Anyone campaigned to keep a birth centre open?

[redbird79]

Not sure if this is the right place to do this, but I am a new mum involved in campaigning for the Jubilee Birth Centre in East Yorkshire to stay open. It is under threat because of budget cuts and staff closures and I was hoping to create a bit of a fuss to try and highlight its good work.
I wondered if anyone in other parts on the country have done something similar and whether they were successful? It is a lovely place and I would hate other women to be denied the chance to give birth in such a fantastic environment.

bumping for you

Try googling for stuff on the Honiton Birth Centre, think they managed to reverse a decision to close/down grade it recently.

I think there was also a group that campaigned to keep open St Mary's Birth Centre in Melton Mowbray. They were active on here and on Facebook.

It is still open!

there was a lot of campaign for the whittington, i think mainly for the labour ward because of the a&e was going to be closed so couldnt have maternity services but possibly might have kept the birth centre.. not sure. there is a mum on here who did a lot of the campaigning though called whittingtonmum, she seems to know a lot about this kind of thing.

if you haven't already then at least write to your mp, councillors etc. also there might be some protests generally about cuts that you could go on, and try to use it to highlight your own specific issue while you are there?

good luck and i hope you manage to keep it open, would be such a shame if these places close

Just fuss and fuss and fuss and fuss. Go to the local paper. You need sad eyed women clutching tiny infants.

Back in about 1990 we had a campaign to save our local midwife lead unit in Rutland. I was young but I do remember going on a march through town and that there was a lot of local letter writing etc.

It didn't work, but then aside from the poll tax riots I don't remember public campaigning achieving a damned thing under the Tories back then. So now anyone in Rutland has to travel to Leicester which is at least a 40 minute drive in good traffic.

coldtits is right - sad baby stories will help. Some thing suggesting that women will be giving birth in the back of their cars en route etc etc. And as we've got the internet these days, spreading the word that way might help too.

Petersfield (Hampshire) NCT ran a big campaign about The Grange about 5 years ago, might be worth contacting them.