Protest march planned to fight for future of Melton birth centre
Campaigners fighting to ensure Melton Mowbray’s baby unit reopens after the current six-month pausing of births and inpatient postnatal services are planning to hold a protest event next month.
The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust said it was necessary to suspend key services at St Mary’s Birth Centre from July 7 because of a major shortage of staff and a fall in the number of women giving birth there.
The move has sparked fears in the community that the unit may never reopen with the health authority committed to long term plans to relocate Melton maternity services to hospitals in Leicester.
Delays over building new facilities in the city meant that St Mary’s was likely to stay open for up to another decade but it is now feared the consolidation of all maternity services in Leicester will begin at the end of the current six-month pausing of births if staffing shortages have not been addressed.
Melton & Syston MP, Edward Argar, has pushed for the baby unit to reopen again early in the new year in discussions with the health authority’s chief executive.
And the Save St Mary’s Birth Centre campaign team, which fought successfully to keep the unit open when it was under threat in past years, has been mobilised again to fight the current potential permanent closure.
The group posted on its Facebook page: “We can now confirm that we will be organising a protest march and demonstration event for St Mary’s Birth Centre, in Melton Mowbray, on Saturday 30th August 30.
“More details coming soon. But for now, put it in your diaries.”