Thurso is a town in the far north east part of Scotland. Its remote and isolated location in Caithness (3 hours north of Inverness) is accessible via train and the vital A9 with a ferry link from the port of Scrabster to Stromness on Orkney which can be seen from its exposed north coast. The population of just under 4000 people relies heavily on the Dounreay nuclear research establishment for employment. Thurso's community is tended to by Dunbar Hospital.

Following a downgrading of the maternity services in Wick CHAT (the Caithness Health Action Team) have been campaigning for consultant-led maternity support to return to the Caithness general hospital.

The service was replaced by a midwife-led unit in 2016 because of safety concerns which has caused outcry from  all over Caithness.

People in the north Highlands can face round trips of 210 miles (338km) or more to give birth in Inverness. In some instances women on their way to the hospitals in Inverness or Aberdeen have even had to give birth on the side of the A9.

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This regionally specific issue is only a sample of a major trend in isolated locations underpinned by systemic issues including the underfunding of research into women's health and the societal dismissal of women's issues and pain.

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