Charity urges trusts to reconsider offering home births
Closures echo those in first wave
Some trusts in London and the South East are closing standalone birth centres and warning they cannot support home births because of high levels of demand for ambulance services from covid patients.
Women in East Sussex who planned to give birth at Eastbourne District General Hospital and Crowborough Birth Centre have been told they need to go to other units. Both Eastbourne and Crowborough have standalone midwife-led units and women who have a difficult labour would need to be transferred by ambulance to another hospital.
Both East Sussex Healthcare Trust and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust, which run the services, cited pressure on the ambulance services as the reason for the closures. The trusts, both of which are served by South East Coast Ambulance Service Foundation Trust, have also suspended support for home births.
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Britain could vaccinate 24million people against coronavirus by Easter after the game-changing Oxford University/ AstraZeneca jab was approved this morning and its makers promised to deliver 2million doses a week.
In a massive boost to ending the pandemic within months, the UK medical regulator green-lit the vaccine, which is cheap, easy to transport to care homes and protects 70 per cent of people after just 21 days. Regulators are now recommending the jab is given in two doses three months apart, rather than over a four-week period, allowing millions more to be immunised over a shorter time period.
Britain has already ordered 100million doses and injections are due to start on Monday, but ministers now face the mammoth challenge of trying to vaccinate 2million people a week to curb the spread of a highly-infectious mutant strain racing across the country.
Boris Johnson voiced bitter regret at brutal new coronavirus restrictions at Downing Street press conference
Matt Hancock has unveiled review of Tiers with three quarters of England due in top curbs by the New Year
The Midlands, North East, parts of the North West and parts of the South West going to Tier 4 from midnight
Everyone else apart from 2,000 people on Isles of Scilly, which is remaining in Tier 1, will be under Tier 3 curbs
Mr Hancock tried to soften the blow by saying AstraZeneca vaccine approval will end the crisis by the Spring
UK has ordered 100 million doses - enough to vaccinate 50million people - with first jabs starting on Monday
Nearly 2,500 women have given birth alone since the start of October as hospitals flout Government guidance, a shocking new report has shown.
The Mail on Sunday is campaigning for all hospitals to allow partners to be present and end the trauma of women attending scans and labour alone.
NHS England has said all but one hospital trust allow partners to attend active births, which refers to the final stage of labour.
However, today s study of more than 4,100 births over October and November in England and Wales has shown this is not happening on the ground.
Of the roughly half of hospital births that are not induced, seven per cent are being subjected to lone births. The majority were across all regions of England.