First look at East Lancashire's new birthing centre suites (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Just before or soon after leaving school act irresponsible and get pregnant then get offered financial and ‘birthing’ support. No wonder there are so many young single girls pushing prams about everywhere. Would be a good idea to spend an equal amount of money on ‘un-birthing’ centres as well!

This is a complete joke, how can the trust seriously hold their head up high & sell this to women as a great idea! It disgusts me, that they have so little care for these pregnant women who are placing all their trust in them when having their child. I'm sure they have sold the " what if something goes wrong section" like their selling double glazing! Their are serious risks of having a baby here & if something does go wrong then where talking a few minutes, not 15 mins, to get a lady in full labour to burnley! & that's if your lucky enough to have an ambulance is on standby outside the door! A mother or child will die, & if it's a child it'll be brushed under the carpet " as these things happen". It infuritates me that these ladies are being led into a full sense of security. So many labours are classed as straight forward then all of a sudden things go wrong & a crash section is performed. How many people have had their birth plan go to plan??? All birthing centres where shut down about 20 yrs ago as they were deemed unsafe & now the trust needs to save so cash so they reopen them. Blackburn hospital will have no care for pregnant mums whatsoever! So the M65 is going to be littered with dead babies & I really hope it's not your relations but it'll be someones, watch out for it front page of telegraph????

Agree with what past.times01 said. It's time society in this country, more importantly, the NHS stopped throwing money on these things.


'2010's crop' Crop is apt here. Definition: have a baby, get straight into available social housing, jump the queue, then have assorted babies by different fathers, get pregnant again ... then fail to look after them as they grow up, let them roam the streets, simply because they have a child as a means to an end: get a house or flat quickly.

Time it was stamped on. Having children today in certain areas of the country is not because people want to start a family. Hence the child gets treated like a discarded accessory because they just had them to get what they want. Family? Hah! Half of the kids have different fathers, the other half will end up living 'estranged' most likely from their fathers once the mother has got herself into a council place by jumping the line and the father has ceased to have any further purpose.

Deny it all you like, and I've no doubt those who have done this will pathetically attempt to justify or deny they are. Thing is, we've heard and seen it all before.

There is more money probably thrown at this kind of thing within the NHS at the cost of other more vital services. Only saw today that the NHS is cutting beds. Again. But they've got plenty for new mothers, sorry, I meant 'breeders' in society it seems. Makes you wonder if the NHS is responsible because it seems they want to encourage not discourage people from having babies irresponsibly, without any compulsion to actually parenting them. Means to an end. Wake up NHS.

Let's just stop putting the carrot in front of these people with these nice suites. Because they come straight out of school, straight into getting pregnant, straight into a nice new place to live. All because they had a baby or six.

"Cutthebull" you are obviously in the know as I am and you are totally correct. There will be incidents!!
Birthing units such as at Rossendale were closed many years ago because as you say they were dangerous. A normal delivery can soon become a matter of life or death for that babe! What happens when the ambulances are backed up at A and E or are in the East of the county in nelson Colne or Barnoldswick. Time will be lost and that babe could die in the birthing unit at Blackburn or suffer trauma. Also the managers are looking to staff the birthing units with a midwife and a health care assistant, not two midwives... again totally unsafe especially at Blackburn birthing unit. A few years ago a report was issued saying that birthing units would double the risk of a baby dying. The Department of Health told them to alter the wording to MAY double the risk. What a cover up.. Home delivery would be better!!Many midwives have left over the last two years with many more wanting to leave or retire before the move to Burnley!! Let us stop this now!!

Not all women who have a baby are teenage & irresponsible. I have 2 children with my husband & we don't need or want a council house thanks very much.

what do u mean davidoff with this comment Wake up NHS.

Let's just stop putting the carrot in front of these people with these nice suites. yeah people have babies just 2 give birth in nice suites honest not everybody who have babies are teenagers who want a council house

blackburn struggle to deliver a letter never mind a baby. I personally wouldnt go anywhere near blackburn or the birthing centre. its concerning enough knowing they cant competently do their job as it is, now they want to get even less qualified staff in their place...you just couldnt make it up!
davidoff - i think someone upset you, even i didnt rant as much as you did. bit unfair and unjust in your comments i think. give your head a wobble.

