Shropshire maternity campaigner's fears realised as husband delivers baby because local unit was shut

Expectant mum Alison Hiles was among those spearheading a campaign to get assurances from health bosses that rural midwife-led units, such as those in Ludlow, Bridgnorth and Oswestry, would not be downgraded or closed in the coming months or years.

Her fears were that she would not be able to get to hospital or get medical help in time if she went into labour – and now, she says, she has been vindicated as that is exactly what happened, due to the Ludlow unit near her being closed on the weekend she was set to be there.

Her husband Mark, a telecommunications engineer, said he was "more used to delivering broadband than babies", but had to step up as she went into labour while getting into the car, while an ambulance was called from Hereford and a midwife from Bridgnorth.

Alison, a 37-year-old retail manager, lead a march in Ludlow in October over fears for the future of the Ludlow unit, was vocally against plans to turn it into a 'birthing centre' that would close overnight, and raised concerns over previous temporary closures that have dogged the more rural units since the end of last year.

"Ironically, one hit due to staffing problems on the very weekend she was due to give birth to daughter Amelie, who was born close to midnight on Sunday.

She said: "Thank God it was a positive outcome for me, but somebody else might not be so lucky."

She had he two sons Elliott, 13, and Finley, 7, at Ludlow and said she was treated so well there that she wanted to go back.

Mark, 45, said he and Alison had decided to tell their story to highlight the issues they had been campaigning about.

He said: "Our hopes were that Ally would get to full term nicely and for her to have baby in a pool in Ludlow's maternity unit. I didn't relish the prospect of a potential late night drive elsewhere wondering if she would make the journey in one piece.

"Ally's due date was, May 4. It came and went with no issues. Then came the news on Friday that Ludlow maternity unit would be closed until 8am Monday.

"Ally was devastated. I reassured her but secretly my heart raced. My stress level rose and I started entertaining the thoughts of no little girl and a difficult birth on a back road somewhere in the middle of the night.

"Worry had set in. Food was tasteless. We didn't sleep well Friday or Saturday night. Sunday came and Ally started counting the hours down. As the evening passed I thought we were home dry. At around 10pm I gave in and went to bed. Ally was sort of sleeping."

He said her sleep was disturbed by a "twinge", which was followed by more and then she climbed off the bed and said "Something's not right".

"I phoned the number for Ludlow maternity unit, thinking maybe someone's there after all but the message advised to ring elsewhere.

"Bridgnorth was the safest bet. I spoke to a soothing calm voice on the other end. 'Perhaps you should make your way over?' she said. I was thinking 'Will we make it?'

He said he called Alison's parents to come and look after the children and put her ready-packed bags in the car but as she put one foot in she had a powerful contraction and he knew they wouldn't make it.

He dialled 999 to be told an ambulance was being dispatched from Hereford.

"We are doing this alone honey, it's going to be ok, I probably muttered," he said.

"We got Ally back into the safety of our bedroom, towels quickly thrown onto the bed."

He said with a 999 operator on speaker phone he soon had "a head in my shaking hand followed by a tiny body, an umbilical cord to untangle from around the neck, all so fast.

"I had delivered our tiny baby into my arms and then into the safety of her mothers hold. Our beautiful Amelie Florence was born at 11.48pm Sunday evening weighing in at 8lb 1oz.

"The operator waited on the line for the next 10 minutes until the ambulance came and a further half hour for the mid wife to come from Bridgnorth.

"In all we had five paramedics, two ambulances, one midwife dragged across county and my wonderful mother and father-in-law to get us across the line. Their help will always be cherished."

He said he was then overwhelmed with shock and happiness that all had gone well.

"But it could of been very very different," he said, "I hope that someone may well read and understand what parents may have to endure, courtesy of someone totalling up figures on a spreadsheet and deciding 'yeah sure, cut that funding right there'.

"We need these services in this community," he said.

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust said the Ludlow closure was dues to unexpected staff sickness, which happened at the same time as high demand at Telford. The Trust apologised to Mr and Mrs Hiles that they were not able to give birth at Ludlow.

Sarah Jamieson, head of midwifery at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said: “I would like to congratulate Mr and Mrs Hiles on the birth of their baby daughter, and apologise that she was not able to be born at Ludlow midwife-led unit as they had planned. I have offered to meet Mr and Mrs Hiles to discuss their concerns.

“The decision to temporarily suspend services at Ludlow MLU over the weekend was not taken lightly, and was made by senior midwives, senior clinicians and executive directors.

“We experienced unexpected high levels of staff sickness within our maternity service, including at Ludlow MLU. Unfortunately, this staff sickness coincided with high demand at our consultant-led unit in Telford, including some women who needed a high level of care, whilst our other MLUs were also expecting mothers who needed postnatal care.

"At the point where we suspended services there were no inpatients in Ludlow, Bridgnorth or Oswestry midwife-led units.

“As a result, in line with our policies and procedures to ensure the continued safety of our service, we suspended services at Ludlow MLU over the weekend. Expectant mothers who chose to give birth at Ludlow MLU and were due to give birth in the near future were informed.

“We never take such decisions lightly and we review all risks to ensure the safety of all women using the service. I’d like to again apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.

“We are fully supportive of birth choice and women whose birth is considered to be low risk can choose to give birth at one of our MLUs, at home or at our consultant-led unit in Telford.

“Birth rates at our consultant-led unit continue to rise, whilst the number of women choosing to give birth in our MLUs continues to decline.”

Dr Jessica Sokolov, GP member and clinical director for women's and children at Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said at a meeting of the board yesterday: "This was a very difficult situation for that family but there is noway of mitigating against it.

"A total of 85 per cent of deliveries are in the consultant-led unit as well as the most complicated deliveries and high risk. When their is staff sickness they have to consolidate staff at the consultant-led unit."