"Lack of a plumbed-in birthing pool"

I am a first-time mother living just outside of Campbeltown, Argyll. The Midwifery team have been such a huge support to myself and my husband throughout our pregnancy journey. The team are wonderful, professional, caring and I couldn't have asked for a better experience with them.

We had planned on having a local birth in Campbeltown Hospital, being looked after by the same incredible team who have supported us through pregnancy. Unfortunately, in the last few months it has become clear that this won't be possible. Campbeltown Hospital is the only maternity unit in Argyll and Bute which lacks a plumbed-in birthing pool.

In the past, the team had gotten around this by filling the birthing pool using hoses attached to taps in a room adjacent to the hospital's birthing room, however this has (quite rightly) been deemed unsafe and is no longer a viable option. It's also very difficult for the team to maintain a comfortable water temperature for birthing mothers using the pool without plumbed-in water. This leaves Campbeltown maternity unit with nothing to offer labouring mothers but gas and air. As a result, my husband I will be travelling to Campbeltown's parent hospital in Paisley, over 3 hours away, for the birth of our baby.

The loss of the birthing pool is a huge blow, seriously limiting maternity services in the area. Without the equipment necessary to provide labouring mothers with options for pain relief, the incredible team in Campbeltown are no longer in a position to offer first-time mothers like myself the opportunity for a local birth and will likely see fewer local births overall. Something had to be done to ensure local services such as these are not lost.