THURROCK’S Community mums face a bleak future as they are set to be made redundant by Thurrock Council at the end of August.
The service started over twenty years ago in Tilbury, serving families there with parenting and breastfeeding support.
Over the years it was taken under the NHS wing and delivered throughout Thurrock.
But, according to one mum, they have now been served with redundancy notices.
A spokesperson said: "We contact every single mum after birth of their baby and offer our support and home visits/groups /phone support.
"Most staff are now paid. All 12 of us there started as volunteers and are all now paid staff and face redundancy on 31st August.
I have workd as a breastfeeding supporter for nine years and am devastated for the loss of our service in Thurrock and to the future parents that will not be receiving our care and support. On my personal Facebook page, I have over 50 comments from mums who have been supported over the years. It’s very sad."
A petiton has been started on http://www.thepetitionsite.com/158/354/807/save-community-mums-and-dads/ and has gained close to 700 signatures.
However, Thurrock Council view the situation somewhat differently.
A spokesperson said: "It is not correct to say Thurrock Council has decommissioned all parenting services.
"The council tendered the service and no provider (including the two current ones) expressed an interest in continuing beyond this month.
"The two mentioned organisations provide support to a relatively small percentage of new mums, as most support comes through the 0 to 5 healthy child programme care path which includes MeSH (Maternal Sustained Health) which is a gold standard Australian programme of support to mums, and the Family Nurse Partnership which provides extensive and tailored support to mums under 19.
"Responsibility for commissioning these programmes shifts from NHS England to Thurrock Council in October and the council is keen these both continue to be commissioned".
This reply has not gone down well with the community mums.
A spokesperson said: " I am shocked by this response. Our key performance indicators (KPI’s) are to contact every single Thurrock mother discharged from Basildon hospital within two working days of discharge, then to offer breastfeedng support to each of these mothers and to follow up and record stats at 10 days and six weeks.
"I find it unbelievable they can say we only support a small number of mums. Our service is offered to every single mum.
"They comissioned an unrealistic tender and asked us to provide double the amount of support (7 days a week and evening support too) for an unrealistic amount of funding.
"Cynically we think they managed to get rid of 12 people by the back door. Our petition has been signed by 620 people in just over 1 day, who have given us fantastic feedback and are very upset that this service has been axed.
"It really is a huge loss to Thurrock if we are not permitted to work in the field of our passion anymore. We all started as volunteers and only want to support parents."
