Suspended maternity unit to resume births in 2025

A Cumbria maternity unit which temporarily suspended its birth services due to "significant" staffing issues will reopen in February, an NHS trust has said.

The Helme Chase Unit at Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal closed in May, meaning those in the south Lake District who want to give birth at a hospital have to travel to Barrow or Lancaster.

At the time, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust said the decision was "difficult" but it no longer had enough midwives to safely staff the service.

Director Susan Foyle said it had now hired more staff and that the service would start again on 10 February.

She said reinstating the service would allow the trust to push forward with the NHS's maternity plan which advocates for "personalised care" and "supporting women to give birth in a place of their choice".

The service will run as it did before allowing people to give birth 24-hours a day, the trust said.

Helme Chase sees about two births a month and is midwife-led which means there are no doctors present.

Women who have been identified with an uncomplicated pregnancy can choose to give birth there.

Prenatal and postnatal care, as well as outpatient appointments, were unaffected by the suspension of birth services.

The pausing of the service in May came after a report revealed "significant issues" with the Helme Chase community, birth centre and home birth on-call availability.

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