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Is this the death of the birth centre?

6/ 4/2006

MIDWIVES at Hope Hospital's birth centre fear for the future of the unit if the proposed closure of Salford's maternity services go ahead.

The centre started life in 1966 as the GP Unit and is a place where pregnant mums can go to give birth naturally with minimum pain relief and only a midwife rather than a doctor present.

Should complications arise doctors are just minutes away so safety is not compromised. But if the planned closure of maternity services at Hope are approved the future of the unit would be in doubt.

Midwife Mary Ingham said: "The idea of the centre is for women to give birth as naturally as possible knowing they have got the security just one floor away of all the doctors at the maternity unit if needs be.

"If it all gets a bit much and they decide they want an epidural we can send them down in the lift. We can be more lenient as to who we allow to come here because if anything goes wrong we know we've got people so close. If that unit wasn't there we couldn't allow anyone to give birth here with even the slightest risk of complications."

If Hope's birth centre was to close the nearest other midwife-led unit is at Buxton. Under the Strategic Health Authority's preferred option for change there are no firm plans outlining where any similar units would be placed.

Kathy Murphy, consultant midwife at Hope, said: "The preferred option suggests there will be birth centres throughout Greater Manchester but it's clear this centre won't survive without acute services.

"The consultation document misleads women to believe birth centres will rise like a phoenix from the ashes but that won't happen unless they are commissioned by primary care trusts."

She added: "It's also a misconception that home births will increase if this service is removed because they can't be sure this will happen.

"This birth centre's got a really good reputation and it's a shame that something so embedded could be lost."

New mums Sarah Johnson and Emma Power gave birth to their babies at the centre which has five private rooms and a birth pool.

Sarah, 35, of Warren Drive, Swinton, said: "I always planned to come here because I was aware of the level of care you get and wanted the birth to be as natural as possible. We live just five minutes away and there is no way we'd have been able to travel somewhere else."

Emma, 28, of Wilfred Street, Swinton, said: "I did my parenting classes here when I was pregnant and they showed me round this unit so I could see the facilities on offer. I think it's awful this place could be lost forever."