WIRRAL Primary Care Trust is the first in the country to sign a contract with a private company to provide maternity care.

One to One (NW) has signed a three-year contract with the trust and says it now aims to develop similar relationships with other PCTs across the North West and England and Wales.

Joanne Parkington, founder and clinical director of One to One, said the contract signing was probably the “biggest thing to happen in midwifery” since The Midwives Act 1902, which established the state regulation of midwives.

The ground-breaking contract followed a successful pilot scheme with NHS Wirral PCT in which more than 200 mothers-to-be were able to use One to One for all aspects of their pregnancy other than the actual birth.

However, with the backing of the Department of Health, the company has secured the insurance it requires to now be able to provide expectant mothers with the complete service, including delivery.

The plans have been criticised by Labour as “sinister” and privatisation “by the back door” and earlier this year Wirral Council’s Labour leader, Steve Foulkes, said there had been “little or no consultation about moving from the pilot to a full-blown service”.

The Royal College of Midwives also said they would be “watching developments around this with interest” and insisted they would be concerned if “tendering of services out to a private organisation led to job losses among NHS staff”.

Joanne Parkington said: “We are thrilled that Wirral PCT has chosen to award One to One the contract to deliver our maternity care service to mothers-to-be in Wirral.

“The pilot and now the full contract are quite simply the first of their kind in England and Wales. We believe they are the biggest thing to happen in midwifery since The Midwives Act more than 100 years ago.

“One to One aims to reinvent free midwifery services by delivering a personalised service that places women and their families at the heart of their care.

“Continuity of carer has been shown to increase the normal birth rate, reduce hospital admissions and associated interventions, improve breast- feeding rates and boost women’s satisfaction with the whole maternity service.

“For the first time, the NHS is able to give women choice in their maternity care. It will also relieve the pressure on the existing NHS system and introduce a specialised service for teenagers and the most vulnerable.”

A spokeswoman for Wirral PCT said: “NHS Wirral is pleased to be able to offer women in Wirral a choice in how and where they would like their maternity care to be delivered.

“One to One Northwest provides an opportunity for midwives to offer a different style of care from hospital based maternity units, free at the point of delivery.”

“NHS Wirral continues to contract local hospital-based maternity services to providers such as Wirral Hospital’s Trust and Liverpool Women’s Hospital.”