AIMS Journal, 2011, Vol 23 No 2
Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust has announced the Jubilee Bir th Centre is to close as of 29 July. An inspection by the Care Quality Commission found the Trust had breached regulations by not being able to guarantee the bir th centre would be open when needed, and also highlighted a shor tage of staff to cover both the bir th centre and the main maternity unit. The Trust said it was unable to meet the CQC's recommendations to increase staffing and stop the disruption of temporary closures, and as a result the board voted for closure.
Those campaigning to protect the centre were devastated by the news and whilst the Trust had pledged to maintain the option of midwifery-led care at its main maternity unit, as well as home births, campaigners feel this may be the final nail in the coffin for natural birth services in East Yorkshire. Campaigner Sian Alexander said: 'In other areas where birth centres have closed, the home birth service is the next casualty. Maternity services are being squeezed to unsafe levels, and the lives of future generations are being put at risk, yet this issue is still not taken seriously.
'The decision to close the JBC is a body blow for the safety and well-being of mothers and babies in this area. Our only hope is that this staffing crisis can be resolved and the birth centre reopened as quickly as possible.'
The AIMS Journal spearheads discussions about change and development in the maternity services..
AIMS Journal articles on the website go back to 1960, offering an important historical record of maternity issues over the past 60 years. Please check the date of the article because the situation that it discusses may have changed since it was published. We are also very aware that the language used in many articles may not be the language that AIMS would use today.
To contact the editors, please email: journal@aims.org.uk
We make the AIMS Journal freely available so that as many people as possible can benefit from the articles. If you found this article interesting please consider supporting us by becoming an AIMS member or making a donation. We are a small charity that accepts no commercial sponsorship, in order to preserve our reputation for providing impartial, evidence-based information.
AIMS supports all maternity service users to navigate the system as it exists, and campaigns for a system which truly meets the needs of all.