A FAMILY who say they owe their lives to the Wrexham Maelor Hospital are calling for it to have more maternity resources.
Their call came as staff shortages at the hospital this week have meant beds at the special care baby unit (SCBU) have had to close.
Brian Valentine, from Salisbury Street, Shotton, says his wife Nicky and son Dylan would not have survived if it were not for staff at the unit.
Dylan, now two, spent two months in the unit after being born three months premature.
“Neither would be here if we had to travel to Glan Clwyd,” said Brian.
“When we were there they were struggling to man it because it was the summer holidays. They took it from four beds down to three.”
Since Dylans birth the family has been backing a campaign to safeguard maternity services at the hospital, and now Nicky is pregnant again the cause is even closer to their hearts.
“Everything is going fine so far with the pregnancy but then it was with Dylan at this stage,” said Brian, who works at Lindop Toyota in Wrexham.
“I know Nicky is very apprehensive in case she does need that level of care.”
Brian said the unit desperately needs more staff.
“It’s not as if they don’t often use the unit so they can turn around and say they don’t need all the beds,” he said.
“They are constantly in use. It’s simple things like babies needing to be warmed after they have been born.
“It’s quite alarming when you have staff unwell so beds are not open.
“If they can rotate staff why have they had to take out the cots?”
Dr Brendan Harrington, chief of staff, children and young people at Besti Cadwaladr University Health Board, said: “Cots within the Special Care Baby Units are used flexibly on a regular basis. This is to respond to local need, and also the skills mix that is on the ward at any one time. At the moment, in Wrexham we do have staff sickness and staff on maternity leave.
“Our over-riding principle is to ensure safety at all times and our Special Care Baby Units are manned at safe staffing levels.
“However, it is important to stress that if normal cots need to be used as high dependency or intensive care cots at any time, this can be arranged by bringing in additional staff or by changing staff rotas to ensure the ward has the correct mix of staff.
“This flexibility is part of our normal working practice.”