Downgrading the maternity service has dramatically reduced the number of women entitled to use it

Jan Lake, BUMP campaign

The maternity unit at Brecon War Memorial Hospital has recently re-opened as a midwife only service.

The downgrading means that many women will be sent out of the county to Abergavenny, a round trip of 60 miles, to have their babies.

This means some women have to make a 60-mile round trip to Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny.

The BUMP Campaign against the downgrading has gained support from thousands who have signed petitions and from local politicians of all parties.

For some who experience complications while in labour, it will mean emergency transfer to Nevill Hall at an advanced stage of labour.

"Downgrading the maternity service has dramatically reduced the number of women entitled to use it," said BYMP spokesowman Jan Lake.

Campaigners have pledged to continue to fight to re-gain a 'medium risk' GP Specialist service.

"The unit was a unique flagship of maternity care which served the local community superbly well for over 25 years," said Mrs Lake.

'Skilled and dedicated'

"It is strongly felt that the downgrading is due to an over-zealous application of Royal College of Nursing standards which are based on a model for much larger urban District General Hospitals.

"We have skilled and dedicated midwives/GP Specialist staff along with fully operational theatre facilities - we want our full service re-established," she added.

She said that the Royal College standards for maternity services had been written for larger urban areas and did not reflect the very real problems experienced in mid Wales.

The fact that access to services is limited by remoteness and lack of accessible public transport was not taken into account, she said.