A CHIPPENHAM midwife and councillor is unclear what the future holds for the town’s maternity unit, after the trust which runs it announced a meeting to discuss how the service should be ‘redesigned’.

An informal discussion session is being held by the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust (RUH) in Melksham, asking women and families for feedback on the service they received at birthing centres in the area.

Chippenham Town Councillor and midwife at the unit, Sheila Veitch, said: “I worked at Malmesbury before it closed so I’ve been through the consultation process before and I’ve been through losing the units so I know how stressful that is.

“What the future is we don’t know. The units are appreciated and have the capacity to take more women.”

Last year, 3,827 babies were born in Bath, but only 196 in Chippenham, while 133 mothers opted for a home birth.

Bernie Marden, consultant paediatrician and neonatologist and head of women and children’s division at the RUH Trust, said: “Hearing directly from those who use our services is invaluable in helping us make improvements and plan for the future.

“We are currently asking mums, families, staff and anyone with an interest to help us to better understand what matters most to those who use our maternity services.

“This is not a consultation. There are no plans in place, that’s why we are inviting discussion and feedback so we can redesign and plan our maternity services together to make sure we are getting it right for women and families, both now and in the future.”

Vice-president of Friends of Chippenham Hospital, Elizabeth Sexton, believes that with the town due to expand the birthing unit needs to remain.

She said: “It’s been there for decades and is very much appreciated, they work hard to keep it open.

“The Friends of the hospital have worked hard to help them, and bought them a new birthing pool and we paid for one of the wards to be repainted.

“It’s valued so much, you can go to Chippenham and don’t have to travel to Bath or somewhere else.

“I think it would be a great shame for Chippenham if it closed.”

The discussion group meeting is on Tuesday (March 7) at Melksham Assembly Hall, from 1pm-3.30pm, and is open to all.

Chippenham MP Michelle Donelan said: “Local midwife units play a key role in our community and are hugely valued by me and by the families who use them.

“It is important to stress that as far as I am aware, there are no plans for any change in the service and I am sure that these meetings are part of a process of improving the service for expectant mothers.

“I have a pre-arranged visit to Bath Hospital next week and I will raise this issue to seek assurances.

“I will stress to them how valued these community units are. I am sure that everyone recognises the vital, long-term role that our maternity units play and we should not be saying anything that calls that into question.”