Pregnant women 'shocked' at maternity unit closure

Jem is 29 weeks pregnant and was due to give birth at Yeovil before the closure of the maternity unit

A pregnant woman says she is "gobsmacked" that the maternity unit where she was due to give birth is being closed for safety reasons.

Yeovil District Hospital is temporarily shutting its birthing units on Monday 19 May after failing to meet staffing regulations in its paediatrics service.

Jem, who is 29 weeks into a high-risk pregnancy, said: "I am extremely nervous about giving birth as a first-time mum, so moving hospital is not ideal.

"I'm classed as high-risk due to the IVF and due to my previous complications, so I have to have a consultant. I can't do a home birth and really don't want to move to a hospital more than an hour away."

The closure at Yeovil comes after it was served a warning notice by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), external for failing to meet staffing regulations in its paediatrics service.

Jem, from Wincanton, added: "We live 10 miles from Yeovil – now our options are Taunton, Bath, Dorchester or Salisbury which are all over 30-35 miles away so we're looking at least an hour's journey to deliver the baby when I'm in labour.

"I cannot fault Yeovil for anything they've done. They've put my mind at rest and I'm gobsmacked at this news."

'Shortage of doctors'

Dr Melanie Iles, chief medical officer at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, said it was "really hard to say whether it will only be six months, or not" as the hospital is struggling with a shortage of senior doctors.

She said: "I can't promise it will only be six months - we're working extremely hard to try and achieve that."

The Care Quality Commission inspected paediatric services in January 2025 and issued a Section 29A warning notice because it assessed that the paediatric care at Yeovil District Hospital requires significant improvement.

The news of the birthing services closure comes a year after a critical report into maternity services at both hospitals in Somerset.

Births that were due to take place at Yeovil will now either be moved to Taunton's Musgrove Park, Bath's Royal United Hospital or Dorchester with the midwifery team contacting patients in the coming days.

Jem and her husband Chris may have to drive to as far away as Salisbury to give birth to their baby because of Yeovil's maternity unit closure

More than 1,200 babies were born at Yeovil District Hospital last year, with 3,000 births at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton.

Other maternity services, like antenatal appointments, are expected to continue at Yeovil during the six-month closure period.

Jem said she is in the process of transferring all care over to another hospital if she can and leave Yeovil completely.

She said: "The last thing I want to do is have all my antenatal clinic appointments and consultant appointments at Yeovil and then have my baby at a different hospital with a different consultant."

Hannah Francis gave birth to her son in 2022 and said the maternity building was "not fit for purpose"

Hannah Francis gave birth at Yeovil District Hospital in October 2022.

She said her son was delivered via c-section and it was "so overcrowded" that there "were five new born babies in a tiny room".

"It kind of felt like stepping back in time with the building," she said.

"The midwives were doing the best they could in the situation they are in but there was so little communication," she added.

Ms Francis said while she was "not medically ready to leave the hospital" she just "had to get out".

The CQC report from 2024 acknowledged staff at the trust were "keen to improve the services and some of the problems were out of local leaders' control".