Service launched to provide 24-hour support for expectant mothers

Pregnant women and new mothers can now get 24-hour support after a new telephone service was launched at Wexham Park Hospital on Thursday, April 28.

The Maternity and Midwifery Advice and Support (MAMAS) Line is a collaboration with South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) and provides a single point of contact for women from 16 weeks into their pregnancy through to 28 days postpartum.

A team of midwives will give consistent, evidence-based advice to women who are concerned about their pregnancy or who think they may be in labour. They will also signpost other callers to alternative services when appropriate.

The team, which will be based at the SCAS northern headquarters in Bicester, Oxfordshire, will also monitor 999 calls, enabling them to provide support when needed and to offer guidance to paramedics on the road.

By providing such guidance, it could result in some ambulance callouts being stood down, ensuring they are available to respond to other emergencies. 

The scheme will replace separate telephone triage lines currently operating at Wexham Park and Frimley Park hospitals, ensuring all future calls are answered in a timely manner and improving the experience for women.

The new phone number will be shared with women in their maternity notes and widely publicised in hospitals, clinics and in the community. 

Debbie Simkin, lead midwife for the Telephone Triage Project, said: “This brand new and innovative pregnancy advice telephone line will give women and community clinicians access to 24-hour evidence-based, consistent advice and support from midwives via a single point of contact.

“It will maximise our clinical expertise and empower women during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period.”

Mothers and families at Wexham Park should call 0300 013 2004 to contact MAMAS Line.

The same number will be able to be used by Frimley Park families when the service expands in the coming weeks.