A mother who gave birth to her second son at Malton maternity unit last week says NHS bosses are wrong to want to shut the popular wing.

Joanne Welburn, from Norton, had the 'perfect' experience when she had little Lincon last Tuesday and fears that other women will not be able to enjoy the same care in the future.

Now the mother-of-two is adding her weight to calls to safeguard the unit and urging NHS Trust bosses to rethink their plans to close it down.

"I could not have wished for a better birth, " said the 31-year-old. "I had my first son, Jalen, at Malton Hospital and I knew the level of care and safety record there was second-to-none.

''Knowing that I didn't have to travel to Scarborough put me instantly at ease and made the delivery that much easier.

"I was fortunate that both midwives were there to deliver both my children.

Over the two pregnancies we were able to build up a relationship right the way through.

''You could not do this at Scarborough or York."

Last week the Gazette & Herald revealed how another woman was forced to have her baby in the back of an ambulance in the car park of Scarborough Hospital because of "staffing problems" at Malton maternity unit.

Two midwives are needed to deliver a baby at Malton Hospital and health chiefs have come under fire for not staffing the unit properly so mothers opt to go to Scarborough and York to have their babies.

She added: "When I booked into Malton they did make it clear that there might not be enough midwives on duty to deliver my baby - but I was lucky. At Malton Hospital I was able to use the birthing pool.

''I'm sure if I had been at a larger hospital this would not have been available simply because of the volume of the women using the maternity units.

"In my view there is no need to travel to Scarborough when there is a perfectly good maternity unit here in Malton.

''What is the point in trying to re-create this atmosphere miles away - what must that cost?"

Cash-strapped Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare Trust has agreed to close the unit in Malton and make women travel to York and Scarborough.

Just last week, NHS bosses admitted that maggots feeding off a dead seagull on the roof had dropped through a light fitting onto a bed into the maternity unit in Scarborough Hospital.

Officials say Scarborough Hospital will offer a "high quality home-fromhome maternity unit" but others disagree.

Coun Howard Keal, who has backed the Gazette & Herald's Birth Right campaign from the start, said he is horrified at what he says are the results of systemic spending cuts to the NHS.

He said: "It's disgusting that a mother should have to suffer maggots dropping on her bed while at Scarborough Hospital maternity unit.

''It's hard to believe that we live in the 21st century and this is the state of our healthcare.

"This just further proves that the service offered at Malton should continue and despite the efforts to cut spending it still offers the best standard of care."

Director of medical services at Scarborough Hospital, Ian Holland, admitted that a dead bird had been left to rot on the roof but insisted that "there was no risk to the patients or babies at any time" when maggots dropped on to a mother's bed at the hospital's maternity unit.

NHS bosses have not said when they will finally stop all deliveries at Malton Hospital's maternity unit.