Petition for Paulton birthing centre to re-open

A petition containing three hundred names has been handed over to NHS Wiltshire following a campaign by the North East Somerset branch of the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) to ensure the “temporary’” closure of the unit does not become a permanent situation.

A spokesperson for NHS Wiltshire said: "Wiltshire Community Health Services is sorry for the inconvenience caused to mothers who wanted to give birth at Paulton over the summer and stress that this is a temporary reduction to the service.

We have explained to all the mums and the National Childbirth Trust that we have had to take this step as the result of exceptional staffing circumstances brought about by a combination of compassionate leave and long-term sickness."

This sounds plausible enough but Wells mums will probably remember an almost identical phrase being used to describe the temporary closure of St Peter’s birthing unit at Shepton Mallet nearly 5 years ago, which has never re-opened and may be concerned at the potential hollow sounding reassurances.

Expectant mothers in Wells are currently required to travel to Frome, Bath or Bristol if they don’t opt to have a home birth and the extra distance could lead to possible complications in some cases.

Another unsung service provided by local community hospitals which is not always a feature of larger facilities is on-demand breast-feeding advice. Super model Gisele Bundchen has just been criticised for demanding that “There should be a worldwide law, in my opinion, that mothers should breastfeed their babies for six months.” Now this is rather an extreme view, but the truth is that breastfeeding is the best start a mother can give her baby but it is damnably hard and patience and encouragement from midwives is an absolute must if  feeding is to be established as easily as possible.

Do any expectant Wells ladies have concerns for the well-being of their precious cargo? If you would like to list your concerns below, I will approach the wonderful midwives locally and see if we can come up with some real answers and alternatives.

Photo by Green Baby Guide