LITTLE Beatrix Taggart may have been born at home - but her parents are supporting the Bolton Evening News campaign in support of the Royal Bolton Hospital's baby unit.

Beatrix was born in a birthing pool at Teresa and Nigel Taggart's house in Bromley Cross with help from midwives at the hospital.

Such help may not be available in the future if the hospital does not become one of the planned super centres for babies and children in the Greater Manchester region.

We launched our Back The Baby Unit campaign to call on readers to back the hospital's fight to become one of those centres.

If Bolton is chosen, maternity and children's services would expand further - something Mr and Mrs Taggart are keen to see.

They chose a home birth as they felt it was a more natural option and were backed by the hospital in their choice.

Mrs Taggart, aged 27, said: "I just thought giving birth in a birthing pool was the most natural way of doing something so natural.

"The midwives were fantastic. They just told me to do what my body told me to do and it all felt really relaxing.

"The midwives supported our decision. They were so professional and caring."

Beatrix's birth was a real family affair, with Teresa's son, Issac, aged four, and Nigel's six-year-old son, Luc, singing happy birthday to their sister as she came into the world.

When Teresa's waters broke early in the morning in December, the Taggarts filled up the birthing pool in their living room with warm water and called the midwives.

Teresa got into the water, to help ease the birthing pains, and a few hours later Beatrix was born.

More women than ever are chosing to have their babies at home and water births are increasing in popularity. The Royal Bolton offers mums-to-be the opportunity to have a water birth in a special room at the hospital.

If Bolton is chosen as one of just three super-maternity centres in Greater Manchester, East Cheshire and High Peak in Derbyshire, children's and baby services would expand both at the hospital and in the community.

Mrs Taggart said: "It's a wonderful hospital and the community work is marvellous. Extra investment and better services can only be a good thing.

"I think the Bolton Evening News campaign is wonderful and readers should back it."

If Bolton is not picked, it will lose its neonatal ward, meaning critically ill babies will have to be transferred out of the borough.

Public consultation on the shake-up of the maternity services in Greater Manchester will run until April 13, and the proposals can be read at www.bestforhealth.nhs.uk

Responses can be made online or by writing to: Freepost, Making It Better.