spires' 10th birthday coffee morning will take place in the roof garden on Level 7 of the Women's Centre on 1 September 2018 from 10.30am to 1.00pm.

Coffee, tea, fruit and birthday cake will be offered to those attending. Places are limited and must be booked in advance on Eventbrite.

Anyone wishing to take part in the tour of the Spires facility should call 01865 221666 to prearrange.