MINISTERS are promising women a choice of where they give birth. Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt even went so far as to say yesterday that mums-to-be will have a "full range" of birthing choices by 2009.

Now, cast your mind back to last summer. In the first few weeks of July we highlighted plans put forward by Worcestershire Acute Hospital's NHS Trust to centralise all births in the county at Worcester.

This, of course, meant the closure of all maternity services at the Alexandra in Redditch.

For all the women in the north of the county this translates into an uncomfortable 45-minute journey down to the Faithful City - when, let's face it, you might not have 45 minutes to spare.

Not exactly a "full range" of choices, is it?

Of course, Ms Hewitt wasn't referring to a choice of hospitals - she was talking about mums having a guaranteed choice of whether to have a home birth, a midwife-led birth or a consultant-led birth.

Which is all very well, but if you want a midwife-led birth and your nearest midwifery unit is located across the other side of the county, that isn't a lot of good either.

And, naturally, no money has been put forward to accompany this promise of choices. Just a pledge that primary care trusts will "look at their workforce requirements".

In practice, it seems what this plan for choices will do is strengthen a woman's right to demand these kinds of birthing services.

Just not actually deliver them.