Mike Penning has condemned the suspension of parentcraft classes by West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust.

Reacting to the announcement that parentcraft classes have been suspended for first time mothers, Mike Penning said:

“Yet another accountant-led idea of how to run a health service! The suspension of classes that teach our young mums how to care for their new born babies is very disappointing and, I believe, will be counterproductive as mums and babies will end up having to be re-admitted.

“For any young mother the birth of a child is a happy, but also rather daunting, experience. As any parent will know, taking care of a newborn baby is hard work and there are lots of new skills that need to be learned. It doesn’t all come naturally and in a society where many young mums live a long way from their own parents, they rely on parentcraft classes for information and to gain confidence.

“Our new mums, and even Dacorum’s very newest residents, are now paying the price for incompetence in the funding of the health service.

“Bit by bit our local health service is disintegrating, with areas such as mental health, maternity and A&E bearing the brunt.”