Temporary suspension of Home Births
The Trust has taken the decision to suspend home births for two weeks, following safety concerns raised by our staff.
Home births are intended for low-risk deliveries, but when complications arise, it can become unsafe for both mother and baby.
During this pause, we are working on a risk assessment and options to find a balance between supporting choices for giving birth and managing the staffing levels to maintain safe care across the whole maternity service.
Whilst this is a short pause, it is possible that it could lead to a longer suspension of the home birth service while we develop a new staffing model.
Why have we taken this decision?
Although home births account for less than 2% of births (around 4-6 home births per month) in Gloucestershire, we are finding it hard to cover the on-call home birth service at night without risking staff working after a full day shift, which could be unsafe.
Over the past two years we have been able to recruit more midwives to our main service, however, we have not yet been able to increase our home birth teams, which require significant skills and experience because of the degree of autonomy they require to support a woman at home during labour.
Our team of community midwives will continue to provide antenatal care in the community and midwife-led care will continue to be provided at Stroud Maternity Hospital and Gloucester Birth Unit.
We have already contacted women and families who have told us they planned to give birth at home during this time, and our midwives have talked through the options with them individually.
We know this will be disappointing for those who were planning a home birth, and we are sorry that this is not possible at this time. Our focus is always on ensuring the safety of our services and at times this means difficult decisions about where and how we provide care.
If women or families want to discuss their plans, they can contact their midwife as normal, who will be able to answer any questions and talk about choices. Our team of midwives and maternity support workers will continue to provide families with the same level of midwife-led care and support at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and Stroud Maternity Hospital.
We will be working closely with our maternity and neonatal voices partnership (MNVP) during this time to ensure we keep the voices of our community in our reviewing and planning of the service. You can find out more about our MNVP here Gloucestershire Maternity and Neonatal Voices