Women 'travelling to give birth'

Mothers are travelling to Glasgow to have babies

More than three quarters of women living in Argyll and Clyde now travel to Paisley or Glasgow to give birth, it has emerged.

NHS Argyll and Clyde introduced sweeping changes to its maternity services last year.

But figures obtained by BBC Scotland show more than three quarters of expectant mothers are not using new midwife-led services.

The health board insists the units provide a good, safe model of care.

A spokeswoman said demand for the midwife-led service was in line with the levels anticipated for the first year.

It would be entirely predictable that women are being forced to make these choices when consultant-led units are not available in their locality Duncan McNeil Greenock and Inverclyde MSP

The board said it believed more women would use the units as time goes on.

The proposals to reorganise maternity provision in the area were given the go-ahead by then Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm in October 2003.

The NHS board brought forward plans to concentrate consultant-led services in Paisley and create midwife-led units in Greenock and Alexandria.

It argued that the move was necessary to address fears that the safety of mothers and their babies could be compromised.

Experts pointed to a falling birth rate and difficulties in recruiting staff.

Protesters opposed the maternity service changes

However, opponents warned that expectant mothers, especially those facing difficult births, would have to make long journeys to hospital.

Duncan McNeil, the Labour MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, also voiced concerns over the centralisation of consultant-led services.

He told BBC Scotland that the latest figures were no surprise.

"It is entirely predictable that women faced particularly with their first child will tend to go to the consultant-led unit because they have fears of the experience," he said.

"They want to have the advantage of an epidural, they will be frightened that things go wrong.

"So it would be entirely predictable that women are being forced to make these choices when consultant-led units are not available in their locality."

When the word gets out I think more mothers will become involved and more mothers will participate in the service Andy Kerr Health Minister

Health Minister Andy Kerr said the number of women using the new units was in line with predictions.

"This is a new service, it will take its time to bed in," he said.

"People will get to understand the service, how it is delivering, and if you look at other more mature midwife-led units such as Montrose 55% of births take place there.

"I think it is a question of time and mothers talking to other mothers about their experiences."

He said it was possible that women did not understand the new service, which was being delivered by highly-trained midwives.

"When the word gets out I think more mothers will become involved and more mothers will participate in the service."