'Women let down as birthing centre remains shut'

Alex Fearnley said she is frustrated the birth centre in Salford is still closed

When Alex Fearnley had her son Teddy, it was the best day of her life.

But giving birth at Bolton Hospital hadn't been part of the plan.

All her midwife appointments were at Ingleside Birth and Community Centre, just half a mile from her house.

However Alex was told that to have a baby there wasn't an option.

"These four or five rooms at Ingleside that have the birthing pool, the calm environment would have just been a lot nicer than a sterile hospital room, especially when it's an uncomplicated pregnancy.

"You just want to feel comfortable," Alex said.

Ingleside Birth and Community Centre replaced the Salford Royal Hospital maternity unit in 2018

Ingleside Birth and Community Centre opened in 2018, replacing the maternity unit at Salford Royal Hospital.

Salford City Council, which owns the building, spent around £2m renovating it into a state-of-the-art midwife-led facility.

In a statement, Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, which leased the building said that Ingleside had remained closed as a place to give birth since late 2021.

The trust said it was still open for antenatal appointments, scans and post-natal care.

Teddy was born at Bolton Hospital despite the family being from Salford

NHS Greater Manchester, which is in charge of commissioning, said: "Keeping births at Ingleside on hold hasn't been an easy decision, but it's the right one while midwifery staffing remains under pressure."

Salford MP Rebecca Long-Bailey has been urging the government to step in, saying: "Women are being let down in Salford.

"We need to have our own birthing centre here in the city of Salford.

"And it isn't right that women, quite often with limited means, are having to travel for miles and miles across Greater Manchester to give birth and to receive the support that they need."

The unit has been closed since 2021

For Alex, the lack of progress reopening the centre for births was frustrating.

"It's really upsetting that we're still sat here and nothing has changed.

"Going on to think we'll have more children in the future and knowing it's still not an option three-and-a-half-years later, it's really, really upsetting."

Ingleside's continued closure for births means that - apart from when women opt to deliver at home - no babies are currently being born in Salford.

And for Teddy it means he doesn't have Salford on his birth certificate or passport.

"He isn't a Salfordian. We would have loved for him to be born in Salford, but it wasn't an option."