SAVE The Grange campaigners from Petersfield were due to travel to London yesterday (Thursday) to present 10,000 signatures to Downing Street, calling for government action to reopen the town's birthing centre. They were also set to meet East Hampshire MP Michael Mates, who has supported the Save The Grange Campaign since it began in June. The Petersfield campaigners have joined forces with a group from Fareham who are battling to have the Blackbrook Birth Centre reopened. The two birth centres are the latest in a long line of maternity facilities to be closed or placed under threat of closure, decreasing the number of women across the UK who have access to the full range of maternity choices. This, claimed campaign leader Sarah Roberts, was despite Labour's pledge in its manifesto that "by 2009 all women will have choice over where and how they have their baby and what pain relief to use." Mrs Roberts, who is an NCT antenatal teacher, told The Herald: "These closures reduce choice for many women in Hampshire and contradict local and national maternity policy. Many pregnant women now face longer journeys to hospital during labour and are forced to go to larger and busier maternity units." "This move to London demonstrates a shift by the campaign group to raise awareness at a national level and expresses our frustration about the uncertainty of the future of our local birth centres." Fellow campaign leader and mum, Mel Watson, explained; "The Grange and Blackbrook offer families a positive and supportive environment for birth and postnatal care. Many women particularly value the breastfeeding support available. We are very concerned that families are losing vital services as a direct result of financial constraints. "The government has acknowledged the value of birth centres in the national service framework but its policies are not being put into practice across the country. We want the government to encourage primary care trusts and NHS trusts to use birth centres and provide support to ensure their place in maternity services for families in the future". Rachael Batory, one of the mothers also due to visit number 10 yesterday with her seven- month-old daughter, Poppy, said: "Women choose to give birth in birth centres because of their 'homely' environment, which we know helps women to have a straightforward birth."
