PLEASE have your babies at the Grange. That's the message for mums-to-be in Petersfield and across the county borders of West Sussex and Surrey.

The maternity centre is alive and kicking within Petersfield Hospital, with the prospect of a new £26,000 birthing pool and facilities to make the centre the number one place to give birth for women who don't need to go to hospital.

This week, Jill Walton, head of midwifery for Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, reaffirmed the trust's commitment to keeping the Grange Maternity Centre open and encouraging even more births there.

The reassurance comes amid rumours that women had been turned away and that there were problems with the current birthing pool at the Swan Street unit.

For full story, see this week's Petersfield Herald.