Pregnant women in rural north Devon say the suspension of maternity services at their local hospital has left them anxious about their birthing plans.
The Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has suspended standard birthing services at North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple. The trust said the move was "the only safe course of action" due to staffing issues, despite "extensive efforts" to keep services running.
The decision follows planning that began in July for a possible temporary suspension because of serious staffing shortages. By the start of August, the trust said it had explored and exhausted every option, including securing locum cover and mutual aid from partner organisations, and concluded that a temporary suspension was the best solution. It said it had carefully reviewed staffing levels against clinical safety requirements.
Carolyn Mills, the trust's chief nursing officer, said: "We have worked tirelessly alongside our partners, including NHS Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board and NHS England regional colleagues, to explore every possible option to avoid this outcome."
The trust said it had contacted more than 300 women who were 34 weeks pregnant or more, as well as those identified as vulnerable or clinically high-risk.
Rebekah Hester, from Ilfracombe, is classed as high-risk due to having pre-eclampsia, a complex condition that causes high blood pressure and can put both baby and mother at risk. She said she was looking at tutorials on giving birth and home deliveries. Hester, who is 22 weeks pregnant, said coming to the realisation that her birth might not go as planned was "terrifying".
She said: "You turn to midwives and you turn to Google, and Google is saying an hour-and-a-half drive is too far, you need to find a closer maternity unit, or you need to watch these tutorials on giving birth and home deliveries."
Her due date is in December, so she said she has had time to work out a plan, adding she felt for women due a lot sooner.
Hannah Winne-Dennis said her pregnancy had to be a lot more controlled because it involved a high-risk in vitro fertilisation process. She said the plan was always to have an induction at 39 weeks on Monday 17 August, originally at the north Devon hospital, but she was now facing having to travel to Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.
The trust said the last planned inductions and caesarean sections would go ahead on Friday, while Sunday would be the last day NDDH could accept those in spontaneous labour.
Members of the Unison union for the South Western Ambulance Service and Allied Health said losing local provision meant people in labour and other patients needing urgent maternity care faced "significantly longer journeys to Exeter". A union spokesperson said: "Given the rural geography of north Devon, and the road network in the area, this isn't just an inconvenience, it adds real travel time at moments when minutes matter."
Devon County Council's Health and Adult Care Committee is due to discuss the closure on Monday 17 August, looking at how expectant parents could face travelling more than one hour to give birth.
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