Birth centre to remain closed amid lack of staff

ABIRTH centre in Bristol which “temporarily” suspended services more than 18 months ago remains closed today due to shortages in the “maternity workforce”.

Cossham Birth Centre, in Lodge Road, was closed in October 2022 due to staff shortages, with women in labour being redirected to the Mendip Birth Centre at Southmead Hospital.

At the time, North Bristol NHS Trust’s chief nursing officer Steve Hams said that it would resume the “full service as soon as possible”. However, more than a year and a half later, it remains closed.

This week Mr Hams said that the Trust is not in a position currently to reopen the birth centre.

He said: “Providing safe care for all women, birthing people and babies across our services is our priority.

“While we have made progress in recruitment, maternity workforce challenges remain across the NHS and regretfully we are not yet in a position to reopen the Cossham Birth Centre for births. Work remains ongoing and we will update further as soon as possible.

“We are sorry for any disappointment this may cause and would like to reassure families that our home birth service continues to be available on a case-by case-basis and the Mendip Birth Centre at Southmead Hospital remains an option as an alternative midwife-led setting for women and birthing people.

“Community appointments, breastfeeding support and other antenatal and postnatal services continue to be available from Cossham. We recognise the valuable contribution of Cossham Hospital in providing services for the local population and are continuing to review how we can further develop services on the site for the local community.”

Pregnant women spoke prior to the closure about the difficulties the ambiguity has created when planning the birth of their newborn.

Back in 2018, Cossham Birth Centre was closed for several months, also due to staff shortages. The staff who did work in the Cossham facility were transferred to Southmead Hospital for the duration of the closure.