AN NHS gem sitting in the heart of Okehampton is calling all mums-to-be looking for that five-star treatment. Okehampton Maternity Hospital has never been better equipped to deliver a service second to none. A campaign by Devon Primary Care Trust to encourage people to use their community hospitals is promoting the new 24-hour midwifery cover at the unit, affectionately known as the 'Okehampton Hilton'. With its three squeaky clean and pristine post-natal en-suite rooms and birthing room, cosy lounge with a patio area, open access kitchen any time day or night and even a facility for fathers to stay overnight, it is no surprise that it's a big hit with the mums who have given birth there. The high quality facilities, which look as far removed from a clinical environment as you could imagine, are matched only by the level of care from the midwives and maternity care assistants. Three days after giving birth, Helen Bonser-Wilton from Hatherleigh told me that the staff had been 'absolutely brilliant' . 'Last night I called them in five times and they could not have been more helpful — there is a one-to-one community atmosphere here. It's intimate and it's close to home.' Due to complications Helen had her baby, Lorcan, in the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital and was transferred to Okehampton for post-natal care where she could rest, learn the skills to cope with a new baby and get to know her new son. Her own private room also enabled her to get some sleep. 'I cannot fault the care I got at Exeter — it was fantastic but by choice I would always come to somewhere like Okehampton first. 'This hospital is a really important facility because not only is the advice and support so brilliant after you have had the baby but it also provides ante-natal care which prevents us having to hike into Exeter . . . and the food is superb.' Help with breastfeeding is a particular strength and it's no coincidence that 78% of women are still breastfeeding when they are discharged from Okehampton, which is usually anything up to ten days after they have given birth. Decorated with images of babies born at the hospital and paintings of local scenes, the unit is blessed with a modern, fresh, welcoming look and equipment, including beautiful wooden bedside cots, and large en-suite showers help to give the home-from-home feeling of comfort. Since the new 24-hour cover was introduced, the number of babies born at the hospital has started to creep up and now averages 12 a month but staff want to keep those figures rising. As long as the birthing room is available, anyone who has had a straightforward pregnancy can use it — there are no area boundaries and mums-in-labour often come from over the border in Cornwall. Beds in general hospitals are more expensive and the primary care trust is naturally keen to increase the through-put at Okehampton. The ethos at Okehampton is about women taking control of their own labour with the minimum of intervention. Community midwife Marion Symes said: 'We try to let the women do as much as they can for themselves without intruding. I could be jumping up and down, but they need a calming, quiet atmosphere. Women need to trust their own ability to give birth. 'The cost of acute beds makes it more necessary for the trust to use community hospitals and our aim is to reduce the stress for women, and consequently they are less likely to have epidurals. Intervention like this is then available for those who most need it.' Okehampton maternity unit offers a birthing pool to ease labour, gas and air, ten machines, which can be lent out, a birthing ball and a CD player so patients can bring in their own music. Women often use massage oils to help relax and some even bring their own acupuncturist. There is also a telephone and a TV in the softly lit birthing room. All the emergency equipment is on hand for the baby if needed but it is hidden behind a curtain so as not to distress unnecessarily. Women whose labours are not going as well as they should and may need further assistance are transferred to the general hospital. Real emergencies are not that common, said staff. Women are also free to change their mind at any time, be it choice of where they have their baby or how they have their baby: 'There is never a time when they cannot change their mind — we are all so used to controlling our lives, but this is one area where we have to wait and see what is dished out to us,' said midwifery assistant and mother-of-five Claire Miles. Claire is new to the unit and believes she has really come up trumps: 'I didn't know this place existed — it's wonderful. It offers that bit of cocooning that women need when they have a baby, and the fact that dads are really involved is great. It's a very friendly place. A lot of patients say they want to stay forever! Many come back and visit and get very nostalgic.' With ante-natal care, birthing facilities and post-natal care all offered at the hospital, for women living in the Okehampton area, there is a consistency of care throughout pregnancy which is often rare today, and the midwife who delivers your baby is more likely than not to be known to you which is a huge bonus. But despite its glowing reports — just look at the visitors' book — Okehampton maternity unit has had to fight for years to stay open and units like this are few and far between, due to increasing financial pressures on the NHS. In the past month, some 'temporary' cuts have been made to some community hospital services to address the primary care trust's large financial deficit. These have not affected the maternity unit and the general thrust of the policy of the trust is to make better use of community hospitals. If more babies are born at Okehampton the chances of the unit still being around in ten or 20 years' time are much higher. This is a case where the NHS has invested money into the service — but if you don't use it, it could be lost forever.