My wife and baby daughter have now returned home.
Sophie was delivered at the Crowborough Birthing Centre, which is a midwife run unit. Although it feels like a private hospital it is very much an NHS run facility which provides excellent care to expectant mothers (and fathers!). Crowborough is a world away from our nearest general hospital (East Surrey) which is huge, feels constantly under pressure and is very in debt. Although both are staffed by committed and hard working staff there was no question where we wanted to go.
The real tragedy of today's centralized NHS is that units like this are few and far between, there is only one other such unit in the south of England. I believe that a de-centralised, local approach would be much better at delivering the health care solutions that local people need. The current trend to concentrate all care in large regional super hospitals is a misguided attempt to harness economies of scale.
