Dunfermline will soon welcome a new “born and bred” generation thanks to the creation of a midwife-led maternity unit at Queen Margaret Hospital.
In response to SNP by-election candidate Shirley-Anne Somerville, NHS Fife chief executive John Wilson said a proposed midwife-led unit for low-risk births was part of the programme of work scheduled to be undertaken in 2015/16.
This would see the first babies born in the west Fife town since the controversial plans to close down Dunfermline maternity hospital in the early 1990s.
Since 1993 all in-patient maternity services have been provided in Kirkcaldy, latterly at the Victoria Hospital.
Meanwhile at Queen Margaret there has been a full ante-natal service, consultant clinics for high-risk mums-to-be and a community midwifery service with home visits and clinics across west Fife.
In correspondence which The Courier has seen, Mr Wilson sets out what NHS Fife hopes to provide in the future at the Dunfermline hospital. These include:
* Additional clinics and clinics for some high-risk women, for example, those with diabetes;
* CTG (foetal heatbeat) monitoring by telemetry with the trace reviewed by a consultant and advice given;
* Some maternity assessment clinics, for example, for mums with reduced foetal movement;
* Post-natal care for women who need ongoing support. This could include blood pressure monitoring.
Ms Somerville welcomed correspondence from Mr Wilson outlining a timetable for the development of modern diagnostic and treatment services, to include the midwife-led maternity unit.
She said: “I was delighted to receive this commitment and it is crucial for the people of Dunfermline that this project with the important services, including the midwife-led maternity unit, gets under way in the timescale outlined to me by the chief executive of NHS Fife.”
Responding to The Courier, Mr Wilson said exact details of timings could not be confirmed at this stage but added: “In 2002 Fife Health Board set out a long-term strategy for healthcare in Fife.
“An important element in that was… the development of Queen Margaret Hospital as a diagnostic and ambulatory care centre, which is ongoing. An aspect of the plan, set out in 2002, was a proposal to create a midwife-led unit at the hospital.
“This proposal remains within the board’s plan.”