Shropshire maternity changes 'will give confidence’

Consultant obstetrician Adam Gornall said plans to bring births to either Shrewsbury, Telford, or in the home made sense medically.

Campaigners have argued that the closure of the midwife-led units, based in Oswestry, Bridgnorth and Ludlow, would cause untold anxiety to women due to deliver their babies.

But Mr Gornall told a meeting of councillors that the new system would serve pregnant women better.

He added that, at present, if a woman has her baby in a rural MLU she would not be able to expect any further level of care, above that of a midwife, than if she had "given birth in a 'supermarket".

Proposed changes would mean that women would be able to give birth at either a consultant-led unit at Telford's Princess Royal Hospital, at a midwife-led unit also at the PRH or at the free-standing midwife-led unit at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. Women could also opt for a home birth.

In support, there would be five MLU hubs offering antenatal care and support to women during and after their pregnancies.

At a meeting held in Shrewsbury, Dr Jessika Sokolov, clinical lead of Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group, brought members of the Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council's joint health overview and scrutiny committee up to speed with the current state of play of the proposed radical shake-up of antenatal, birth and postnatal care.

Robust

Joined by Fiona Ellis, programme manager for Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin Local Maternity System, Adam Gornall, clinical director from SaTH and Sarah Jamieson, head of midwifery at SaTH, Dr Sokolov told members of the committee that, following a series of workshops held around the county and robust discussions with staff, patients and families, a model for the implementation of the changes had now been developed.

Members of the committee queried whether the new hubs would be opened for 'at least 12 hours a day' to which Ms Ellis replied that five maternity hubs were sustainable.

"We need services that women and staff can trust," she added.

Councillor Karen Calder, co-chair said she had been informed that two midwives from Whitchurch were being relocated.

Ms Jamieson said that a decision had been made to relocated the midwives after ShropCom told the maternity department that the rent for the building would be approximately £92,000.

This was reduced to £31,000 which was still too much. But she stressed that while the midwives will be relocated, the maternity services provision in Whitchurch and Market Drayton would remain unchanged.

Staff morale was low, said Ms Jamieson, and sickness had increased since the start of the year. But eight new midwives were being employed and poor morale was being addressed.

The proposed model will now be approved to progress to consultation by Shropshire CCG and Telford & Wrekin CCG following completion of the NHS England Assurance process.

The health overview and scrutiny committee will receive the results of the consultation.