NEW parents have spoken of the excellent care they received at Devizes Maternity Unit. The unit held an open day on Saturday and people from Devizes, Pewsey, Marlborough and Trowbridge visited.

The unit has been the subject of a campaign to save it after bosses at the Kennet and North Wiltshire Primary Care Trust proposed closure, claiming it was too costly and underused.

A campaign by the community and the Gazette and Herald which included two petitions signed by 20,000 people has resulted in a reprieve for the unit while a year long review overseen by the trust's new chief executive Carol Clarke takes place.

A total of 82 people visited the unit on Saturday and saw for themselves the gold standard service it provides.

The unit is run by midwives and is for women who have uncomplicated births. Women who give birth at a larger hospital also come back to the unit for post natal care.

Last year there were 313 women booked in and 158 births at the unit. The breast feeding rate at the unit was 97 per cent initially and 80 per cent at six weeks.

Louise and Alex Irwin moved from Plymouth to Devizes to be near to the maternity unit. The couple have a three-year-old daughter and Mrs Irwin is currently 16 weeks pregnant.

She said: "We didn't know I was pregnant when we moved to Devizes but we moved here because we wanted another child and the maternity unit is nearby. I have been to a couple of ante natal appointments at Devizes and it's a really nice homely unit. It's an excellent facility."

Campaigner Catherine Ferris of Littleton Panell near Devizes, gave birth to her second child, Freddie, on Friday. She gave birth to her first child Charlie, who is nearly two, at Devizes.

Miss Ferris, 30, went on the maternity protest march in Devizes in February 2003 and in March 2004 to the Houses of Parliament to deliver petitions against the closure of the unit.

She said: "The unit is brilliant, it's so family orientated."

Her partner, Nigel Peck, 40, a carpenter, said: "I just can't believe that the PCT want to close the unit, there should be more of these units not less."

Jess Hale, a community nurse who works in Wootton Bassett, lives with husband Rob in Devizes, and gave birth to their first child Charles at the Royal United Hospital but returned to Devizes for post natal care.

Mrs Hale, 25, used to work at the RUH and said: " Not so many years ago I was thinking small units like Devizes should be shut. In the NHS you are spun the line that large hospitals are best but since being at Devizes the maternity unit deserves to keep the rest of the hospital open.

"The larger units have a lot to learn."

Two health care support workers from the maternity unit at Salisbury District Hospital visited the open day. They asked not to be named and one said: "Salisbury is so clinical whereas at Devizes it's home from home. Now I can understand why people are so uptight about delivering in a large hospital."

No-show health chiefs criticised

Devizes midwives were disappointed members of the PCT's board who were invited did not attend the open day.

The midwives were also surprised that Carol Clarke had not visited the maternity unit since she took over as chief executive of Kennet and North Wiltshire and West Wiltshire Primary Care Trusts last October.

A trust spokesman said: "Carol Clarke has recently contacted all employees of both Primary Care Trusts to say she is more than happy to meet staff, either in their teams or on a one to one basis, on request.

"The assistant director of maternity services Vicky Tinsley, who is a member of the board, attended the open day and said it was a very positive event and was well attended by the public."