MORE than 3,500 people have signed up to fight for new mothers to be allowed to stay in Devon maternity units overnight, after plans were announced to scrap the practice.

NHS Devon plans to end 24-hour facilities at community hospitals in Okehampton, Honiton and Tiverton, meaning mothers will be sent home the day they give birth.

It claims the changes will shore up the services, which have struggled to recruit staff, and give more women the chance to give birth in community units or at home.

But more than 2,000 have signed up to a Facebook group to save the Honiton service, affectionately known as the Honiton Hilton, with more than 1,000 joining a Tiverton campaign group. And more than 500 people signed a petition in Honiton town centre over the weekend.

Dr Tim Cox, based at Coleridge Medical Centre in Ottery St Mary, warned: "It's a pretty frightening experience at 2am, when a first time mother is trying to get a screaming baby to latch on, and there's nobody around to help."

Dr Cox said he was angered at claims that the service would improve, and the lack of consultation. "This is a cost-cutting deterioration of standards, where these units are being brought down to the lowest common denominator," he said.

"It's bringing Honiton down to what I believe is an inadequate service elsewhere."

The reorganisation will mean midwifery services are managed by the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (RD&E). NHS Devon says it will improve standards at Tiverton, which had been closed because of a lack of staff, and Honiton, where shortages have meant 24-hour care is not available.

They say it will centralise skills and stabilise the long-term future of the service, as well as meaning more beds are available at community hospitals, because stays will be shorter.

Ottery town councillor Claire Wright, who worked for the NHS for eight years, and transferred to Honiton Hospital after giving birth seven years ago, has started the Save the Honiton Hilton campaign group and led the petition signing.

She said: "If you stop people staying at these places overnight, more will go to the RD&E and less will use the hospital, which will eventually mean it will close altogether."

Andrea Toman, the midwife in charge of maternity services at Tiverton, Honiton and Okehampton hospitals, insisted the service was not being downgraded, but would offer "care in the right place at the right time". "We want our mums to know they can be in the comfort of their own home with the confidence that when and if they need the support in the care of their child they can get it," she said.

Not all new mothers are against the plans. Nicola Booth, 33, from Clyst Heath, Exeter, gave birth to Samuel, on February 17 at the RD&E. She went home four hours later.

She said she felt "completely taken care of", with full support from a midwife and a breast-feeding co-ordinator. "It's been brilliant, they all come to the house which has made my life easier and I have felt very well looked after," she said.

A series of events will explain the transition. For full details, e-mail d-pc.strategic review@nhs.net or call 01392 267865.