A HOME birth team celebrated its second anniversary with a picnic in the park.

The Cygnet Home Birth Team celebrated the anniversary at Dorchester Borough Gardens on the International Day of the Midwife, on Friday, May 5.

The team works for Dorset County Hospital and comprises of team leader Tara Pointer-Putt and midwives Karen Myers, Ali Salmon, Ali Fuszard, Catherine Hodge and Julie Younger.

Tara Pointer-Putt said: “It is a massive achievement. Before the team started, home birth rates at Dorset County Hospital were 2.3%. Now they are one of the highest in the country.”

For the picnic, the team invited all the families which have had home births with them over the last year to come and celebrate with them.

Tara said that it was a good chance to catch up with the mothers and their babies.

At the event there was cake, music and a birthing pool, with everyone bringing their own picnic food.

Tara added: “The hospital had always offered home births, but previously it would have been any midwife – the mother would not have known them. But now the midwife cares for them throughout their pregnancy.” 

She added that it was this continual care the team provides which makes the most difference to expectant mothers.

Jenna Richardson, a mother who used the home birth team during her pregnancy, from West Lulworth, said: “All the girls on the team are so lovely and they are really easy to talk to.”

She added: “They made the whole experience a lot less daunting and made sure my husband and I were very well informed.”

Gabriella Lever, another mother who used the home birth team, from Dorchester, said: “They were really caring. They are everything midwifery is about. They listen to you throughout the pregnancy.

“I had a wonderful post-natal experience because they got me the support I needed.”

She added: “All antenatal appointments are done at home and make you feel they are interested in your pregnancy.”

The Cygnet Home Birth Team say that studies have shown home births are just as safe, if not safer than, a hospital birth, adding that this is partly because women are able to feel more at ease in their own surroundings.