People can People can have their say on plans that
could mean the closure of Dover Birthing Centre.

A three-month consultation looking
into options for maternity services in east Kent is being launched
today, and people are invited to speak out on their views.

New parents Scott McNamara and his
girlfriend Laura Nicholls said taking the service away would have a
"huge impact" on accessibility and comfort.

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Video: Births could stop
at Buckland

They enjoyed antenatal care at the
centre before the birth of their baby, Michael, on
Saturday and said it would be the icing on the cake to
have given birth there instead of at the William Harvey
Hospital in Ashford.

They spent the night at Dover
on Sunday before taking baby Michael home to Dover Road
in Deal for the first time.

Assistant head of midwifery Abina
Brown said increasing numbers of people having their babies at
acute birthing centres at Margate or Ashford mean parents are
already "voting with their feet".

She said the
PCT and hospital trust’s consultation started as a result of east
Kent’s increasing birth rate as well as changes in women’s choices
about place of birth.

The 28-page consultation document,
plus a 12-page summary version and online feedback form will be
available from noon today on the NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent
website: www.easternandcoastalkent.nhs.uk/maternityreview.