U-turn to allow postnatal care for mothers who give birth over Shropshire border
Expectant mothers told they could not access postnatal care in a hospital in Shropshire if they chose to have their baby across the county border have now been told the decision has been reversed.
Health bosses have performed a U-turn that will allow new mothers in the Ludlow area to use facilities at the town's hospital in Gravel Hill even if their child was born at Hereford County Hospital.
An angry letter was written on behalf of mothers-to-be by members of Shropshire Defend Our NHS after it became clear pregnant woman in the area were being told that if they chose to go to Hereford they could not return to Ludlow's midwife-led unit for care after the birth.
The decision followed the re-opening of the unit in the main Ludlow Hospital building after it had to be closed due to structural concerns with its former home in the former workhouse building.
Jo Banks, women and children's care group director at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), said: "The decision to briefly suspend postnatal provision at Ludlow midwife-led unit for women giving birth in Hereford was taken based on information received during an initial assessment of the situation. I would like to apologise for any concern this may have caused.
"We are keen to encourage women to receive all of their care in Shropshire to enable them to benefit from continuity of care.
"However, we also understand that women should have the right to choose where they receive their care and therefore we are again providing postnatal services at Ludlow for women who have given birth in Hereford.
"We hope that by doing so women will be encouraged to use all the services we provide here at SaTH," she said.
Gill George, speaking for Shropshire Defend Our NHS and Save Ludlow Maternity unit, wrote that she had "the strongest possible concern" about the issue, which was against the spirit of the national Maternity Review earlier this year, which stressed choice and personalised care.
She wrote: "The service change has been introduced since the re-opening of Ludlow Maternity Unit, and is causing enormous distress to the expectant mothers who are personally affected by the loss of a service that they had counted on."