Supporting you

Supporting you

We understand that pregnancy can bring big changes to your life and this can affect different people in many ways. We are here to support you as much as possible, whether this is through reassurance and advice, or through our counselling services. 

Please speak to your midwife about any worries or concerns you have. We may be able to help by referring you to one of our services or another healthcare professional who can offer you the support you need.

You can find out more about our support services below, or through the useful links to the right.  

Support - Northern services

We offer a service on Petter Ward that provides a safe, professional, confidential and non-judgemental space for women and men to discuss their difficulties with pregnancy, pregnancy loss and related issues.

We have a small team including a qualified and experienced counsellor, and counsellors undertaking training.

We can help in many different situations:

  • Are you are pregnant and need to talk to someone?
  • Have you suffered the loss of a child through stillbirth, miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy?
  • Are you or your partner experiencing antenatal depression or postnatal depression?
  • Are you coming to terms with infertility?
  • Have you experienced a traumatic birth or premature birth?
  • Do you need to talk following a termination of pregnancy?
  • Are you expecting or have you been given a pre-natal diagnosis you would like to talk about?
  • Would you like to talk to someone about your relationship?

How can I get in touch?

We can make you an appointment between 7am and 6pm Monday – Friday.

If it is difficult for you to travel then we can also offer counselling by telephone or online.

To request an appointment in confidence, please call or email us.

01271 322 722 – Please note that this is the main ward number, please ask for Danielle or Maxine

rduh.ladywellcounselling@nhs.net

Support - Eastern services

Women’s Health Counsellors are part of the team providing care in The Centre for Women’s Health.  We offer emotional support for women accessing the services of Maternity.

Pregnancy referrals for counselling support include:-

Ante-natal decision-making when considering whether to:

  • continue a pregnancy
  • decide between choice of treatments or method of delivery

All pregnancy loss: stillbirth, miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy and termination. Patients need to contact the service:

  • within 4 months of the loss or
  • if required during a subsequent pregnancy

Contact 01392 406678 or rduh.cwhcounsellors@nhs.net

Birth Conversations service

Here to listen…

Have you recently had a baby with the Royal Devon?

Are there any aspects of your experience that you would like to discuss further?

Our ‘Birth Conversations’ service gives you the opportunity to talk through things with an experienced midwife at the RD&E hospital (Wonford), Honiton, Okehampton, or Tiverton.

If you feel that you would benefit from a 1:1 chat then please email rduh.birthconversations@nhs.net

You will be asked to fill in a short form with your details and then someone will be in touch with you to arrange your appointment.

This service is for women around 6 weeks after the birth of their baby. If you are currently pregnant and would like to discuss concerns around the upcoming birth, please talk to your own midwife in the first instance.

Bereavement and loss

The loss of a baby is a very distressing and painful time. We have booklets available to offer help and advice during the early days of your bereavement. We hope that it will help you at this sad time, particularly with some of the practical and official matters. If you have any questions or would like to talk about anything, please contact us. We are here to help in any way we can.

Devon Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP)

Devon Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) is the formal partner of Devon Integrated Care Board (ICB), responsible for providing the voice of service users to inform development of maternity and neonatal care in the county.

We support the Local Maternity and Neonatal System (LMNS) to ensure services are delivered in a kind, personal and safe way by making sure the service user voice is central to all decision making and quality oversight. This enables the ICB to fulfil its responsibilities in line with the three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services in England.

We engage with people who have recently used local maternity and neonatal services, listening to their experiences and feedback. We share their insight with the Devon Integrated Care System and the maternity and neonatal service providers it commissions, to make sure people’s opinions are at the heart of shaping local services.

Devon MNVP is managed and supported by Evolving Communities.