Name: Concerned midwife
Address: Email; supplied
Views: I work at Watford maternity unit and I am horrified at some of the gross inaccuricies quoted here regarding care provided there. These comments only serve to frighten women and demoralise staff.

HBC provided a gold standard service to a minority of women whilst creating staff shortages and a depletion of experienced staff from the main unit. 99% of the time 2 midwives sat in HBC with NO patients whilst colleagues in the main unit struggled to provide a quality service to the majority of West Herts women.

No one seems to be fighting for these women and midwives. Since the closure of HBC staffing at Watford has improved which must impact on the quality of care provided. However wonderful the HBC was it did not provide care for enough women to be a viable option.

NO stand alone unit delivers sufficient numbers to provide a viable option. However they do create a two tier system which often means that it is those well educated, articulate middle class women who receive this excellent care whilst other women do not have access to this level of care often through circumstances beyond their control or they do not choose a stand alone unit. As to 12 babies delivered in the car parks at Watford this is untrue and laughable. If your readers wish to criticise please at least get the facts straight. I will wait to see if you print this alternative view or are you only interested in the sheep mentality.

Name: Sarah Vyse
Address: Email supplied.
Views: I have given birth twice at Watford General Hospital and been extremely pleased with the service on both occasions. Indeed Watford Maternity services saved both mine and my daughters lives.I also received part of my ante-natal care at Hemel and was pleased with this also. I find the tone of the campaign absolutely disgraceful. Although the comments are meant to be aimed at management, the people most affected by them are the maternity staff who day after day give everything to their jobs with very little thanks or support from higher management or patients and their relatives. In terms of economics and better standards of care it makes more sense to have everything on one site instead of having great expertise diluted over many areas.


Name: Anna Mayflower
Address: Toms Lane
Kings langley
Views: I am not in support of the Hemel Birth Centre staying open if it means care and staff are diverted from the majority of women. I personally don't feel 1000 women having a gold standard service since 2003 should be at the sacrifice of the 10,000 that have delivered at Watford. If the money was available for both then fair enough but this is the real world and the cash has to be used for the majority.

I personally would not like to be at a birth centre that is not within a hospital and easy reach of all facilities if things went wrong. I also don't see why people think after a normal physiological process you need to be in hospital.

Go home and leave the hospital beds for those who need it! Maternity wards are clogged full of women who have read every book under the sun on childbirth and still need someone to hold their hand! I als don't feel childbirth is a divine right I do feel if you are sick you have a right to care and attention and if that means sacrificing pretty curtains and cushions for a few labouring women then that is an appropriate use of resources.

No doubt you will not put this on the website as I have frieds who have sent in opposing views and these have not been included. Yet again the minority voice is heard and not the majority.

Name: Susan
Address: Hemel, Email provided
Views: I am another lone voice I gave birth at the ABC in Watford and had a wonderful experience there.
I also understand they deliver twice as many babies there than they ever did in Hemel. I have also looked inot the birth centre ethos when I was considering where to deliver and noted that the amount of women attending stand alone units is itself self limiting with most only delivering 300 births per year.
This is a tiny drop in the ocean when West Herts delivers over 5000 per year. Surely any reasonable organisation cannot justify having staff sitting in a birth centre for less than 30 women per month when their colleagues are struggling in Watford.
Surely that is criminal. As far as i can tell we have a choice of birth centre or hospital they just happen to be on the Watford site. Therefore the majority must come first.
The other point is that all these women who think Watford is too far then they can always deliver at home its just as safe only there they wont have 3 members of staff pampering them! I think the staff at Watford are fantastic and if people are so concerned with the situation there they should campaign to improve services for the majority no ! the precious few.
This proberly will not be printed as it is not conforming to your views.


Name: Jane Davis
Address: Belsize road
Views: I think it sickening that a few women can hold the trust to ransom demanding the care they want and sod the rest. The majority of women deliver at Watford and receive excellent care surely resources should be sent there to help those women and alleviate staffing issues.

It seems to me that the majority of women did not choose to deliver at the Hemel birth centre whilst the do choose the Alexandra Birthing Centre and Watford General. lets start a campaign for the majority and not a precious few.