If I needed a hospital birth, I wouldn't want a child of mine being born in Burnley. I'd rather choose Chorley or Preston.

kate11 wrote:
"Cutthebull" you are obviously in the know as I am and you are totally correct. There will be incidents!!
Birthing units such as at Rossendale were closed many years ago because as you say they were dangerous. A normal delivery can soon become a matter of life or death for that babe! What happens when the ambulances are backed up at A and E or are in the East of the county in nelson Colne or Barnoldswick. Time will be lost and that babe could die in the birthing unit at Blackburn or suffer trauma. Also the managers are looking to staff the birthing units with a midwife and a health care assistant, not two midwives... again totally unsafe especially at Blackburn birthing unit. A few years ago a report was issued saying that birthing units would double the risk of a baby dying. The Department of Health told them to alter the wording to MAY double the risk. What a cover up.. Home delivery would be better!!Many midwives have left over the last two years with many more wanting to leave or retire before the move to Burnley!! Let us stop this now!!

It really bothers me that the public either don't know or don't care! Or that this is is an issue that needs highlighting & the LET hasn't splashed it across it's pages stating this, asall the facts are there infront of them!!!! I didn't know the staffing levels were so poor though. There was an issue a few yrs ago with one midwife jumping between rooms of women delivering & one lady delivered while the midwife was out of the room delivering the other lady & that baby died, & that was in the hospital. What's a HCA gonna do????? I wouldn't wanna be that midwife in that birthing centre & I'd quit rather than do it, at least they have a chance at keeping their registration! I've heard paramedics gave said they'll just take the mums to A&E coz it's nearer, but there not geared up for sections etc! I'm soo afraid for it when it happens.

Davidoff, what are you going on about, you claim to be intelligent then look at the bigger picture discussed above & hope that none of your relatives & friends are ever put in this potential risky situation by this trusts cash cutting exercise!

Found it!! This article appeared in the Telegraph in 2005!
Would anyone like to comment!! So why are we still opening them!! If attached to the unit like the one in Burnley General all will befine but if you are in the Blackburn one or the Rossendale one can we be given assurances that an ambulance will arrive quickly to take the mum to Burnley!! Or will they be backed up at A&E in Blackburn or chasing down the motorway from the East of the county taking someone to A&E!!!
Comments from staff and paramedics would be good!!


"Birth centres run by midwives are to be given a health warning after an NHS watchdog found that babies have more chance of dying there than those delivered in hospital.
The Government's National Institute for Clinical Excellence has raised concerns over the safety of NHS birthing centres, which are used by more than 20,000 women a year who want to avoid "medicalised" labour.
Pregnant women will be told that labour in a birth centre could carry a greater risk for their baby because if complications arise they may face delays of 45 minutes or more to get to a hospital.
A delay in getting an emergency Caesarean, ventouse or forceps delivery puts a baby at greater risk of suffocation in the womb.
No anaesthetists, paediatricians or obstetricians are present at birth centres. NICE experts said research shows a "slightly increased" risk of infant death during or shortly after labour in birth centres compared with women who give birth in hospital.
The death rate in hospitals is 0.7 per cent of babies. Officials have declined to reveal the exact figure for birth centres before the guidance is published next year.
Around 100 birth centres are run by the NHS, many in rural areas where the nearest hospital is up to 20 miles away. Some are situated in the grounds of local hospitals, with midwives in charge.
A NICE spokesman said: "The deaths may be due to various factors, but anything about an increased risk of this nature must be looked into. Women must be fully informed. The outcome that everyone wants is a healthy mother and a healthy baby. Women must have all the options and information about labour before them."
Some specialists fear that women may have unrealistic aspirations about birth centres, believing them to be a "halfway" house between the security of a hospital and the comfort of a home birth, but failing to realise that if anything goes wrong there are no doctors on hand.
The head of midwifery at one leading NHS teaching hospital, said: "It concerns me that women book into a birth centre wrongly believing it is a 'halfway house'. If they need an epidural or a Caesarean we are then getting in to ambulance transfers. In some cases it can take 45 minutes or more.
"There have been tragedies and it is only afterwards that the mothers say, 'I wish I had known'."
Although most of the 600,000 babies born each year in Britain come into the world in hospital, there is a growing shift towards birth centres, backed by the Government's plans for maternity care."

