Express & Star

Pregnant? Then get out of Stafford: Hundreds of expectant mothers told to give birth in Wolverhampton or Stoke

Hundreds of pregnant women in Stafford have been sent letters telling them that they will be having their babies in Wolverhampton or Stoke from January.

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Campaigners who have been fighting the move say they have had several mothers-to-be contact them in tears due to the change.

Consultant-led maternity services, for medium to high-risk births, will move from County Hospital, Stafford, to either New Cross, Wolverhampton, or the Royal Stoke University Hospital on January 16 as part of an overhaul of health services which has seen Stafford Hospital taken over and re-named.

Children's services will also be moved to Stoke in the next few months, as well as acute and major inpatient surgery.

Bosses at the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust have written to 600 women, who are expecting to have their babies at County Hospital after the middle of January, to tell them about the changes.

Midwives are also meeting with mothers-to-be on an individual basis to provide further information and guide them through their options. Clinics and the maternity assessment unit will continue to run in Stafford at the County Hospital.

Support Stafford Hospital campaigner Karen Howell said: "We've had women coming to us in tears after receiving one of these letters. Some have families that don't have any transport and can't afford to travel up to Stoke. These women are very worried."

Karen Meadowcroft, head of midwifery at UHNM, said: "We would like to reassure mothers-to-be that we are committed to providing the very best care for them and their babies.

"Maternity services in Stoke and Wolverhampton provide seven-day consultant presence on the delivery suite and have been assessed to be within the safest maternity services in the country."

As part of the changes to health services in Staffordshire, a total of £250 million will be spent at the County Hospital, meaning A&E will double in size.

Women with pregnancies deemed to be low risk will still be able to give birth at Stafford's midwife-led unit.

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