Loss of Daisy Hill Maternity Services 'will cost lives'

Only for Daisy Hill Hospital Newry woman Sinéad Cole's six week old son would not be here and the loss of Maternity services from the facility "will cost lives". That's the emotion fuelled story thousands in attendance at the weekend's SOS Save Daisy Hill rally heard.

On the 14th of September this year Cole went into spontaneous labour at home giving birth to their little son at just 26 weeks and six days into her pregnancy.

She explained to the crowd about the stress she and her husband went through, calling 999 and waiting for the ambulance with every second seeming like an hour. While waiting they were trying to keep the baby warm, stimulate hime and giving him mouth to mouth.

What came next though was astonishing. Even though they were 5 minutes from Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry the ambulance crew were told to take them to Craigavon Hospital, 40 minutes away.

"When the paramedics arrived, they too were very shocked and stressed, and even more so when they were told to take our baby to Craigavon Area Hospital in the back of their ambulance with no equipment to support our premature baby." she said.

Cole is forever grateful that the paramedics because of their experience made their own judgement and took the baby to Daisy Hill and is in no doubt that their baby would be dead if they hadn't.

"There are no ifs, buts, or maybes, our baby would never have made it to Craigavon alive. We got the treatment in Daisy Hill, and we are very, very grateful to the staff who treated our baby immediately. For a premature baby, they need heat, he needed warmed, and he needed oxygen to stabilise him. None of those could have been given properly in the back of the ambulance."

Their son was six weeks old yesterday and they are so relieved that despite challenges he has been given the chance of life rather than a very different story. She believes lives will be lost if the department is closed.

"The loss of Daisy Hill Maternity Department could and will cost lives, precious babies and mummies like me and my little son, with a detrimental impact on the dads, on siblings, and on their wider family circles."

In conclusion Cole added: "We, the people here, are not statistics. We should not be treated like figures on a spreadsheet. Our health service should not rely on good luck or chance, because that's what our story came down to. The women, babies, and families deserve far better, and a hospital within a safe distance from where they live. I hope together that we can make a difference and save the Department of Maternity Services in Daisy Hill."