CAMPAIGNERS have launched a petition calling for county councillors to declare support for efforts to prevent the Samuel Johnson Community Hospital’s birthing unit from being closed permanently.
The facility had initially shut its doors temporarily during the Covid pandemic.
But despite antenatal and prenatal appointments being offered, the birthing unit has yet to reopen.
Now health chiefs are proposing making the closure permanent – a move which has drawn criticism from community campaigners.
Hannah Weaver, spokesperson for the Save Samuel Johnson Maternity Unit group, said:
“We need to ensure that maternity care continues to meet the needs of our growing population.
“The withdrawal of this essential facility is a step backwards when choice, accessibility and quality of care should be the priority.”
The online petition calls for Staffordshire County Council to formally express its support for retaining the full maternity unit to allow mothers to have access to local birthing options.
Bosses at the NHS Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board have launched a consultation on the future of the unit.
They say that reduced usage and the need to address a shortage of midwives across the country mean the review of the long-term future of birthing services in Lichfield and at another similar site in Stafford is needed.
Heather Johnstone, chief nursing and therapies officer and a former midwife, said:
“I know that these units offer a unique birthing option suited to women with low-risk pregnancies.
“However, because they operate independently, they don’t have immediate access to consultant-led medical support such as anaesthetics.
“Also, in the year before their closure fewer than three in 100 of the babies in our area were born there.
“We also know that high-risk pregnancies are becoming ever more common, so we expect that in future even fewer women would choose to give birth in a smaller hospital without specialist support at close hand.
“Not re-opening the birthing services at these units would mean our midwives are where they’re needed most, making sure we continue to have safe and sustainable staffing in our busiest maternity hospitals in Stoke-on-Trent and Burton.
“Women who would like the choice of a midwife-led birth can be reassured that this option would still be available to them at both the Royal Stoke and Burton hospitals.
“The two freestanding midwife-led birthing units have stayed open for antenatal and postnatal appointments, and we want this to continue.”
