by Adam Williams

The Kentish Gazette and kmfm’s Save Our Baby Unit campaign is now on Facebook and Twitter.

This week we have launched campaign pages on the social networking sites in a bid to raise awareness of the closure of the Canterbury birthing unit.

Click here to become a fan of the Facebook page and click here to follow us on Twitter.

An ongoing public consultation into midwife-led services in east Kent is currently being conducted by the Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT.

The results are expected to be announced in the autumn. The Canterbury birthing unit is shut for births while the consultation continues, but is open between 9am and 5pm for daycare services. Should it close for good, Canterbury – Kent’s only city – will only appear on birth certificates if mums-to-be choose a home birth.

Meanwhile, meetings with parents, MPs and health professionals were postponed this week becuase of a lack of information.

Health bosses were forced to call off maternity discussions in Dover and Canterbury after delays in delivering a national report.

Canterbury’s Westgate Hall was due to host one of the forums today (Thursday), with the other at Dover’s Ark Centre on Tuesday.

Lindsey Stevens, head of midwifery at the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We decided to postpone this week’s meetings to wait for an important piece of national research, called The Birthplace Study.

“We want to ensure we can give the fullest picture of the latest evidence available.

“This research programme is carrying out six studies to answer questions about how the current provision of maternity services affects women’s experiences and wellbeing.

“It is also looking at the safety and quality of care and the process of transfer from planned place of birth. It was due to be published in July. This week’s meetings will be rescheduled for the autumn, after the holiday season is over, to ensure as many people can attend as possible.”

What do you think? Emailkentishgazette@thekmgroup.co.uk, tweet the campaign@SaveOurBabyUnit, or visit the Facebook pageby searching for “Save Our Baby Unit – A Kentish Gazette Campaign”.