You may have read in Newbury Weekly News or heard on the radio about our campaign to reinstate maternity facilities in Newbury. Our story can be read here:-
So should they also have SCBUs in Newbury as well? Should every town of 30,000 have these along with the expertise they require? Who will pay for it all and why should there be a maternity unit rather than say a specialist oncology facility?
So should they also have SCBUs in Newbury as well? Should every town of 30,000 have these along with the expertise they require? Who will pay for it all and why should there be a maternity unit rather than say a specialist oncology facility?
Newbury used to have a maternity unit, when it was much smaller. This is about building for the future. As for an oncology unit, that is true, but people must fight for their principles that they believe strongly in and get out and do something, like campaigning, rather than sit at home (or work) sneering from the 'safety' of the Internet at those that do.
What we are proposing is a midwife led facility that would be able to manage the majority of deliveries, appointments and scans. This in turn would reduce the pressure on RBH and other hospitals who would still take the higher risk deliveries. Wallingford and Wantage have this kind of facility which has proven to work well in practice. RBH closes its doors to admissions sometimes, 40 times in one year, so they are under too much pressure.
And as we are talking about the whole of West Berkshire which would benefit from this facility, the population is around 145 000
But much of that population will be nearer Reading, Swindon or Oxford. I think the NHS is correct to have centres of excellence both from a care and cost point of view.
Ok, how would you improve maternity services for Newbury and Thatcham then? We have 2000 people (so far), with 2000 stories of how they have each been let down by our current service. Women giving birth in their husbands cars on the motorway, ambulances carrying labouring women to 2 or 3 hospitals before one has space to accept them, women delivering in lay-bys or hospital car parks. Women having to travel weekly or even more to Reading or Basingstoke for appointments and monitoring, one woman who had to travel for 7 hours in labour to reach a hospital and another who had her baby delivered by her husband who had to resus the baby with only telephone support. What would you do? And what is your experience of transferring a labouring woman to hospital?
And what is your experience of transferring a labouring woman to hospital?
I have a more traumatic experience of this than you'd ever guess at, but it doesn't change the fact that we don't have unlimited resources. I also had a life or death event a few moths ago and had to go to RBH in an ambulance under blue lights, but when I got there, there was waiting state of the art facilities and a top consultant. If we have a local maternity unit with all the facilities required for a full blown emergency the cost would be enormous. We just have to accept as a society that there are and have to be balances.
But we are not asking for cover for full blown emergencies, just a simple birthing unit for women to give birth in there local community. Like I have said, this would allow more women that need expertise to be able to access them at RBH. And if you care to do your research, this kind of unit is more cost effective than giving over a hospital bed to a straight forward delivery. "The observational studies found a trend to lower costs per delivery for the MLMUs compared to hospital care" (NHS, 2007) I ask you again, what is your experience of transporting a labouring woman?
I ask you again, what is your experience of transporting a labouring woman?
I am not going to tell you. It is private. But I do promise you that your experience & the few that have actually commented on your petition website are as nothing in comparison.
We all have a "simple birthing unit". It is called "home".
You have no access to our paper petition and pages and pages of comments we have collected in person. In my opinion you have not a clue as to what we are requesting and it's positive impact on the community.
And whilst I fully support homebirthing, as I have also mentioned, it is not just a case of delivering babies but also monitoring and care during pregnancy that could be offered at such a facility.
Furthermore, I will not have the months of research carried out by myself and professional people associated with our campaign belittled by one person who, for whatever reason, decides that the families of Newbury do not deserve an improved level of care.
You have no access to our paper petition and pages and pages of comments we have collected in person. In my opinion you have not a clue as to what we are requesting and it's positive impact on the community.
And whilst I fully support homebirthing, as I have also mentioned, it is not just a case of delivering babies but also monitoring and care during pregnancy that could be offered at such a facility.
Furthermore, I will not have the months of research carried out by myself and professional people associated with our campaign belittled by one person who, for whatever reason, decides that the families of Newbury do not deserve an improved level of care.
It's a sad fact of life that not everyone will agree with you. If you post on a public forum, please don't expect that everyone will agree with you and do try not to take it personally as it wasn't meant personally.
That's fine. I welcome the debate and enjoy educating people. I certainly don't take your comments personally although other supporters may, especially those who have paid the highest price possible due to lack of facilities.
I think we should leave this thread now for others to comment and get a broader range of opinions, rather than us two arguing the toss for the rest of the day x
The same people that are already paying huge amounts for women to birth in acute hospital beds, Berkshire West PCT
You answered "who", not "how". I think the implied question was, "which service will you want to be cut in order that West Berks PCT provide your desired service?"
