Mums across Kent share their experiences of pregnancy and childbirth during the Covid-19 lockdown
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Updated: 11:38, 23 February 2021
Concerns about the effect of disruption to learning for schoolchildren have been given a lot of attention - but what has the impact of Covid-19 been on newborns and their parents?
Although many people predicted a baby boom as a result of the pandemic, this couldn t have been further from the truth, as the latest figures show a decline in birth rates throughout 2020.
Northfleet mum Samantha Savill talks of her pregnancy experiences during the pandemic
Nine months ago we were in the middle of the first lockdown and many, including the minister responsible for maternity services, felt a baby boom might be on the cards as a result of couples spending more time together.
Painters Ash residents plea to Gravesham council over plans for bungalows on open space
Published: 06:00, 17 February 2021
Campaigners have made a last ditch plea to a council to halt work, after construction of seven homes on open space got under way.
Elizabeth Rose, from Painters Ash, Northfleet, described the removal of trees to make way for the development in Constable Road as absolutely devastating.
The green space, in Constable Road, Painters Ash, Northfleet, before trees were removed to make way for construction. Picture: Elizabeth Rose
But the leader of Gravesham council says the seven affordable, one-bedroom bungalows - which will go to elderly people or those with disabilities - are needed, especially as there are more than 2,500 people on the borough s housing waiting list.
A Gravesend theatre has been transformed into Kent’s second large-scale vaccination centre, hopefully bringing the pandemic into its final act. The Woodville, inside the civic centre, now accommodates four vaccination pods at full capacity, and will soon operate from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week, to deliver thousands of daily vaccinations . The centre will serve members of the public aged 70 years and over, including over 80s who have not yet been vaccinated. Patients will be contacted and invited to visit by the NHS. Anne Clarke, 78, from Painters Ash, felt right at home in The Woodville, as she worked in the venue more than 40 years ago.
Covid vaccine centre in Gravesend opens for north Kent covering Medway, Dartford and Gravesham
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Updated: 18:26, 02 February 2021
Mass vaccine centres in Kent will be capable of giving 15 vaccines per minute when they are all fully operational.
The four sites â in Folkestone, Gravesend, Tonbridge and Thanet â are open or due to open imminently with a combined capacity of 11,000 patients every day.
Gina Bii vaccinates a patient at the Gravesend mass vaccine centre at The Woodville
This means up to 77,000 patients will be vaccinated at the mass centres every week plus the thousands more at dozens of GP-led vaccine centres in surgeries across Kent and Medway.