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Talking Point / Talking Point - Maternity Battle
Talking Point - Maternity Battle
Friday 19th February 2010

Two mums from Newbury are fighting for a maternity ward to be built in the town after they went through scary experiences giving birth.

Nina Flynn from Greenham and Elaine Davies from Newtown Road say travelling to either Reading, Basingstoke or Oxford to give birth causes stress and panic for pregnant women.

Nina says it took her nearly an hour to reach the hospital to have her second baby:

"I had to travel to Reading in the middle of the night. There were roadworks on the M4. And I knew that I was ready to give birth.

"I was in a lot of pain because obviously in a car I had no access to any kind of pain relief.

"I was thinking I'm going to have this baby on the M4.

"And I managed to get in the door [of the hospital] just before I gave birth".

They've now launched a petition and are aiming for 20,000 signatures.

Elaine says they will take it to the Berkshire West Primary Care Trust to demonstrate how crucial a maternity facility is for Newbury:

"It seems to be a real issue in the community, both for Newbury and the surrounding rural villages.

"They have to go to Basingstoke, to Reading, to Swindon, to Oxford - all long, horrible journeys especially in rush hour".

If you have had similar experiences or are pregnant and worried about travelling far to have your baby, leave us your comments below.

Or click here to find out more about the petition.  
 
Comments
 
 
Mel Stevens of Newbury says:
20:09  on  Saturday 20th February 2010
"I opted for a home birth.When i went into labour there were no local midwives on duty. (If we had a unit- there would have been midwives) I was moved to Reading in the 3rd stage of labour only to discover that I shouldn't have been moved at this late stage. I ended up with a broken back and live a life in constant pain. A local unit would have given me the attention I needed by a proffessional."
 
 
Jo Cauldrick of Kintbury says:
20:12  on  Friday 19th February 2010
"I agree that Newbury would be the logical place to have maternity services. However there does need to be a dramatic shift in how pregnant women are informed. I had to seek out information myself ( with the help of NHBG)it was still assumed by midwives, and doctors that I would HAVE to go into hospital because I had previously had a cesarean. Women still equate birthing their child, with danger, drugs and intervention. As Charlotte articulated, transfering into a hospital during labour is potentially very dangerous. Home birthing could be a safer option than hospital, providing midwives and women are supported."
 
 
Charlotte Gander of Newbury says:
18:27  on  Friday 19th February 2010
"I am a mother of three and also used to co-ordinate Newbury Homebirth Group. I totally agree that Newbury needs its own Maternity facilities that can care for ALL women even those who might be considered or perceived to have a higher risk of complications. A birthing center alone is not enough for this area as these only generally cater for women considered to be "low risk" and in the event of complications women would still have to travel to a hospital. As far as I am aware a birthing center cannot offer anything more than what is available to women choosing to birth at home. One difference of course is that those with an actual or perceived to be high risk pregnancy have the absolute right to birth at home whereas they cannot insist on attending the birth center. Research has shown that for a healthy mother a planned home birth is safer than hospital. I think many more women would give birth in the safety of their homes if medical facilities were closer should they need or want to transfer in. I believe healthy women with straightforward pregnancies are taking quite a risk when they choose to leave the safety of their homes to travel a long distance into hospital whilst in labour. I recommend everyone make an informed choice about where they give birth and acknowledge that although hospital is perceived to be safe the research shows otherwise, as many victims of the cascading effect of unnecessary intervention or hospital based infection will testify. A birth center would be a step forward but so much better to be able to offer, this and hi-tech hospital facilities for those that need them. It would be fantastic if Newbury could really give women the choice that the governments "Maternity Matters" has promised."
 
 
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