Health Minister Lesley Griffiths has announced plans to reform Wales’ maternity services.
The Welsh Government’s “A Strategic Vision for Maternity Services in Wales” has been published and outlines three priorities for NHS Wales to focus on.
These are:
- Organising maternity care to meet the needs of women and their babies.
- Protecting and improving the health and well-being of mothers and their babies.
- Ensuring pregnancy and childbirth is a safe, fulfilling, life-enhancing experience.
The Minister said:“Our maternity service is already one we can be proud of, but there are improvements to be made.
“My vision is of a service that promotes pregnancy and childbirth as an event of social and emotional significance where women and their families are treated with dignity and respect.
“I want every woman in Wales, irrespective of her location, social background, circumstances or ethnicity, to have access to and receive safe, high quality care.
“I also want to increase the promotion of healthy lifestyles before, during and after pregnancy, and for maternity care in this sense to extend beyond the health service into schools, social services and the third sector.
“Local Health Boards will determine how services are organised at local level to achieve this vision, and I expect them to be open and to work with communities as they plan changes.
“Safety, quality, recruitment and cost must be at the heart of any changes, and must be set against the perceived losses of local services and convenience – and social and political considerations. Local Health Boards cannot allow a service to drift into lack of safety and sustainability which may happen if they do not make changes.”
Caerphilly AM Jeff Cuthbert has welcomed the proposed changes.
He said: “Our nurses and midwives do a fantastic job at looking after our women and
babies in Caerphilly and the Rhymney Valley.
“This new strategy is not just about improving the actual birth of a baby but to enhance before
and aftercare. We are looking to extend maternity care beyond the health service into social
services, the third sector and schools as well as promote consistent healthy living.”
Opposition parties have said the new strategy will centralise maternity services and bring cuts to local services.
During a debate on the matter in the Senedd, Conservative AM Antoinette Sandbach broke down in tears as she recalled her personal experience of maternity services in 2009, when she lost her five day old son Sam.
She said: “I had to wait for over 30 minutes and do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and heart massage on my baby before an ambulance arrived.
“I had to sit in the ambulance while it took 30 minutes to get to hospital. At that stage, that critical hour had passed, and I don’t want any other mother in Wales to have to go through what I went through.”
She added: “I’m sorry, I’m upset, but it is absolutely vital that in any reorganisation, the access to services, particularly for those 11% of people in rural areas who have no access to transport.
“They do not have cars, they rely on ambulances or friends or neighbours to hospital and it is shown that it is the most deprived people who will suffer most.”
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has said an extra 136 more midwives were needed in Wales to cope with a rising birthrate.