Around 200 mothers and Crowborough residents joined Nusrat Ghani MP to object to the closure of Crowborough Birthing Unit.
"It is absurd that the Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust closed a best-in-class service, which is being requested by pregnant mums in the area.
The Birthing Centre is presently offering other midwifery services except births. It makes no sense to deny mums the choice to have a midwifery-led birth at the unit.
I am concerned that the local NHS Trust is deliberately running the service down. Staffing issues can only be solved by recruiting more staff, which the NHS Trust is not currently doing. So, they are either overcomplicating the situation or there is something that they are not prepared to tell us.
The decision of the Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust to close the birthing unit overnight is underhand. It was wrong and we will fight this. They are denying mums the choice of accessing a midwifery-led birth locally and rushing them into having a clinical birth outside of the area.
We will continue fighting for the Birthing Centre to reopen.
I am grateful to everyone who joined the protest, especially mums and expectant mums who are directly impacted by the closure.
My petition already has over 3,300 signatures. Join the fight to save the Centre and sign the petition here: www.nusghani.org.uk/birthingcentre.”
Photographs above were taken by Katie at Chapter Thirty Six www.chapterthirtysix.co.uk.
