A RADCLIFFE mother has spoken of her shock over plans to shut Fairfield Hospital's Special Care Baby Unit.

Amanda Bebbington, of Glenwood Close, gave birth to tiny Ethan just seven weeks ago by Caesarean section. Ethan, who was two weeks premature and weighed 5lbs 11oz, was rushed to the unit after developing a serious lung infection.

Amanda (32) said: "The staff in the unit were wonderful, not only at their jobs, but as human beings. They were sensitive to the distress and anxiety a parent faces when they have a seriously-ill child.

"We were so impressed by one nurse called Judy that we named our son Ethan Jude after her. All the nurses were great and explained everything to us but Judy spent the most time with Ethan while he was in the neo-natal unit."

As part of the controversial plans announced last week, the maternity unit will be closed and replaced with a 24-hour midwifery-led unit.

There will be no overnight stays and mums would be sent home within hours of giving birth. Help and support would be provided by community-based health care professionals.

If mothers experienced difficulties, they would be transferred to one of four speclialist hospitals in Greater Manchester.

Amanda said: "If our son had had to go to another hospital, I would not have been able to see him or be with him for at least four days as I had to recover from my operation.

"Being in Fairfield meant I could go and sit with Ethan and hold his hand and help the nurses feed him. I would not have been able to do that if he was elsewhere."

She added: "I think that the health authority are irresponsible for playing around with the lives of newborn babies who are most vulnerable, especially if they are born with complications.

"Thankfully our son is doing great now, and we will never forget what the unit did for us. We owe them a great deal."

Health officials have claimed the proposals, made by the Children and Young People's Network for Greater Manchester, were "long overdue" and will improve care.

A meeting of the Strategic Health Authority in Manchester this afternoon is expected to back the recommendations, after which they would go out to public consultation for three months in the autumn.

The Fairfield Baby Lifeline Society, a charity group which has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for the unit in the past 25 years, is holding a public meeting to protest against the plans on September 13 at Bury Town Hall.

To join the campaign contact Sharron on 0781-3870002 or Donna on 07790-403758.