Births at baby unit paused for 'up to six months'

Births at a baby unit in Leicestershire will be temporarily halted from next month.

"Long-standing challenges" at the St Mary's Birth Centre, in Melton, have "worsened in recent months", University Hospitals of Leicester (UHL) NHS Trust said on Thursday.

These include difficulties in achieving "safe" staffing levels, with about 30% of the team "unavailable due to maternity leave, sickness, or planned absences", a spokesperson said.

The trust said it would be pausing births and in-patient postnatal care at the centre from 7 July.

The spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service there was "appropriate staffing in place" to maintain services until then.

The pause is expected to last for "up to" six months while work is carried out to determine next steps.

Staff at the unit - where 1% of births in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland take place - will be redeployed during this time.

Community antenatal and non-inpatient postnatal services, such as infant feeding support, in Melton will continue uninterrupted.

The 21 individuals and families who have booked or expressed interest in using the centre after 7 July have been contacted, the spokesperson added.

Julie Hogg, chief nurse at UHL, said: "Pausing births and in-patient care at St Mary's Birth Centre is a difficult but necessary step.

"The decision is no reflection of the commitment and care offered by the St Mary's team.

"We have appropriate staffing in place to keep these services running until 7 July, when the pause will come into effect."

Last year, 92 births occurred at the unit, compared to 9,331 across the Leicester Royal Infirmary and Leicester General Hospital, UHL added.

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