The A9 from Wick and Thurso to Inverness is a long road, even at the best of times.

I’ve travelled it in all weathers. In the Summer of 1980 as my parents went to the Royal Garden Party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. In the depths of an icy 1984 Winter to my Grandma’s funeral in Inverness.

Even though they have made the hairpin bend on the Berriedale Braes a bit easier and the Dornoch Bridge has cut off a good half hour from the journey, it’s still a long and twisty road.

Definitely not one you would want to be driving along in any stage of labour.

I had to travel about 12 miles by car in the early stages of labour and I can promise you not one bit of that was pleasant. I could not contemplate the thought of setting off from Wick to Inverness at a windy 4 am. And let me tell you the wind in Caithness is a special thing, a lazy wind as an elderly friend of the family used to call it because it went right through you rather than go round you.

But that’s exactly what women in Caithness have had to face ever since the maternity unit at Caithness General Hospital in Wick was downgraded to midwife led in 2016. The alternative to the long drive in labour is being sent to Raigmore to be induced 2 weeks before your due date. And of course induction leads to more intervention than might have been necessary. Imagine the return trip when you’ve just had a caesarean section or a lot of stitches. If you are not wincing at that thought, I have no words.

It’s not just about comfort. It’s about safety. Residents of Caithness are worried about what could happen on one of those journeys, especially in the Winter.

On Tuesday night, Channel 4 covered the efforts of local campaigners in trying to get the hospital upgraded again so that women could give birth safely. In my day all the Caithness babies were actually born at the Dunbar Hospital in Thurso, a much shorter and safer journey. That shows a good maternity service can be delivered. You can watch the film here. It’s good to see that representatives from the Scottish Human Rights Commission have been in the area to assess whether this actually breaches human rights law.

One person who has campaigned relentlessly for change has been our local MP Jamie Stone. Although he wasn’t interviewed for the film, he has been pushing the SNP Government and NHS Highland on this ever since he was elected. He had this to say to us:

It’s a 2 and a half hour car journey from the north of my constituency to the nearest useable maternity unit. That’s hours spent on roads ridden with potholes, covered in ice, or completely blocked if an accident occurs.

“Daunting” is an understatement. It is dangerous.

Women’s health services upgraded and consultant-led maternity services must be restored at Caithness General Hospital. It is unacceptable to tell women, who are already in a vulnerable state, that they have no choice but to make a 200+ mile round trip to access vital services.

The sooner this situation is changed and a consultant appointed, the better.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social