JUST four babies have been born at Rossendale Birth Centre since it opened in December because women are choosing to give bith in hospital.

The unit, based at Rossendale Primary Health Care Centre, in Bacup Road, Rawtenstall, opened last year to provide a home birthing type service for mums-to-be.

The first baby was born at the centre in January, but since then only three more mums have given birth at the facility.

In contrast a total of 452 babies have been born at Blackburn Birth Centre, which opened in September, and 335 at Burnley Birth Centre, based within the Lancashire Women and Newborn Centre at Burnley General Hospital, which opened in November.

Rossendale Councillor Gladys Sandiford, a former midwife, midwife teacher and ex-north west representative for the Royal College of Midwives, said the centre might be underused because women were choosing Burnley's birth centre, due to its location within a hospital, instead.

She said: “It's very disappointing that we're not having Rossendale babies born in Rossendale and you just have to question the cost effectiveness of this centre.

“The big difference with the Burnley centre is it's not a stand-alone centre. If anything going wrong at Rossendale you've got to get the lady transferred with a great deal of speed to Burnley.”

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust said another seven women had booked to have their babies in Rawtenstall in the coming months.

And hospital bosses said they expected the centre to become more popular over time, with birth rates closer to their 2009 estimate of 300 a year.

This is partly due to changes to Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust's maternity services.

Rochdale Infirmary's maternity unit will close this summer, meaning that Bacup and Whitworth mums may choose Rossendale rather than visit a new £44m women and children's super centre in Oldham.

Ruth Gildert, East Lancashire Hospitals' divisional general manager for family care, said: “The Rossendale Birth Centre is slightly different from the birth centres in Blackburn and at Burnley as it serves a smaller population so it has only two birth rooms, and is not constantly manned.”