Health minister Philip Dunne backing midwife-led maternity units

The Ludlow MP, who is second only to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, has called to retain maternity units in the more rural towns in his constituency such as Bridgnorth and Ludlow.

But, he warned, increasing the number of births at both locations was key to help secure their long-term future.

There are campaign groups to safeguard the future of Shropshire's more rural maternity units in Bridgnorth, Ludlow and Oswestry, set up in recent months over fears the units may see funding slashed, be downgraded to "birthing centres" closed overnight or even closed altogether.

Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group has agreed continued funding for the units for the next two years but only if a current review into maternity services agrees.

Mr Dunne met with campaigners from Bridgnorth and Ludlow who have also called for more mothers to be to chose to have their children at a local unit rather than going to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital or Telford's Princess Royal Hospital, if the option is available to them.

Mr Dunne said: "I commend those campaigning for greater use of the midwife-led units at Bridgnorth and Ludlow, and share their strong desire to see these stay open for use over the long term.

"That said, I recognise the challenges faced, made clear from recent staffing issues and my conversations with NHS bosses. In order to be viable and to retain quality committed midwives, our midwife-led units need to have more babies born in our community hospitals each year, to improve upon the average of one or two per week.

"So I have been encouraging mums who have had babies in midwife-led units to share their positive experiences, so other families can consider this option, if they are advised it is safe for them to do so.

"In the meantime, I welcome the funding commitment from Shropshire CCG, which guarantees funding for our midwife-led units for the next two years. This will give us the breathing space to show our commitment to these facilities, and hopefully start to see increasing births at each site."

He said births at Bridgnorth had increased from 69 in 2011/12 to 82 in 2015/16, but births at Ludlow had decreased from 86 in 2011/12 to 52 in 2015/16.

Antenatal appointments at Ludlow have decreased from 3,293 to 2,741, and at Bridgnorth from 4,996 to 3,376, while postnatal appointments have increased from 776 to 1,111 in Ludlow, and 515 to 769 in Bridgnorth.

Bridgnorth campaigner Bobbie Brown said mothers should support their local unit if possible but there were ongoing concerns over recent temporary closures of the units around the county due to staffing issues.

She said: "Our midwife birth rates need to increase but it's going to prove very difficult if the units keep closing so regularly."