Mayor of London attends opening of new maternity centre at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital funded by the Reuben Foundation

The Mayor of London attended a special event at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital yesterday evening to celebrate the opening of the new Reuben Foundation Maternity Centre, providing women and their babies with an outstanding environment, personalised patient experience and the latest technology and facilities.

The Reuben Foundation has supported the hospital’s charity CW+ to transform maternity services at the hospital, which sees over 6,000 babies born every year.

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the top performing Trusts in the UK, and one of the largest maternity providers, recognised globally as a centre of excellence. It is an extremely busy and popular service with over 50% of women choosing to give birth outside of their own catchment area, to receive the outstanding care the Trust offers.

The Trust, together with their North West London partners, are working to implement the NHS recommendation for personalised care and continuity throughout pregnancy and birth. The new Reuben Foundation Maternity Centre offers adaptable environments, empowering women to be in control of their own care. Bespoke digital artwork can be selected in each room, lighting levels can be adjusted, and women can even listen to their own personalised birthing playlists – both in delivery rooms and in the state-of-the-art operating theatres.

The new centre includes birthing pools, a home-from-home environment with wooden finishes and calming colours. Each birthing room has also been equipped with new recliner chairs which open into fully flat single beds for birth partners. Bespoke artwork has also been commissioned by hospital charity CW+ which includes a vast, colourful mosaic by renowned contemporary artist AdamNathanial Furman, known for his ceramic gateways in Granary Square, King’s Cross. Calming and welcoming artwork inspired by botanicals and nature, has also been created by designer and printmaker Fanny Shorter.

The maternity service is committed to offering pioneering service design and using the latest digital technology for women. The team designed and created a ‘Mum and Baby app’ which has since been adopted by six other hospitals. The Trust has also recently launched a digital postnatal pathway which aims at improving discharge times and offering a more personalised experience for women.

Speaking at the launch, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I’m delighted to be here for the opening of the Reuben Foundation Maternity Centre. I want all Londoners to have access to the best possible care and this state-of-the-art centre will make a big difference for the hospital’s hard-working staff as they help parents at such a momentous time in their lives. It will be a real boost to the hospital’s world-leading services and I’d like to thank the Reuben Foundation for their generosity in making this happen.”

Lesley Watts, Chief Executive of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, commented: “We are incredibly grateful to the Reuben Foundation for their generous support to transform our maternity services for women and their families. This new centre enables us to provide exceptional, personalised care to every woman who chooses to have her baby with us. We are looking forward to opening our brand new neonatal intensive care unit next year, which will complete our maternity transformation and treat 1,000 babies every year.”

Lisa Reuben, trustee of the Reuben Foundation, added: “It is a privilege to support such an innovative hospital and we are inspired by their forward-thinking approach to healthcare and their passion for providing women with such impressive, thoughtful and personalised attention.”

The Reuben Foundation has also supported CW+ and the Trust’s Critical Care Campaign which is redeveloping and expanding the neonatal and adult intensive care units at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. When completed in 2020, these new units will be able to care for 2,000 critically ill babies and adults every year.