Community Midwifery Service

Community Midwives and Maternity Support Workers (known as MSW’s) will care for you during your pregnancy and in the early days when you are at home with your baby. The MSW’s work under the direction of the Community Midwives who coordinate your care and they work together to support you until your baby is approximately 10 days old, when your care is then transferred to a Health Visitor.

The Community Midwifery teams are based at a variety of places such as GP surgeries, Health Centres, Clinics or Children’s Centres. Where you see yours will depend on where you live. 

Maternity Notes

At your first appointment your midwife will give you your maternity notes, in the form of a yellow book. This is a record of the care that everyone gives you during your pregnancy, birth and after birth, and helps us to communicate with each other. It is very important that you bring it with you to all your appointments. Please take these with you to all health appointments including your GP and hospital. These notes remain the property of the maternity unit and your midwife will need to return them once your maternity care is completed.

If you have dyslexia or a learning disability please ask your community midwife for an alternative pictorial yellow book if you would find this helpful.

Contacting Your Midwifery Team

For general advice about your pregnancy, your baby or your appointments please contact your Midwifery Team. Monday to Friday calls will be dealt with within 48 hours. The telephone numbers can be found on the front of your maternity notes (yellow book). However, if you have an emergency or need advice urgently please use the numbers on the front of your notes. Please only use these numbers when you really need to. Remember; you can get general health advice from your GP service or NHS 111.