Found it!! This article appeared in the Telegraph in 2005!
Would anyone like to comment!! So why are we still opening them!! If attached to the unit like the one in Burnley General all will befine but if you are in the Blackburn one or the Rossendale one can we be given assurances that an ambulance will arrive quickly to take the mum to Burnley!! Or will they be backed up at A&E in Blackburn or chasing down the motorway from the East of the county taking someone to A&E!!!
Comments from staff and paramedics would be good!!


"Birth centres run by midwives are to be given a health warning after an NHS watchdog found that babies have more chance of dying there than those delivered in hospital.
The Government's National Institute for Clinical Excellence has raised concerns over the safety of NHS birthing centres, which are used by more than 20,000 women a year who want to avoid "medicalised" labour.
Pregnant women will be told that labour in a birth centre could carry a greater risk for their baby because if complications arise they may face delays of 45 minutes or more to get to a hospital.
A delay in getting an emergency Caesarean, ventouse or forceps delivery puts a baby at greater risk of suffocation in the womb.
No anaesthetists, paediatricians or obstetricians are present at birth centres. NICE experts said research shows a "slightly increased" risk of infant death during or shortly after labour in birth centres compared with women who give birth in hospital.
The death rate in hospitals is 0.7 per cent of babies. Officials have declined to reveal the exact figure for birth centres before the guidance is published next year.
Around 100 birth centres are run by the NHS, many in rural areas where the nearest hospital is up to 20 miles away. Some are situated in the grounds of local hospitals, with midwives in charge.
A NICE spokesman said: "The deaths may be due to various factors, but anything about an increased risk of this nature must be looked into. Women must be fully informed. The outcome that everyone wants is a healthy mother and a healthy baby. Women must have all the options and information about labour before them."
Some specialists fear that women may have unrealistic aspirations about birth centres, believing them to be a "halfway" house between the security of a hospital and the comfort of a home birth, but failing to realise that if anything goes wrong there are no doctors on hand.
The head of midwifery at one leading NHS teaching hospital, said: "It concerns me that women book into a birth centre wrongly believing it is a 'halfway house'. If they need an epidural or a Caesarean we are then getting in to ambulance transfers. In some cases it can take 45 minutes or more.
"There have been tragedies and it is only afterwards that the mothers say, 'I wish I had known'."
Although most of the 600,000 babies born each year in Britain come into the world in hospital, there is a growing shift towards birth centres, backed by the Government's plans for maternity care."

I cannot believe the trust is still going ahead when NICE have published this report. It disgusts me as this is all about saving money & the trust have no interest in a mother & child. These mothers place all their confidence in the midwife & expect them to help in the situation if things go wrong, ringing for an ambulance ain't gonna work. This whole thing is scandalous & can't believe no-one seems to care. I cannot believe how the trust are advertising the birthing centres as a five star hotel, same as they do with the home births on the radio like it's the best thing since sliced bread, it infuriates me as they are playing with lives! But it frustrates me that the staff cannot speak out without being sacked, this is were they need the public & press.
I like how the birthing centre offers natural, close to home birth but fail to mention the best pain relief will be a bit of gas & air ( if ur lucky) and a nice gym ball to bounce on! Enjoy!!!
I really hope the LET shows this for what it is, a money saving scam risking pregnant mothers lives!

katy121 wrote:
what do u mean davidoff with this comment Wake up NHS. Let's just stop putting the carrot in front of these people with these nice suites. yeah people have babies just 2 give birth in nice suites honest not everybody who have babies are teenagers who want a council house

Thats right only about 95% people are young single mums. A least the NHS are offering a nice surounding and getting them ready before they get there council houses.

i argee black clio guy some see it as a way not to work and live of benfits , i am a single mum who works and is doing a degree .

love it my gran had to sleep in a corridor for 2 days when really ill but these parasites who keep having kids get penthouse suites unreal

Why are we wasting all this money on this crap. Makk the women comfortable but stop making even more reasons to have kids. Make kids a luxury not a means to experience luxury paid for by everyone else.

yeah honest giving birth in nice surrondings makes me want 2 go get pregnant again come on if a women wants 2 have loads of children they will nobody who has every had a child thinks yes the maternity ward was luxury so must have more kids come on