The three-year wait for a water birth in Inverurie will soon end after NHS Grampian said it will reopen the town’s two birthing pools before the end of this month.
The water birth facilities closed in 2020 due to installation issues and remained shut as the NHS tackled water quality issues.
The closure came just one year after the opening of the Inverurie community midwife unit by Nicola Sturgeon.
On Thursday, NHS Grampian announced the water issues have been resolved. The pools will be available from Monday January 29.
Associate director of midwifery for NHS Grampian Katie Colville said: “As caring professionals we’re keen to offer the use of birthing pools to women across Grampian and we recognise how valued these are as a choice for women in their birthing plans.”
Closures limited access to water births, as popularity grows in the region
The reopening brings the total number of functioning birthing pools across NHS Grampian to five.
Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin has one pool, while Peterhead Maternity Unit reopened its two birthing pools late last year.
The birthing room in Aberdeen Maternity Hospital remains closed because of infrastructure issues, according to NHS Grampian.
Last June, NHS Grampian gave staff a sneak peek of the maternity unit in the Baird Family Hospital.
The unit’s birthing pool will replace Aberdeen Maternity Hospital’s facilities when Baird eventually opens.
Baird was initially scheduled to open in 2020 but has been hit by a series of delays.
Over the past few years, NHS Grampian’s birthing pools have been a headache for mothers looking to have a water birth.
Though the popularity of birthing pools, which have been shown to aid pain relief and even shorten labour, has increased in recent years… access has been limited for locals.
Of all the region’s pools, Inverurie’s have been shuttered the longest, however Aberdeen Maternity Hospital’s facilities have been closed since April.
Peterhead’s pools closed after a legionella outbreak in February last year and reopened in October.
How the closures affected Aberdeenshire mums
In October, mums in Aberdeenshire told the P&J how the birthing pool closures had affected them.
The chair of Grampian Maternity Voices Partnership, which has previously called for the reopening of the Inverurie pools, said the closures were limiting birth options for mothers-to-be.
“It is causing a lot of stress and anxiety for women and their families,” Kathryn Masterson said at the time.
“And stress for a pregnant person is not good for themselves, and it’s also not good for the baby.”
‘They need to get them open’: Mums take aim at NHS Grampian over birthing pool closures
