SIR - I will be adding my name to the petition to save Guisborough maternity unit. It is the least I can do after the excellent care I received there, to try to help others to receive the same.

I had my children 11 and seven years ago, but the stay in Guisborough Maternity was so much better in comparison to the short time I stayed in South Cleveland after giving birth.

It is necessary for mothers in the East Cleveland area to have somewhere to go nearer to home to recover, even if they don't give birth there - especially for a first baby because the help and guidance is there. That kind of support is lacking at South Cleveland Hospital.

The staff at South Cleveland don't have time to help new mums with the basics that seem such a hurdle at first. When they don't feel well and have to cope on their own it can be quite scary. Even changing a nappy, bathing a baby and trying to breastfeed can be quite worrying when you've had no experience of it.

At Guisborough, the staff have enough time to give the help needed and to allow rest and recovery, helping people to manage better when they get home instead of going home exhausted and stressed.

I can understand that people may want to go to South Cleveland for the birth and feel safer because of the facilities and technology (I did both times - the second was a Caesarian anyway) but surely transferring to Guisborough afterwards relieves South Cleveland's ward staff, giving them a bit more time to give support to the mums who live in the Middlesbrough area and who have no choice of another hospital.

Also, going to Guisborough maternity unit for some of my ante-natal appointments was very handy rather than the journey to Middlesbrough from Skelton or Saltburn, heavily pregnant and struggling with parking.

It will be a real shame if mothers are deprived of this service.

M Partlett, Saltburn

They helped so well

SIR - My experience of Guisborough maternity unit began on January 12 this year when I transferred there, with my three-day-old baby, from James Cook University Hospital.

The staff at James Cook has been superb, but they were rushed off their feet and the constant noise from building works outside the maternity wing meant that any kind of rest was impossible.

Consequently, I had become more and more distressed and was starting to feel that I just couldn't cope with my new role as a mother.

On arrival at Guisborough, I was given a lovely room and made to feel at home immediately.

The whole atmosphere of the unit was relaxed, pleasant and as homely as possible.

The staff were all marvellous and with their support, I began to feel that perhaps I could look after a baby after all!

It was much easier for my husband to visit and there were no parking problems.

I firmly believe that without the facility of this local maternity unit, I would have suffered a much worse case of the 'blues'.

I think that it would be nothing short of a tragedy for mothers in this area if the unit - refurbished earlier this year - were to close, either temporarily or on a permanent basis.

Louise Dale, Redcar

Close to home

SIR - I too am upset that this lovely little maternity unit is closing. I myself have gone there to recover after my four sons and am due to have my fifth child in May 2003.

We live in Guisborough and do not have any transport of our own, so my husband won't be able to visit me much at all in Middlesbrough. How could he?

And I hope they do not expect me to go straight home after making me have my baby at Middlesbrough.

That's why Guisborough's maternity unit is so important - so us mums can come back, get all our rest and see some visitors.

M Higgins, Guisborough

Redcar has potential

SIR - I was flabbergasted to learn of the salaries of the council's chief executives. At half their salary they would still have a good lifestyle.

I was doubly flabbergasted to learn that about £20,000 had been paid to consultants when the people in the street could have said what is needed to make Redcar attractive.

I'm sure eight out of ten would have said a swimming pool. It would cut down on the parks being vandalised, it's a family, all-age recreation and it is preventative medicine.

Meanwhile the new shopping centre has opened, looking like the set of a Jack the Ripper movie.

There is such a lot of potential at Redcar. It just needs common sense.

Margaret Rayson, Redcar.