A demonstration will take place today (Wednesday) at Withybush Hospital by health campaigners concerned about potential changes to services at the vital facility.

The demonstration will take place at 1pm and includes members of the Save Withybush Action Team.

The action comes as a senior neonatal nurse told the Western Telegraph that the safety of Pembrokeshire's babies must be paramount as the team fights to keep a Special Care Baby Unit at Withybush Hospital.

Staff say they are not concerned for their jobs but rather they worry about the future safety of babies in the county.

Senior sister and unit manager at SCBU Linda Jones, who has worked at Haverfordwest for 27 years, said she and other staff members believe closing the unit is "unthinkable" for the county's families.

The unit currently has two high dependency cots, one crash space or intensive care cot and four special care cots.

Staff there are proposing a transitional plan with three high dependency cots, one crash/intensive care and five special care baby cots and in the long term it is feasible that the unit could house a large level two centre.

The plan also includes a transitional unit within maternity where low dependency babies can be treated without having to go to SCBU, freeing up cots for more seriously ill babies.

"Wholeheartedly the concerns of staff here is not their jobs, because we know we will be redeployed, it's the safety of babies - 80% of our babies' problems arise at birth.

"Most babies are term babies that until delivery have no problems but during delivery something goes wrong or something is not right with the baby - the most important time for the baby after birth is the golden hour and the minimum amount of contact and care given initially the better they are.

"If they have to be put in an incubator and go to Carmarthen the outcome will not be as good and recovery will be longer.

"It's an exciting time having a baby but also terrifying when a baby comes here - even if just for 24 hours - and most of our babies are here for 24 or 48 hours then they go back to the ward but they won't be able to do that in Carmarthen."

Transport of babies, as well as visiting families, is also of concern at SCBU which relies on CHANTS (Cymru inter-Hospital Acute Neonatal Transfer Service), the newborn transport service for the whole of Wales. It does a magnificent job but working hours mean that a baby born at Withybush after 5pm is unlikely to be collected for transfer until the following lunchtime, said Mrs Jones.

Mrs Jones also wants to reassure parents that it is only on nurse staffing levels that the unit does not meet national standards and this has been overcome recently with new appointments made.

"It really concerned everybody when it said standards not up to national standards, it was a real kick in the teeth for the girls here and what effect must that have on the mothers and anyone who is pregnant?

"The only reason we don't meet national standards is because we're not funded properly staff wise - equipment wise we only have to want something and someone raises the money, the Pembrokeshire people are so generous, 75% of equipment in the unit has been bought by Pembrokeshire people," added Mrs Jones.

Recruiting nurses has also never been a problem at SCBU said Mrs Jones, but recently two people turned down offers because they did not want to end up at Carmarthen and there are concerns that medical recruitment may be harder.

Despite concerns that speaking out may be frowned upon, Mrs Jones was adamant that the safety of babies was more important.

"We've known it's been coming for the last ten years or so but I've always said let's not panic over it, I know our mothers will come and support us on it but what's overwhelmed us is the amount of support," she added.

Losing SCBU could also have an affect on paediatrics and maternity staff said Mrs Jones, leading to these services being unsustainable at Withybush.

The SCBU staff work hard to keep their skill levels up, taking on additional training and study wherever they can, as well as working as a dedicated and passionate team, striving against the odds to ensure the unit stays open by covering absences or coming in at short notice because they do not want mothers to be transferred out of the area to deliver their babies.

The unit was built as a 13 bed facility but has been downsized on previous occasions.

Following the new appointments, and if two upcoming maternity leavers are covered, the unit will have 17.3 fulltime equivalent members of staff for its seven beds, which are nearly always full.

Health Board plans level 2 unit

Hywel Dda Health Board says it wants to improve care for sick babies by developing a level 2 neonatal unit which would provide specialist care for the first time in the health board area.

The unit, which would be co-located with a Complex Obstetric Unit, would be an improvement on the level of care currently provided, resulting in less babies being transferred out of the health board area, a spokesman said.

Hywel Dda Health Board’s Clinical Director for Child and Adolescent Health Dr Simon Fountain-Polley said: "The health board wants to establish a level 2 neonatal unit to provide all aspects of high dependency care within the boundaries of Hywel Dda Health Board in order to care for sick and premature babies much closer to home.

"Currently, babies requiring this level of care are often sent to Singleton Hospital and sometimes even further afield. The level 2 unit would allow us to care for these babies within our own area, as well as return babies with even higher level needs earlier, thus bringing families back together more quickly."

8,500 join petition

More than 8,500 people have joined a Facebook group objecting to the loss of the Special Care Baby Unit at Withybush Hospital and have been joined by local MPs and AMs.

They do not object to the new unit in Carmarthen but do not want to lose the Pembrokeshire base which has saved babies from across the county.

People are encouraged to take part in the Hywel dda consultation itself and add their thoughts at www.hywelddahb.wales.nhs.uk/Consultation.

Pembrokeshire's first health board public meeting will be on Thursday, September 20th at Sir Thomas Picton School, 7pm to 9pm.

There is also an online petition at www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-the-scbu-at-withybush-hospital.