Mums to make emotional plea to save Melton baby unit

Health authority bosses are consulting the public on their proposals to completely overhaul hospital services across Leicestershire and Rutland.

These include centralising main maternity services in Leicester and closing St Mary’s Birth Centre, where generations of Melton women have had their children.

Residents have got used to fighting to keep the baby unit open over the last 20 years and they know that this could be their final stand.

Comments can only be given to a consultation into the plans until December 21 with a final decision then expected early in 2021.

More than 5,000 are behind a Facebook campaign which started around a dozen years ago and leading members are putting together a special video in a desperate move to sway heart and minds of decision-makers in the clinical commissioning groups of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

Around 60 mums have offered to record video messages explaining why they feel the unit should be retained and hundreds of other supporters are being asked to send in selfies of themselves showing a placard with the words ‘Save St Mary’s Birth Centre’ to be used at the end of the film.

Helen Cliff (41), who has had two children at the unit and used the after-care service for her other two, told the Melton Times: “The video testimonials we’ve had in so far are so moving.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the response from so many mums and we’ve had to turn some away because we can’t get them all in the final video.

“We are now asking for selfies with placards from anyone who cares about saving the unit - they don’t have to be mums, they could be partners, grandparents or just residents.

“We are just a group local women and we want to put the voices of mums into the minds of the decision makers.”

The health authority has mooted closing the the birth centre, which caters for low risk births but offers a comprehensive post-birth service for all mums, several times in recent years.

It now says the unit is no longer viable because it needs 500 births a year to be cost-effective and the number of babies born there has steadily fallen with 141 there in the year 2018 to 2019, at an average of less than three a week.

Supporters say the centre would be used more, however, if was promoted and publicised more to families across Leicestershire and Rutland.

The services from the baby unit will be relocated to a new midwifery-led service at the Leicester General Hospital, if the plans are approved, and a new maternity hospital will be built at Leicester Royal Infirmary.

Helen, who lives in Melton, said: “It’s not just about the births there, it is important to keep it open because of the amazing after-care.

“The physical recovery, the bonding with baby, breast-feeding and help with maternity mental health are all things the mums get at St Mary’s.

“It wouldn’t be the same if this was all part of a hospital environment.”

She added: “The truth is that St Mary’s has been undervalued, under-resourced and under-promoted and that is why they are able to say it’s not viable.”

Kerry Mota-Stubbs, who has also given birth at St Mary’s Birth Centre, was a founding members of the campaign Facebook page which helped in previous successful battles to save the unit.

Kerry (48), who lives in Goadby Marwood, said: “There were only about 10 of us when we started this Facebook page 12 years ago.

“It has grown now to having 5,000 supporters and although some have moved away there are still so many people who want to keep the unit open.

“We’ve won a few fights but I feel that this is it now - the last chance to save it.”

She added: “As soon as we put a poster on the page we literally get hundreds of people commenting and saying how important it is to keep it going.”

Kerry pointed out that the coronavirus pandemic had highlighted how vital a rural baby unit was an option when health services were inundated with patients needing urgent treatment.

She said it would very difficult for expectant mums to have to travel 20 minutes into Leicester to have their baby if the Melton service closed.

“Not everyone drives so how are they supposed to get to a maternity unit in the city in a rush to have a baby,” said Kerry.

Anyone who would like to contribute a selfie with placard for the campaign film is asked to email it to [email protected] by the end of this month - the final video will be released in the second week of November.

Thousands of people have also already signed two petitions calling for the baby unit to be kept open - go online at www.change.org/p/university-hospitals-of-leicester-nhs-trust-save-st-mary-s-birthing-centre and to www.change.org/p/andrew-furlong-save-our-birthing-unit-from-closure to see these.

The hospitals revamp will also include the first single-site dedicated children’s hospital in the East Midlands at Leicester Royal Infirmary and the expanding of Glenfield Hospital by a third to create a planned care treatment centre for operations and emergency procedures.

A series of online consultation events are being held to help people find out more and ask questions about proposals.

To ensure people who aren’t online are still able to participate, there is an option to listen in by telephone and submit questions in advance.

There are online question and answer panel sessions able to host 1,000-plus attendees, with people able to ask questions during the event or submit them up to two hours in advance.

These sessions are on October 29 and December 7.

Online public events will host up to 250 people with people able to ask questions on October 31, November 12, 21 and 27, December 2, 12 and 13.

In addition, a number of workshops will be held on specific topics so people can get into a discussion with others and give more detailed insights and views. These will be limited to a pre-registered audience of up to 15 people.

Workshops where Melton’s baby unit is likely to be discussed with be on November 9 and 18.

Residents can visit www.betterhospitalsleicester.nhs.uk to complete a questionnaire online or they can call 0116 295 0750 or email [email protected] to get a paper copy posted to them or to get further help in filling it in.