Bridgwater Town Council’s ‘Born in Bridgwater’ Campaign has received a welcome boost with the announcement of the re-establishment of 24 hour midwifery cover at Bridgwater Hospital’s Mary Stanley birthing unit. At last night’s Town Council meeting, members vowed to redouble their efforts to urge mothers-to-be to use the facilities to ensure they weren’t lost to Taunton and so that babies could still be born in the town.
The Town Council’s campaign was launched earlier this year when the Mayor (then Cllr Alec Glassford) and Deputy Leader Cllr Kathy Pearce, along with Town Clerk Alan Hurford, visited the hospital responding to public concern about the underuse and potential closure of the much campaigned for maternity facility.
Cllr Pearce said “This 24 hour cover is great news and we welcome it, but now we must play our part by promoting the facility and encouraging people to use it”
Mayor Cllr Graham Granter said “We campaigned to get this unit in the first place and then we campaigned to keep the name ‘Mary Stanley’ when some people wanted to lose it so this is good news for our latest campaign and we should support this wholeheartedly.”
Town Council Leader Cllr Brian Smedley said “This is exactly what this town council does best – recognise the issues and respond to the feelings of the local community. Our councillors were in on the action as soon as the problem became evident and we threw our weight behind our community with a campaign. It’s a simple fight to maintain local services.”
Midwives Make Their Case
Community midwives were out in force and out in costume at Bridgwater’s Quayside festival last weekend making the case for local people to use their unit.
Senior Midwife Kate Hopwood said “We currently have about 30 or 40 births a year but we want to quadruple that and welcome more Bridgwater babies into the world. Mary Stanley provides a safe relaxed birthing environment and we are passionate about providing high quality one to one care.”
“We are pleased to confirm that Mary Stanley is here to stay, with 24/7 cover and we would really encourage all mums-to-be in the area to come and take a look around the unit and choose us to deliver your new bundle of joy into the world.”
Drop in and find out for yourself
The unit also supports women who choose to have home births, 24 hour breastfeeding support and assessment in early labour.
Open evenings will be held between 6pm and 8pm on the first Tuesday of every month where people can have a tour of the facilities and meet the midwives.
