A pregnant mum from Barnstaple has said she feels "filled with nerves" after learning that the maternity unit at North Devon District Hospital will not reopen as planned.
The maternity unit at North Devon District Hospital (NDDH) has had its standard birthing services suspended since August 11 because of staffing issues.
Last month, The Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said it was “cautiously optimistic” that it would be able to reopen the birthing services at NDDH by the end of September.
However, the trust released a statement this week saying it had “not been able to meet our reopening threshold rota coverage to reopen birthing services safely on Tuesday 29 September.”
They added: "Despite this latest position, we remain committed to reopening birthing services at NDDH as soon as possible. We will undertake our next readiness assessment on Monday 28 September and, if needed, every two weeks after that."
Lauren Rowe lives in Barnstaple and is pregnant with her second baby. She said the news that the unit was not set to reopen on September 29 made her anxious.
“Although my first labour wasn’t particularly fast, it was fast enough. I worry about the journey. If my waters were to break and I had to travel to Exeter it panics me to think about what could happen in that journey.”
Lauren said she was especially concerned about the hour and a half journey between her home and Exeter, and that traffic could make the trip much longer.
“I worry about the potential of giving birth in a car. It does fill me with a lot of fear.”
Lauren said the provisional reopening date of September 29 had made her feel reassured.
“I felt like I could relax knowing that I would be five minutes away from where I would give birth and that I could go on and enjoy my pregnancy.
“But now I don’t know what’s going to happen. Although I’m in my second trimester, we all know how fast things go. It might not be open by the time my baby's due.”
Catherine Mchomvu, an antenatal teacher from Devon Antenatal Family Centre, said there has been lots of disappointment from mums since the latest announcement.
“I think families were really hopeful that they would pull it out the bag and get the unit safely reopened.”
However, she stressed that families wanted a sustainable service.
“From conversations I’ve had, families would rather wait for it to be opened permanently and sustainably rather than opening now and then not knowing if it would close again by the time it is needed for their babies.”
She also highlighted the journey to Exeter as a major concern for mums, particularly with winter approaching.
“The roads haven’t been stress tested and as they become wet and slippery that can become another worry.
“Recently in Barnstaple road works meant it took an hour to get out of town, plus another hour or so to get to Exeter, in no world is that safe for a labouring woman.”
A 'maternity matters' peaceful protest has been organised on Thursday September 24 at Caddsdown Business Support Centre in Bideford.
Devon Mum Fears Car Birth as Maternity Unit in Limbo