Specialist maternity services risk being “stripped from the heart of communities” in areas like Dundee and Fife, it has been warned.
Tory MSP Meghan Gallacher criticised plans to scale back the numbers of hospitals caring for sick and premature babies from eight to three.
If the Scottish Government’s plan goes ahead, specialist care for the most vulnerable newborns will be limited to Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen.
This will cover babies born at less than 27 weeks, newborns who are severely underweight, and those who require complex life support.
As a result, Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital and Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy would no longer have specialist neonatal units.
The SNP claim this will be the best approach based on evidence published in a July report on the future of maternity provision.
But Ms Gallacher claimed downgrades to maternity units which have blighted rural units are now affecting the whole country.
The Central Scotland MSP, who gave birth to her first child last year, raised concerns over the state of services in parliament yesterday.
It came as government ministers were met with impassioned pleas from political rivals to reverse course to cut the number of specialist units.
Speaking on The Stooshie, the Scottish politics podcast from DC Thomson, Ms Gallacher said: “The downgrading of maternity services started within our rural areas in the hearts of our rural communities.
“We have seen yet three more hospitals being proposed as part of a downgrading exercise by the Scottish Government, and the impacted hospitals are Victoria Hospital, Ninewells, and Wishaw General.”
Ms Gallacher said it is vital for mums to be as close to home as possible when in labour and after giving birth irrespective of the circumstances.
‘Widespread worry’
She added: “I can understand the upset and worry that this is causing to mums everywhere because they want to be able to give birth as close to home as possible to have that vital support network nearby.
“And of course if you know their babies do need specialised care they’ll also want that to happen as close to home as possible as well.
“Services are being stripped from the heart of communities and it’s causing widespread concern and worry to mums right across Scotland.”
LISTEN: Stooshie podcast special on maternity services
In response to concerns brought up in parliament, SNP public health minister Jenni Minto defended the decision.
She said: “The Best Start outlined that Scotland should move from the current model of eight neonatal intensive care units to a model of three units.
“The evidence is clear that the chances of survival are better for these highest risk babies when they are cared for in units by clinicians who see more of these babies, and with access to specialist support services.”
Ms Minto ensured MSPs that hospitals stripped of their specialist units will still sometimes be able to provide intensive care treatment for newborns.
It comes as former SNP finance secretary Kate Forbes shared her own experience with postnatal depression.
In a candid interview, she shared her own personal story as she was left feeling an “intense sadness”.
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