MUMS ON THE RUN (From Barry And District News)

MUMS ON THE RUN

BARRY mums-to-be are choosing to travel as far as Bridgend and Llantrisant to give birth, following growing concerns about the hygiene levels in the University of Wales Hospital (UHW), Cardiff.

Women who have recently given birth at UHW have spoken of "chaos" on the maternity wards as nurses struggle to cope with the influx of numbers.

The number of women giving birth at UHW has soared since the maternity ward at Llandough Hospital withdrew doctors on July 1, 2005 and became mid-wife led.

Barry baby, Joshua Norman, was diagnosed with MRSA last month just days after being born at UHW. Although it is unclear how Joshua contracted the hospital superbug, his mother Cara believes the "filth" in the maternity ward was to blame. She said: "I was in hospital for two days and never saw a cleaner."

Among her list of complaints was blood and a dirty nappy on her bedside table, bins overflowing with rubbish, and blood-soaked dressings left in the ward.

Cara's cousin Lisa Perry, of Harbour road, was due to give birth at UHW next month, but has now decided to go to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital instead.

She said: "I wasn't too happy about going to UHW because of all the bad reports regarding cleanliness and, after hearing about Cara's experiences, my mind was made up."

She continued: "At first I didn't know if I would be allowed to switch hospitals, but apparently you can give birth anywhere. If I wasn't allowed to switch I would have gone private."

And Rachel Hopkins, of George Street, who is due to give birth in October, has also switched from UHW to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital.

Rachel said: "I went for a scan at UHW and the maternity ward was stinking dirty.

"I then read about a Barry mother's experience of UHW and I nearly choked.

"I would rather have my baby in the back seat of a car than in UHW."

The number of births at UHW in August 2004 was 226, in August 2005 it was 455 - an increase of 101 percent.

The number of births at Llandough Hospital in August 2004 was 193, in August 2005 it was 28 - a fall of 85 percent.

A Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust spokesperson said: "As always, our focus is the well-being and care of women and their babies and we would like to offer our reassurances that our maternity services continue to deliver best practice.