MOTHERS on Mull say that a ''long-distance childbirth'' system is to blame for 64% of births occurring by Caesarean sections or forceps deliveries.

Women's groups have criticised a system which has encouraged 80% of the island's mothers-to-be to have their babies at least 120 miles from home over the past 12 months.

Scotland's National Childbirth Trust Maternity Services representative, Mrs Mary Kennedy, described the figure as ''absolutely appalling''.

She said: ''Either there is something strangely odd about the make-up of women on Mull which makes them different from every other female of the species, or there is something detrimental about a system which forces them to have their babies hundreds of miles from home.

''I understand these figures have come from the women on the island, with the assistance of other professionals within Argyll, and I have no reason to doubt their accuracy. The situation seems even crazier when you consider that there is a brand new hospital nearby at Oban on the mainland with its own maternity unit.

''Even before the new hospital was built women from all over Argyll and the islands quite happily had their babies in the old Oban Maternity Hospital for decades. Ironically, now that the new one is built things have actually got considerably worse for them.''

Of the 27 Mull women who have had babies in the past 12 months, 22 gave birth at hospitals at least 120 miles away. Of those 22 women, 14 ended up having Caesarean section or forceps deliveries.

The Caesarean section figure of 23% - five women out of the 22 - is 7% higher than the UK national average of 16%.

The five women who didn't travel to have their babies all had normal deliveries.

Four were delivered on the island and the fifth was born at the new Lorn and the Islands Hospital, Oban, before GPs in the town withdrew maternity cover for all but their own registered patients.

The hospital has no full-time obstetrician and GPs became reluctant to provide the service for women they hardly knew.

The Industrial Relations Officer for the Royal College of Midwives in Edinburgh, Mrs Gillian Leneghan, said: ''I can understand some of the GPs' fears, but when the new hospital was built so many women's hopes were built up.

''I understand one woman has been told she can stay at the hospital in Oban the week before her due date, but as soon as she's in labour she'll be taken to a hospital 90 miles down the road.''

One islander, Mrs Nicola McClymont, said: ''When I had Cullen 13 months ago in Paisley I felt so depressed that I demanded to be induced. This actually slowed my labour down and I ended up being sectioned.''

Mrs Jacqueline Bennett is booked into the Vale of Leven Hospital, Alexandria - 120 miles from home - to have her second child in five weeks. She said: ''I'm dreading being so far away from home and family.''

Psychotherapist Carey Morning, who works in Kilmelford, Argyll, spoke of the ''terrible splitting process'' being experienced by local mothers.

Dr Bruce Lennox, a spokesman for the GPs at the Lorn Medical Centre, Oban, said: ''We have been made the scapegoats in what is a very complex matter, which involves legal problems.

''In fact we have never been contracted to provide cover for people not registered with us. It was very much a grace and favour situation and we received no extra money for providing a cover which shouldn't really have been our responsibility.

''In fact, the responsibility for maternity cover lies squarely with the Argyll and Clyde Health Board.''

A spokesman for the Argyll and Bute NHS Trust, which runs the Lorn and the Islands Hospital, said: ''I was on Mull recently, and can sympathise with some of the concerns of the women there. The draft maternity services review being carried out by the Argyll and Clyde Health Board should make the options clearer.''

A spokeswoman for the Argyll and Clyde Health Board confirmed that a draft maternity strategy would be released within a week.