The Bucks Herald has launched a Safe and Sound campaign to help raise the money to buy important equipment to watch babies growing in the womb.

The Herald has appealed to its readers to raise £73,000 for a new ultrasound scanner for Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

The hospital’s maternity ward has to borrow scanners from other departments, and sometimes patients have to be taken to Oxford for care.

If the hospital gets the new scanner it will save hundreds of stressful journeys as it will have a live video-link to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital so staff there will be able to tell if the mother needs to travel for specialist treatment.

The powerful scanner will be able to pick up any defects with a baby’s organ, and even show its blood flow. Early detection of any problems improve the chances of delivering a healthy baby.

Radiology services manager Pam Sangster said: “We scan about 2,500 children per year at the moment, doing about 7,000 separate scans.

“There is a similar machine in the X-ray department, but it takes time to arrange for us to use it.”

Justine Osbourne, who carries out scans at the hospital, said: “This machine will have a big impact on the work we do here.”

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