The rest of the mothers would have been sent to Nowra after being assessed as being at too high a risk, the workers claimed.

As anger continues to build over the number of expectant mothers being told they are at too high a risk to deliver their babies at Milton, some have revealed the extent of the questions being posed as part of the risk assessment.

They include looking at a mother’s socio economic status, whether she is underweight or overweight, or even if she is of short stature.

And a tick in any of many boxes automatically results in the mother being sent to Nowra, according to health workers.

State Member for South Coast Shelley Hancock met on Friday with Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District chief executive officer Sue Browbank to discuss maternity services, and asked for a review of the assessment criteria.

That review had been agreed to, Mrs Hancock said.

She added doctors needed to have a greater say in where women who deliver their babies.

“It’s your doctor, your local GP, who knows you best, and they should have the say on what hospital best suits your needs,” Mrs Hancock said.

She conceded there were occasions when expectant mothers should travel to Nowra where there were more facilities available to deal with difficulties and emergencies, and “If it’s safer to go to Shoalhaven Hospital then they should go,” Mrs Hancock said.

However “I know it was important for me to have my family nearby when I had my babies in Milton,” she added.

“I’m advocating as many women as possible having their babies in Milton, as I did.

“The best option is for mothers to have their babies in the hospital closest to their families, but if there are risk factors then the focus should be on the safest place possible.”

Concerns about being sent to Nowra has created additional stress among expectant mothers, according to Laurece Keith from the Milton Ulladulla Family Support Service.

“We’ve got lots of families having babies who are going to Shoalhaven Hospital and that wasn’t their birth plans,” she said.

Many feared their babies would end up being delivered by paramedics in the backs of ambulances or by the side of the road en route to Nowra, she added.

However the change did not only affect mothers as “Dads won’t be able to pop in on their lunch breaks and visit,” Laurece said.

Other family members who did not drive faced real challenges getting to Nowra to spend time with new mothers, she added.

Family Support is circulating letters posing a range of questions about changes to maternity services at the Milton Hospital.

The letters, which have already been signed by a number of expectant mothers and sent to Mrs Hancock  and the health service, question why mothers are being sent elsewhere when the Milton Hospital is well equipped and has doctors providing obstetric services.

“With an increasing population it just seems ridiculous that we are losing services for our area instead of enhancing what we already have,” the letter states.

“We fear that is mothers are being forced to deliver ion Nowra that we will eventually lose our maternity ward.”