Closure of postnatal beds 'upsetting', say mothers

Lorna gave birth to Joe (middle) and twins Lily and Ruby in Gloucester

Mothers say the closure of a hospital's postnatal beds is "upsetting", claiming many are missing out on important post-natal care.

Women currently cannot give birth at Cheltenham's Aveta Birthing Unit. They can at the hospital in Stroud, but cannot stay there and are transferred to Gloucester for postnatal care.

Poppy, who gave birth in April, said concentrating the county's services in Gloucester was "really short-sighted".

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust has stressed it is committed to reopening Stroud's maternity ward, which closed in 2022.

Maternity facilities in Cheltenham also closed that year for the same reason, a shortage of midwives.

Poppy, from Wotton-under-Edge, had a C-section at the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in Gloucester, claiming staff seemed "stretched" and her experience was "impersonal".

"I was meant to stay in for about two nights but ended up discharging myself the next day, even though I could barely walk," she said.

Poppy believes her experience would have been "worlds apart" had she been able to give birth to her son in Stroud rather than Gloucester, and said she has considered other options should she have more children.

"The beds there [Stroud] not being overnight is such a shame, and it just feels like another blow for women," she said.

"I never realised how sparse the services are in this area. We've talked about moving out of county or hiring another property for the month leading up to birth and maybe the month afterwards."

Lorna Jenkins went home a few days after giving birth to Lily and Ruby at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in Gloucester

Lorna Jenkins has seen both sides. She used Stroud's postnatal beds for her son's birth but was unable to use them for the twin girls she had via C-section 10 months ago.

If she hadn't received postnatal care in Stroud following Joe's birth, she believes she "wouldn't have been able to continue breastfeeding".

"As anyone that's had twins or a C-section knows, the experience post-birth is completely different," Mrs Jenkins said of her twins' birth.

"You can't really move so I didn't really want to leave hospital but there was a bit of pressure for me to leave Gloucester, so I did go home after a few days, but I really wanted to go to Stroud and have that postnatal care.

"[Gloucester staff] were great for the actual C-section, and I can't fault them for that at all. But they're just too busy."

'A vibrant future'

In a statement, the trust said it is "committed to providing safe maternity care across services in Gloucestershire".

"The trust remains committed to the reopening of the Aveta Birth Unit when it is safe to do so.

"Stroud Maternity Hospital remains open for labour and birth and the community midwifery service is unchanged," it added.

"We want to see a vibrant future for the hospital as a place to give birth and receive high-quality midwifery care and support.

"No decisions have been taken about the postnatal beds and the trust is engaging with the Stroud League of Friends and other community partners on ideas to develop services and support within that space.”