CONCERNS have been raised about Government plans to provide mums-to-be in Worcestershire with a range of choices about where they want to give birth.

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has unveiled plans to guarantee pregnant mums a choice by the end of 2009, including a home birth, a midwife-led birth or a consultant-led birth.

However, Pat Gould, the Royal College of Midwives regional manager, said she doubted the plan could be delivered locally because no extra money was available.

"They say these things nationally and then give trusts the local freedom to do what they like," she said. "It's most unsatisfactory. It is almost like a gimmick because they're not actually putting money behind it."

She said there were also concerns about how many midwives it would take to ensure it could be done.

There are currently 380 midwives working within Worcestershire, 153 full-time and 227 part-time. A spokesman for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said he could not say how many more midwives, if any, would be needed because it had not yet been decided what services would be on offer.

"Any major changes will be subject to public consultation and what we are looking to do is provide excellent maternity services and deliver a high quality service to the women of Worcestershire," he said.

Under the plans, women will be able to choose what form of care they want when they first discover they are pregnant. However, when the trust unveiled plans to reorganise hospital services last July, it ordered all hospital births to take place at Worcestershire Royal Hospital. Last month, the Worcester News revealed tours of maternity wards have been scrapped and antenatal classes reduced at the county's hospitals to save more money.

Worcester's Labour MP Mike Foster said: "Would-be parents should have access to the type of delivery they want."

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