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Nwicker60
28-Nov-11, 13:10
Low risk inductions to restart at Caithness General

SOME Caithness mums will be able to have labour induced at the maternity unit at Caithness General Hospital (CGH) at Wick in the New Year.
Low risk inductions for women giving birth to second or subsequent babies are to restart at the hospital from January 9. First time mums requiring a low risk induction will still go to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness to have their babies.
The service at the Caithness maternity unit was temporarily changed in April 2009 due to staff shortages to ensure the safety of mothers and their babies.
Since then, pregnant women requiring low risk inductions have been transferred to Raigmore Hospital. This has only affected a small number of the mothers who would otherwise have given birth in Caithness during this period. Mothers requiring high risk inductions were already transferred to the Inverness hospital and this has continued.
However, the staffing situation at the Caithness maternity unit has now improved and the Caithness Maternity Services Group last month agreed to restart low risk inductions for women giving birth to second or subsequent babies.
This decision has now been ratified by the NHS Highland Maternity Services Strategy and Coordination Group.
The decision to restart inductions at the Caithness unit was based on the improved staffing position and a review of the outcomes for mothers having low risk inductions at both Raigmore and CGH, which showed that the outcomes were similar in both hospitals.
General Manager for North Highland Community Health Partnership, Sheena Macleod, said: “We are very pleased that we were able to fill the vacant midwifery posts and that we are going to be able to restart this service for some mothers in Caithness in the New Year.
It is anticipated that the number of low risk inductions being restarted in the Caithness unit will be between four and six each month.
The safety of mums and babies is always our top priority.”