“SAFE, high-quality, accessible care, including local delivery of services and availability of choice” — that is a principal recommendation of a new nationwide review of maternity services, which the Public Health Minister presented to the Scottish Parliament last week, in what could be a watershed moment for the campaign to save the birthing unit at the IRH.

The review states that ‘all women should have an appropriate level of choice in relation to place of birth’ and that ‘birth in an alongside or freestanding midwifery unit’ should be among the choices available.

According to the report, for women without complications in their pregnancy, having a baby in a midwife-led unit is as safe as being in one led by consultants.

There is also good evidence that having a baby in a more comfortable, less clinical environment can improve a women’s whole experience of childbirth without any adverse impact on care.

A midwife-led unit might not be right for every birth but the evidence is clear and women in Inverclyde deserve the choice. Right now not enough information is made available to women to let them know what their options actually are.

The clinical arguments for closing the birthing unit have fallen apart. Any closure now would be about cuts – not clinical need.

Nicola Sturgeon’s government, who denied there were ever any plans to centralise services out of Inverclyde, now have to decide whether to go ahead with the closure of a birthing unit they once insisted was safe or listen to the community, accept the findings of their own review and save this service.

I again asked for guarantees about the future of the birthing unit in the Scottish Parliament last week. I received none and now I worry that no decision will be forthcoming until after this May’s local elections.

That would be unacceptable. The Scottish Government can stop this closure and they should do so without any further delay.

They can do more for Inverclyde’s children too — by keeping the Children’s Ward in Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital open so that families don’t have to travel all the way to Glasgow for paediatrics.

Every child deserves the best start in life. Let’s put that idea into action and keep Inverclyde’s maternity services local.