Update on Crowborough Birthing Centre Closure
A meeting took place today, Friday 12th September, between Nusrat Ghani MP, representatives of The Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust and Trustees of The Friends of Crowborough Hospital.
Following the meeting, Nusrat said: "This afternoon, I convened a meeting with representatives from Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust and Trustees of The Friends of Crowborough Hospital to discuss further the decision to pause births at Crowborough Birthing Centre from next month until May next year.
I appreciate that the Trust is faced with staffing challenges and that patient safety always takes priority. However, it is a dire situation, unacceptable to mums-to-be in Crowborough, Sussex Weald, and across the South East.
Women deserve a choice.
We have been here before, and I will continue working with The Friends of Crowborough Hospital, as I have done for the past 10 years, to ensure that the service is resumed and sustained for years to come.
I am hugely grateful to over 1,500 submissions made already, highlighting the importance of the service. Please continue to share your views with me, so that we can put pressure on the Trust and present data that clearly shows how needed and valuable the Birthing Centre is and that by prolonged closures, they are denying women the choice to have their babies in Crowborough.
This is a team effort, and we need the community to work with us.
Join my fight to save the Centre! Sign the petition here: www.nusghani.org.uk/birthingcentre."
Kay Moss, Chair of The Friends Of Crowborough Hospital, said: "The Friends of Crowborough Hospital would like to thank Nus Ghani MP for facilitating aa meeting and opening up lines of communication with the MTW Trust. We hope that working together, we can expedite the resumption of births at Crowborough Birthing Unit, giving local women the choices they deserve as to where they would like to give birth."
