My comments come as a newcomer to the area, and as a midwife. The Wiltshire midwife-led units have long been held in high esteem and are the envy of many other parts of the country.

It was with sadness, therefore, that I learned that two of them Devizes and Malmesbury are threatened with closure.

The reason for the threatened closure appears to be that they are under-used and cost too much to run. The implication therefore seems to be that if they were busier, the problem would be solved.

This brings me to wonder why they are not busier. The solution, in my limited understanding as a newcomer, seems all too simple.

Tell more women about them.

I have heard comments from women in Marlborough that they did not know the Devizes unit a 15- minute drive away existed! This beggars belief.

It has also come to my attention that women in Swindon, had they known of the Malmesbury unit as a choice, would have gone there. I can only surmise that the people responsible for ensuring that women have choice as to place of birth are either ignorant of the existence of these units or are withholding information about a valid and safe choice.

Surely either of these possibilities could be rectified by a simple information-giving exercise to GPs and community midwives in the surrounding areas, along with some up-to-date research regarding the safety, good outcomes and benefits to women and their families of midwife-led care. The units, I am sure, would get very much busier.

Yours in hope that yet another community maternity unit does not have to close; that women do not have to leave their families and travel miles to the nearest short-staffed baby factory; and that the midwives who currently work so hard in these valuable local units are not forced to resign and leave the profession.

Frances Findlay

London Road

Devizes