No services have to be cut. Nobody is going to start having more babies just because they can do so on their doorstep. It is already being funded, just in a different location!
But we are not asking for cover for full blown emergencies, just a simple birthing unit for women to give birth in there local community.
Whilst I agree in many ways that Newbury could do with a Maternity Unit, there are times surely when a 'simple' birth can become an emergency situation that a midwife may not be able to cope with.
What happens when the 'simple birthing unit' is full? The Woman in labour will then have to travel to Reading/Basingstoke/Oxford.
They would have less patients to care for so would need less funding. And, after having much feedback from Reading women who have turned up at their hospital to give birth and been turned away as it was full of Newbury women, many would welcome the idea.
Despite the merits of either arguments, as the country is entering a massive belt tightening exercise, there is less likely hood that anything like this will happen. The Labour Party have squandered all the money.
They would have less patients to care for so would need less funding. And, after having much feedback from Reading women who have turned up at their hospital to give birth and been turned away as it was full of Newbury women, many would welcome the idea.
Did they go in and ask all the women taking their beds where they were from?
They would have less patients to care for so would need less funding. And, after having much feedback from Reading women who have turned up at their hospital to give birth and been turned away as it was full of Newbury women, many would welcome the idea.
You say that the hospital was full of Newbury Women; if Newbury had it's own unit, surely the hospital would be empty for the Reading Women who are turned away, so surely the funding required would still be the same?
Are you seriously saying that 'much' women from the Reading area have been turned away with the words "sorry luv, you can't come in.....we're full of women from Newbury"? Do you know if any Newbury women have been turned away with...."sorry luv, we're full of women from Thatcham and Hermitage"?
They would have less patients to care for so would need less funding. And, after having much feedback from Reading women who have turned up at their hospital to give birth and been turned away as it was full of Newbury women, many would welcome the idea.
They wouldn't have less patients, as has already been pointed out the ones that you said were turned away would then take up the spaces.
Reading would have to provide the same service with less funding. Do you think this would be popular with residents of Reading?
I certainly don't take your comments personally although other supporters may, especially those who have paid the highest price possible due to lack of facilities.
If you have examples of women that have lost babies or their own lives because there isn't a unit in Newbury, then that is a scandal. I missed this earlier. Please post these examples.
Reading would have to provide the same service with less funding. Do you think this would be popular with residents of Reading?
Who gives a sheet about Reading, that's up to them to campaign if there isn't enough beds. At the end of the day, the person is trying to campaigning to improve maternity car in Newbury and for that I applaud them.
I doubt if anyone on here wouldn't be glad if there was a maternity unit at the hospital. But, quite simply, would the cost of providing it (millions I suspect) really give a better service?
Who gives a sheet about Reading, that's up to them to campaign if there isn't enough beds. At the end of the day, the person is trying to campaigning to improve maternity car in Newbury and for that I applaud them.
Well, yes, it's good to campaign for maternity care in Newbury, but if it means that people in Greenham for example get worse care, then I'm against that.
I'm all for saving people a trip through roadworks on the M4 at night, and everyone in the country having childbirth facilities on their doorstep, but not if it means that my poor old mum who needs a hip replacement has to wait an extra 6 months.
Goodness gracious. Some people don't know they're born.
Well, yes, it's good to campaign for maternity care in Newbury, but if it means that people in Greenham for example get worse care, then I'm against that.
But this is to be debated, that shouldn't stop, people from campaigning. Indeed, you have requested information from the OP. Are you able to statistically demonstrate how much better maternity care is now that Sandlford is closed?
Quoted from 26
I'm all for saving people a trip through roadworks on the M4 at night, and everyone in the country having childbirth facilities on their doorstep, but not if it means that my poor old mum who needs a hip replacement has to wait an extra 6 months.
Yes, but but I am minded of the time my Grandad went into cardiac arrest 2 minutes from RBH after travelling 25 odd minutes in an ambulance.
Quoted from 26
Goodness gracious. Some people don't know they're born.
Whatthef***youonabout?
At the end of the day, people should be applauded for campaigning and putting in free time in an attempt to make things better. At the end of the day, if there is a winner, there will be a loser. It is the way of life.
What I would like is that Newbury residents didn't have a 30 minute, or more, handicap to get to A&E (including maternity care) actually!!! That is what I meant in that post!
That's the point though, isn't it? We'd all like these facilities on our doorstep, but there is a cost and disadvantages involved. You get dilution of skill. By having a central cardiac unit in Reading, you are assured that in the event of a heart attack there will be a consultant & team on duty ready to "operate" as soon as you arrive. You couldn't you have 3 full time consultants in Newbury because there wouldn't be enough work. They key thing is that an ambulance is there speedily with a defibrillator should what happened to your granddad occur.
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