Shropshire Star

Births suspended at Ludlow and Oswestry midwife-led units

Births at Oswestry and Ludlow midwife-led units are being suspended.

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Oswestry midwife-led unit

Inpatient services at Oswestry MLU will be temporarily suspended until 8am on May 6. Women will be unable to give birth at Ludlow MLU until 8am on May 20.

The units will remain open between 8am and 8pm for antenatal and postnatal services. Health bosses say the closures are to ensure the safe care of women using Shropshire’s maternity services.

It comes as full services at Bridgnorth MLU will resume at 8am on Sunday.

Women booked to give birth at Oswestry MLU or Ludlow MLU who go into labour during this time will be offered a birth at another MLU, the consultant-led unit at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford or can give birth at home.

Sarah Jamieson, head of midwifery at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust , which runs the MLUs, said: “The issues which have been affecting our maternity service continue, and our midwives are being deployed appropriately to maintain choice as much as possible while ensuring the services we provide are safe.

“Currently we have more mothers due to give birth in the Bridgnorth area and we are trying to ensure that we maintain services where our mothers are choosing to be. In line with this we must also ensure that our consultant led unit is appropriately staffed. Consolidating our staff in this way will enable this.

“I must reiterate that decisions over staffing are made purely on the basis of safety and it is important that our midwives are where our mothers are. The safety of women and babies using our maternity services has been, and always will be, our number one priority.

“I would like to apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”