MUMS in Salford have been asked to show their support for a midwife led unit in the city.
Hazel Blears MP has joined forces with a group of mums to fight for the right to have a baby in Salford.
The fight to have a mid-wife led facility in the city has been gathering force since the government announced plans to close the maternity unit at Salford Royal in 2007.
Now mums are asking the people of the city to support their campaign.
Lisa Kean, chair of Salford's maternity forum, said: "We think it's right for women in Salford to have the choice of where they want to have their babies.
"I had a baby myself at Salford Royal and I was very impressed with the service that I got.
"The maternity services at Salford Royal are fantastic, they offer a really holistic service.
"We have baby massage, dietary advice, an amazing Breastmates service, and links with SureStart.
"It's unparalleled in the area."
Health chiefs in the city have commissioned a study to decide whether it should get the go-ahead.
The unit will be based in the community and offer women in labour gas and air and pethidine as pain relief.
Thousands of people appealed the 2007 decision to close the maternity and neonatal intensive care units at Salford Royal.
It was reviewed by an independent panel but upheld by then health secretary Alan Johnson, after a maternity shake-up across the whole of Greater Manchester.
Hazel Blears MP, who fought the original decision to close the maternity facilities, said: "I thought it was the wrong decision then and I still think it is the wrong decision.
"But I still think Salford women should have the right to have their babies born in Salford if they want.
"The PCT have to go through three different surveys. They had to check that it was clinically safe, which it is, and they also had to find out if there was enough demand in the community, which there is.
"Now they have to work out if it is worth spending the money.
"We want to get as many people on board as possible, because this is a huge development for the community and it's not a done deal - we need to show that Salford wants this service."
Hazel and Lisa have now written to David Dalton, chief executive of Salford Royal, and Mike Burrows, from the PCT, to persuade them to build the unit.
And now they are encouraging Salford mums to write to them to support the campaign.
They can write to Hazel Blears at: 51 The Crescent, Salford, M5 4WX.
A decision is due to be made on the plans in the spring.
Showing 1 to 12 of 12 comments | View All
Iain Lindley, Walkden (23/12/2009 at 14:52)
Richard Carvath (23/12/2009 at 16:26)
Blears supported the closure of Hope's maternity unit when a member of the Labour Government.
harryl5, bispham blackpool (23/12/2009 at 17:27)
try answering people who fight for the basic rights, dignity to say i'm a salfordian
hazel many salford people are ashamed of you
littlehultongal (23/12/2009 at 22:33)
Ronnie Silver (23/12/2009 at 22:37)
Malcolm Amersham (23/12/2009 at 22:40)
Iain Lindley, Walkden (24/12/2009 at 02:07)
Families already have the right to have children in Salford – we have a world-class maternity unit and neo-natal unit. Unfortunately Hazel Blears and her Labour colleagues are going to close it down.
I wish Lisa all the best – she is doing a sterling job – but this is a battle she should not have to fight.
The midwife-led unit is – of course – better than nothing, but we can still defend our excellent maternity unit; but only by voting out this shower of a Government. Conservative proposals will allow the community to decide whether to keep our maternity and neo-natal units, and the community in Salford has made support for our maternity unit very clear.
Steven North (24/12/2009 at 13:55)
The Hazel Must Go Campaign, of which I am a member will be standing a community candidate against Blears. Her contempt for the people of Salford can't carry on. We voted at our public meeting in September to support a list of demands, a "charter for salford" - the maintenance of maternity services at Hope is a key demand for us and something any candidate we select will have to agree with.
If anyone wants any more info on our campaign please email blearsmustgo@gmail.com or visit www.hazelmustgo.com
Just a final point as well for Cllr. Lindley. I don't think this is an issue Conservatives can take the high ground over. People in Salford will still be able to remember what 18 years of Tory Government did to the NHS.
Steven North
Hazel Must Go
Dave Sherwood, Irlam (26/12/2009 at 12:36)
Lou Toft, Rochdale (26/12/2009 at 21:40)
Hazel opposed this decision right from the start and if she can salvage a decent deal for Salford then good for her. That’s politics.
The truth is that none of the useless candidates who are opposing her would ever bring a bean to Salford and would have absolutely zero influence in Parliament. They’d be an embarrassment. Hazel has brought millions of investment to Salford. She may not be perfect but she’s doing a damn sight better job than any of the hopeless pretenders and wanabes that are posting comments here.
Dave Sherwood, Irlam (28/12/2009 at 11:23)
heather rawlinson (02/01/2010 at 20:34)
Whilst I would prefer for the units to remain in Salford as we have the best service and teams in the NorthWest already, we have to fight for some service to remain. Our Birth centre / GPunit has a long established track record of excellent care. We attract midwives from all over the world to come on placements and learn from us. This service should remain so that at least a proportion of women may continue to receive such a high standard of care.
The people of Salford though have to get behind whoever leads this- regardless of their views on them as a person- maybe then Westminster, Salford PCT and the NHS Trust will take notice.