MATERNITY SERVICES IN SOUTH PORTSMOUTH

Early day motion 1618, tabled 8 September 2004 by Mike Hancock (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 15 members.

That this House believes that women should be offered a choice in maternity services, whether it be home births, midwife-led units or traditional labour wards; fully supports the report to the Department of Health's Children Taskforce, from the Maternity and Neonatal Workforce Group of 2003, which stated that many women prefer to receive care through pregnancy and during labour as close to home as possible, and that good maternity care starts with the wishes of the woman herself and her family, and aims to meet these as far as possible; and in support of these aims urges the Secretary of State for Health to insist that the proposals to close the midwife-led maternity unit at St Mary's Hospital in Portsmouth, as part of the local NHS trust's plans to transfer the maternity facility to Queen Alexandra Hospital in the north of the city, are seriously reconsidered, as this would not only deprive women in the south of Portsmouth of any local maternity service at all, and force them to make a difficult journey at a time of great stress, but also deny women a choice about how they wish to be treated at the time of giving birth, totally contrary to the level of service the Government claims it wishes to offer.

Signatures by party: Labour 11, Liberal Democrat 4.