Mum blames closure of Helme Chase for her A590 birth

Jane Martin, a 33-year-old postwoman from Kendal, had to choose between Lancaster or Barrow after missing the March 8 cut-off date before work at Westmorland General - not on the maternity ward - began. 

This was pushed back from an original date in February. Jane said she first saw the original date in this publication and when she spoke to midwives they had also learned when Helme Chase was going to close through the paper. 

She chose to give birth at Furness General Hospital as her husband knew the way and she did not want to give birth on the M6. However she said she would not have made it to either hospital as in the end her labour was only for an hour and a half and she was on the school run. 

Jane Martin gave birth to Audra at Ulverston Blue Light Hub next to the A590 (Image: Submitted)

Jane gave birth to Audra at Ulverston Blue Light Hub on March 15 with the help of a passing mid-wife who was doing her shopping at ALDI. 

Jane praised the work of the midwives and other NHS staff, at both Kendal and Barrow, but criticised the 'terrible' handling of the closure. 

"Women are having babies in the Kendal area," she said. "I just think that it's undervalued altogether. I think they are brilliant throughout your pregnancy, I can't say anything wrong about the pregnancy. 

"It is a shame that there's only certain women who can have their babies in Kendal anyway. You just get left behind. There's a lot of women having babies in this area and they travel quite a long way." 

Jane Martin with her family (Image: Submitted)

Susan Stanfield, director of midwifery at Morecambe Bay Trust, said: "Birth services were temporarily suspended due to maintenance work at Westmorland General Hospital. During these works, antenatal, ultrasound and colposcopy appointments have continued to be held. Community midwife appointments and the home birth service have been unaffected.

"Women who could have been impacted were contacted to let them know well in advance. If anyone has any concerns, we'd be happy to help and we urge women and families to contact us directly."

Helme Chase is due to reopen for birth services on Monday April 8, pending infection prevention checks. Last year, Helme Chase closed from March to June after concerns over ventilation which would lead to the risk of prolonged over-exposure to Entonox (gas and air) for staff.