Home birth service suspended due to midwives shortage

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Bosses at Newham maternity unit say they are unable to supply enough on-call midwives.

A report this month by the Healthcare Commission rated the hospital's maternity service the worst in London and second worst in the country.

A letter sent by Diane Jones, the hospital's head of midwifery, said that until 30 new midwives had been recruited the hospital felt it was "unable to provide a safe service for home births".

Tara McGuinness, due to give birth next month, had hoped to have a home birth and says she feels let down. She claims that in November she was assured she would be provided with care for a home birth but a month later discovered the facility was no longer available.

Ms McGuinness, a 33-year-old PA, said that when she contacted the hospital she was urged to either use a birthing unit there or hire a private midwife to assist her at home.

"I shouldn't have to provide a midwife, paying £3,000, and feel the hospital-is risking my safety as they don't know whether I can afford to do that," she said. "They should have a service able to provide midwives."

Ms Jones's letter said: "Current practices recognises the need for two midwives to attend a home birth. . . unfortunately, it may not be possible to allocate two midwives to be on call and we are unable to redeploy a hospital midwife if they are already with women in labour in the hospital.

"We are not in a position to give a confirmed date when [we] can realistically offer home births safely."

A spokeswoman for Newham Primary Care Trust said: "Newham has one of the highest birth rates in the country. This, coupled with a shortage of qualified midwives, has meant it hasn't always been possible to provide home births.

"We have recruited a number of midwives which will greatly improve the situation when they come into post. In the meantime, we are commissioning some independent midwives who are specialists in home births to enable the home birth service [to resume]."