Macclesfield Maternity Unit has reopened today
It has been shut for 39 months, but maternity services at Macclesfield Hospital have fully-resumed today.
When the service was suspended at Macclesfield Hospital, the team of midwives were either relocated to host hospital sites at Stepping Hill, Wythenshawe and Leighton for women who preferred a hospital-setting birth, or remained as community midwives for women who chose a home birth.
Many mums travelled to these, or Stockport Hospital for a maternity service, or went private.
But now, Macclesfield will benefit from maternity services on their doorstep.
Macclesfield MP David Rutley welcomed the decision: "This is fantastic news for local families and for our community", he said.
"It is a real vote of confidence in the sustainable future of our hospital."
According to East Cheshire NHS Trust, 1400 people give birth at Macclesfield Hospital per year.
Now, they will be able to have full support throughout the pregnancy journey, at the same level of service that expecting parents got before the pandemic.
Ged Murphy, Chief Executive of East Cheshire NHS Trust, had this to say:
"It gives me great pleasure to share the news that we have now met the robust safety criteria required to return our maternity service," he said
"The return of this service could not have happened without the ongoing support of all our staff and partners, and I would like to express my sincere thanks to everyone who has worked alongside us over the past three years.
"This news is fantastic for families who access our maternity services and our midwifery and obstetric staff who have been working at host sites."
Macclesfield's maternity unit was one of a very small number of units which had been temporarily closed due to coronavirus
Post-COVID winter pressure and staff shortages had been previously been cited in recent years for the reason of not reopening yet.
But Monday June 26 will go down in history as the day Macclesfield got their town's maternity services back.
Kate Daly-Brown, Director of Nursing and Quality for East Cheshire NHS Trust, said: "As a local resident in East Cheshire I am passionate about our maternity services.
"I joined the Trust in September 2021 during the period of time when the service were suspended and was incredibly impressed by our exceptionally committed teams who are passionate about providing a quality maternity service for the local population. The team have adopted the catchphrase 'Macc is Back!
"I cannot thank our many partners enough – it has been a privilege to work with them over the past three years and to be in a position to return our full hospital maternity service. We are now fully staffed from a midwifery, anaesthetic and neonatal perspective and will be delighted to welcome our new cohort of international midwives over coming months. In preparation our maternity ward has been refurbished and modernised."
Macclesfield Hospital is located on Victoria Road.
Macclesfield MP David Rutley added: "I am very grateful to Ged Murphy, Chief Executive at East Cheshire NHS Trust which runs the hospital, and all the team that has worked so hard to make this possible.
"The reopening also benefitted from the active support of Graham Urwin, Chief Executive at the Cheshire & Merseyside Integrated Care Board, and other local NHS partners.
"The staff at the maternity unit have shown their strong commitment through uncertain times by returning to provide maternity services in Macclesfield, after such a long period working in other locations. Their dedication is a key factor in enabling the unit to reopen at the hospital, as it has.
"Since the maternity unit was temporarily closed at the start of the pandemic in early [March] 2020, I have been working closely with NHS leaders, in regular meetings, and raised concerns with Ministers to ensure that this much-valued local service would recommence when it was safe to do so.
"Over the last three years, there have been previous attempts to reopen the maternity unit, with a number of challenges leading to delays in the services being returned.
"It is now great to see that local families will, once again, be able to have their babies delivered in Macclesfield Hospital - closer to their homes and their loved ones. This is a very positive outcome.
"It is also important to highlight that since 2022 over £13 million is being invested in clinical services at Macclesfield Hospital. This further demonstrates continued support for vital healthcare services at our local hospital."
Maternity services in Macclesfield can be called on 01625 661145.
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