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The Closure |
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Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust closed The Grange Birth Centre (in Petersfield) for the delivery of babies and for all post-natal transfers from 4th July 2005. The original reason for this closure was staff shortages elsewhere within the midwifery service. On 30th October 2006 the Grange re-opened for births, following what has commonly been known as the "Birth Bus Stop" model. Women in labour can call the on-call midwife, who will meet them at the Grange and deliver their baby. After a few hours, provided all is well, the mother and baby will be discharged. There is no facility for postnatal stay at present, and the Birth Centre is not staffed 24 hours a day. Every woman in Petersfield and the surrounding area deserves to have choice about where to have her baby. |
Latest News |
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NEW! Grange Maternity Centre fully open at last! - 15 May 2008 The Save the Grange campaign team will be popping champagne corks and waving balloons on May 19th to celebrate that the Grange Maternity Centre at Petersfield Hospital is now fully open 24 hours a day and has been well used after re-opening on April 1st 2008.Since April, 14 babies have been born at the community based centre and 34 women have stayed at the centre following the birth of their babies at other hospitals. The celebrations will begin with a gathering of mums, dads, toddlers and babies in Petersfield’s town square, where campaign leader Sarah Roberts will receive a symbolic ‘key’ to officially open the Maternity Centre from Donna Ockendon, Head of Midwifery from Portsmouth NHS Trust. Then the campaigners and supporters will march to the Grange Maternity Centre to cut a ribbon with local and supportive MP Michael Mates. Sarah Roberts said, “It has been an incredibly long journey but we are obviously delighted that parents have now got the choice of a low tech maternity centre within their local community.” “The campaign has been lots of hard work and huge thanks go to everyone who has been involved over the past three years. I have been constantly amazed by the time and dedication of local parents who took on the role of campaigner and wanted to make a difference in their local community.” “Alongside busy family lives, pregnancies and small children, normal mums and dads have succeeded in re-opening a very valuable maternity service” Please come and attend this event; Monday 19th May 11am, Petersfield Town Square, then march to Grange Maternity Centre to meet Michael Mates. For further information, please contact Sarah Roberts on 01730 269791 http://www.friendsofgrange.org.uk (formally Save the Grange) Grange Maternity Centre reopens - 1st April 2008 From today, 1st April 2008, the Grange Maternity Centre can offer antenatal and postnatal clinics, births and postnatal stays. We have finally got what we have been campaigning for over the last 2 years and 9 months. The Maternity Centre is open for business, and will be staffed with midwives 24 hours a day. It is fantastic news for the community, and our thanks go to everyone who has helped in the campaign in whatever way, from signing petitions, turning up for our meetings, putting up posters, pushing prams, and keeping our campaign team motivated. In particular, we'd like to extend our thanks to Michael Mates, MP, who has continued to keep pressure on the NHS on our behalf, and to our own Sarah Roberts, who has kept the team going and acted as our leader throughout. So all that is left is for you to use the centre - pass the word on to all your pregnant friends in the area! There will be an official 'launch' event happening on 19th May - we'll let you know more details closer to the time. Check out our new website http://www.friendsofgrange.org.uk for details. Good boost for the Grange - 10 October 2007 The future is looking good for the Grange Birth Centre in Petersfield with approximately 84% feedback forms currently voting to fully re-open the Petersfield Birth Centre. This figure was announced by Hampshire Primary Care Trust at last night’s Save the Grange Public Meeting, chaired by MP Michael Mates. Over 70 people filled The Studio at The Petersfield School as, yet again, the public came out in their numbers to support the need for a fully functioning local birth centre. Sarah Roberts from the campaign group said; “its great news that it is looking positive for the Grange. I am feeling hopeful that we should get the go ahead next month to fully reopen in April 08. I am confident that Portsmouth Hospitals Trust will work really hard to make the Grange a great success for many families” The public were able to find out from Hampshire Primary Care Trust and Portsmouth Hospitals Trust about their plans for the birth centre and were able to voice their views on a variety of issues such as staffing which caused the birth centre to close in 2005. Hampshire PCT launches its Maternity Consultation - 23 July 2007 Hampshire PCT has launched its Maternity Consultation on the
future configuration of Maternity Services across South East
Hampshire. You can find full details of the consultation at the
PCT website: http://www.hampshirepct.nhs.uk/index/yoursay/public/consultation.htm
Vote Option 1 for the Grange - 23 July 2007 “Please vote for option one!” is the cry from local campaigners from the Save the Grange Birth Centre group as a new 3 month maternity consultation is launched this week. The maternity consultation has been launched by Hampshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) with the aim of deciding a certain future for the birth centres in South East Hampshire. Sarah Roberts from Save the Grange said;” We are delighted that the PCT’s preferred option is option one. This would mean that all areas win. In Petersfield, we would return to a full service at the Grange Birth Centre, providing midwife led birth and postnatal services 24/7, 365 days a year." Click here
for the full press release. Grange re-opens but service is different - 27 October 2006 Mums, dads, midwives, GP’s and local people have been invited to a party at the Grange Birth Centre next Monday when Michael Mates cuts a ribbon to re-open the much loved birth centre. Donna Ockendon, Head of Midwifery at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, has designed a new model of care which will allow babies to be born at the centre from 30th October. Sarah Roberts from Save the Grange Campaign group said; ‘it is great that the doors are open again and that local people now have the choice to use a local birth centre. But the service isn’t as good as it was 16 months ago. We need to continue to campaign to improve the postnatal service and then this birth centre will thrive.’ Click here
for the full press release. For older news about the campaign, visit our history page. |
Next Steps |
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Publicising the Maternity Services Consultation – we are working alongside Hampshire PCT and Portsmouth Hospitals Trust to publicise the maternity consultation, which runs to the end of October 2007, to ensure that all local people have a chance to influence the future of maternity services in this area. |