Your numbers — Warrington
Under 18 weeks — Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit (EPAU): 01925 662320
Over 18 weeks — Maternity Triage: 01925 275200 — 24 hours
Community midwives: 01925 662092 · Antenatal clinic: 01925 662260
Birth Suite (labour ward): 01925 662334 · The Nest (midwife-led unit): 01925 662043
GP surgery: ………………………………
Warrington Hospital, Lovely Lane, WA5 1QG (maternity: Croft Wing). Trust is North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust — formerly Warrington & Halton (WHH), so old links redirect. Can't reach anyone: NHS 111. Emergency: 999.
999Now — don't wait, don't drive
- Heavy bleeding — soaking a pad soon after putting it on, or clots the size of a palm
- Severe tummy pain — can't focus on anything through it; or sharp, sudden, one-sided
- Pain in the tip of the shoulder — internal bleeding irritating the diaphragm
- Faint, dizzy, very pale, or loses consciousness
- Fit or seizure; severe headache with vision changes; sudden swelling of face and hands (later pregnancy)
Together these are the ectopic-rupture picture, which presents between weeks 4 and 12. Shoulder-tip pain alone is enough.
Call todayEPU, maternity unit, or 111
- Any bleeding or spotting, however light, even with no pain
- Brown watery discharge; persistent low pain on one side
- Can't keep fluids down; weeing much less; dark strong-smelling urine (dehydration / hyperemesis)
- Temperature over 37.5 °C; burning or pain when weeing
- Itching, especially palms and soles (later pregnancy — liver)
- Contact with someone who has chickenpox, measles, slapped cheek or rubella, if she isn't immune
- A fall or blow to the abdomen
- Feeling low, hopeless or unable to cope — mental health is maternity care too
"It's probably nothing" is the assessment they are trained to make, not the one you have to make. Ringing is always the right call.
NormalNo call needed
- Nausea and vomiting while still keeping fluids down — peaks ~week 9, eases from week 12
- Exhaustion, sore breasts, food aversions, heightened sense of smell, mood swings
- Mild period-like cramping with no bleeding — the uterus stretching
- Constipation, needing to wee constantly, mild headaches
- Symptoms fading around weeks 10–12 — the placenta taking over, not a warning
Two rules that override the card
- If you're worried, ring. No one in an NHS maternity service considers a call a waste of time, and repeat callers are not penalised. Under-calling is the documented failure mode, not over-calling.
- If you're told to wait and something changes, ring again. Say plainly that it has got worse since the last call. New information restarts the assessment.