Developing a maternity unit visiting policy.

Southern Derbyshire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has a policy of open visiting for people who wish to visit ward-based patients. The maternity unit, however, has adopted a slightly different approach, in which the visiting policy loosely consists of set hours with a degree of flexibility for mothers and visitors who wish to have extended visiting or want visitors outside the set hours. This article describes research undertaken to formulate a policy within the trust.