Maternity services
Our hospitals provide maternity care for more than 8,000 women every year
Maternity
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About our maternity services
The maternity services team at NUH is here to support you throughout your journey to parenthood, from conception to those special days after your baby arrives.
Our hospitals provide maternity care for more than 8,000 pregnancies every year from across Nottinghamshire and the surrounding regions. Our maternity staff are passionate about the care they offer and tailor your pregnancy, birth and post-natal care to meet your needs, and to provide safe and quality care for you and your baby.
We offer a wide range of choice and support for all families including midwifery-led birthing units, specialised neonatal care and home birth support.
Our staff are here to support your decisions throughout your journey, helping you to remain informed and to have the positive experience that all families deserve, helping to provide you with all of the information you need to make the right decisions for your care.
Help us to shape the future of maternity services
We are asking families who have experienced our maternity services to help inform and shape the Perinatal Family Advisory Board. We are holding an event on 14 November to update on the Trust’s response to the actions set out in the Independent Maternity Review and share our plans to establish a Perinatal Family Advisory Board.
Please register your interest in attending the event here .
In response to the Independent Review of Maternity published by Donna Ockenden on 24 June 2026, NUH announced the establishment of a new Learning and Improvement Board to help provide robust, ongoing public oversight of the Trust’s progress against the essential actions set out in the report.
The Learning and Improvement Board will be supported by two additional groups: one representing families, co-chaired by Donna Ockenden and a family member, and one representing staff, ensuring that lived experiences and frontline insight remain central to the Trust’s maternity improvement work.
We recognise the profound and lasting impact that the experiences highlighted by the Review have had on many families. We know that rebuilding trust will take time and requires much more than words. It means listening with care, learning from what has happened, and working together to make meaningful and lasting improvements.
The Perinatal Families Advisory Board will ensure that the voices of families affected by the Review remain at the heart of our improvement work, and that local families play a central and meaningful role in shaping the changes we make.
Throughout the Review, we have worked closely with Donna Ockenden and her team, and we are grateful for the openness and courage of everyone who has shared their experiences. We remain fully committed to ensuring that all immediate and essential actions are implemented and embedded in everyday practice, helping us to provide safer and more compassionate care for future generations of families.
We will co-host the event with Donna Ockenden and Michelle Welsh, MP for Sherwood Forest and the Government’s National Maternity Advisor, who will chair the Learning and Improvement Board.
Most importantly, this event is an opportunity for us to listen to you. We would really value your views on our future plans and want to work in partnership with families and our local communities to shape how improvements are made and how independent oversight is maintained .
Family Event Details
Saturday 14 November 2026
10am-12pm (refreshments available from 9.30am)
Hilton Nottingham Hotel
Milton Street
Nottingham
NG1 3PZ
The event is for all families who have experienced maternity services at NUH and will be interactive, offering the opportunity to help shape the Perinatal Families Advisory Board.
The event has limited capacity, so people are being encouraged to register for the event here .
If you have any questions about the event please email: nuhnt.imrfamilyadvisoryboard@nhs.net
Independent Review of Maternity Services
Maternity services at NUH are part of an Independent Maternity Review being led by Donna Ockenden which began in September 2022 and is currently expected to be published on 24 June 2026.
The review was established to listen to women and families, to fully understand their experiences, and to address concerns raised about the quality and safety of our maternity services. It will focus on parents and family’s experiences and identify areas of concern in our maternity care.
The review will make recommendations to help improve safety, quality and equity of our care.
We welcome the review and engage in it fully. We meet regularly with Donna Ockenden to listen to feedback that she has from families so that we can learn and take action to improve our services now. We also take the opportunity to update Donna Ockenden on the progress that we are making through our ongoing NUH Maternity Improvement Programme.
Below you will find all update letters to and from Donna Ockenden, which outline current progress and concerns.
For more information about the review please see here.
Self-refer to NUH Maternity
Congratulations on your pregnancy. You can now register for an appointment once you have found out that you are pregnant. You no longer need to go to your GP in the first instance and can get an appointment with a Midwife at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) by completing an online referral. Our aim is to make sure you have access to the right care from day one. Our NUH Maternity teams will look at your referral based on the information you provide and the hospital will then contact you to start your antenatal care. In the meantime if you have any queries or concerns about your pregnancy then please contact your GP.
After completing your referral form, the team will contact you once you are over 7 weeks pregnant to arrange your first appointment. If you require any assistance completing the form please call the Community Admin Team on 0115 840 2610 between the hours of 09.30 – 15.30 Monday - Friday (not including bank holidays).
You can also use this to refer a pregnancy on behalf of a woman.
You should also do this if you have moved to Nottingham area during your pregnancy. The form will then go straight to the Maternity Community Administration Team who will organise your registration and telephone you to verify details and arrange your booking appointment with your local midwives. They will aim to complete your booking between 8 to 10 weeks of pregnancy.
Complete the self referral form It is quick and takes just a few minutes.
Improving your maternity services
Every year thousands of women give birth in our hospitals and community, and we want each and every one of those women to receive excellent care and have a positive experience with us. In the majority of cases this is happening, but not always and we know that isn’t good enough.
We are committed to making improvements to your maternity services and that is reflected in our latest report from the independent regulator of healthcare in England, the Care Quality Commission (CQC). In September 2023, the CQC looked at maternity services at Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital and increased the rating at both sites from inadequate to requires improvement.
While this latest CQC report is good news, we know there are more improvements to be made and we are committed to making those improvements to provide you and your babies with a safe and happy experience at NUH.
Find out more our about our improvements, and our work with Donna Ockenden and Nottinghamshire Police in support of their reviews of our maternity services here.
Contacting Maternity
If you are pregnant and think you may need to come into hospital unexpectedly or in labour, please ring our Maternity Advice Line first on 0115 970 9777.
This allows you to speak with a midwife first, ensuring you are directed to the best place or provided with the best support/advice straight away. The Maternity Advice Line is free to call, open 24 hours a day, and manned by one of our friendly midwives.
If you are deaf or hard of hearing, the service "Relay UK" can provide support.
Routine Appointments
Please continue to call your community midwifery team for routine appointments.
Ward and Unit Contact Details – Maternity
City Hospital:
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City Maternity Unit
0115 969 1169 -
City Labour Suite
0115 969 1169 Ext: 76710 -
Bonington Ward
0115 969 1169 Ext: 55162 -
Lawrence Ward
0115 969 1169 Ext: 55174
Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC):
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QMC Maternity Unit
0115 924 9924 Ext: 86672 -
QMC Labour Suite
0115 924 9924 Ext: 81032 -
Ward B26
0115 924 9924 Ext: 89026 -
Ward C29
0115 924 9924 Ext: 89029
Important Notice: Unfortunately, we are unable to respond to emails directly related to your pregnancy, as any questions must be answered in light of your full pregnancy history.
For urgent concerns, please call the Midwifery emergency mobile number listed at the front of your notes between 9am - 5pm, Monday – Friday, or contact the NEMS out-of-hours service (also listed in the front of your notes) outside office hours.
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