Dedicated hospital home birth team to close

Alex McCarthy said she experienced an "amazing" home birth with her second child

A hospital has said a woman's choice to have a home birth "is not affected" by the closure of its dedicated home birthing team.

Bedford Hospital announced on Wednesday that home births would be overseen by its community midwifery team, rather than by its Blossom service.

The hospital trust in charge, which covers Bedfordshire and Luton, had said there were "significant staffing challenges".

Alex McCarthy from Kempston said her recent home birth with the Blossom team was "amazing" and she felt "really sad" about the change of system.

She described how her midwife arrived at 20:30 and her boy was born just under three hours later.

"I had the same midwife from that very first appointment and she was there to deliver the baby," she said.

"It was the relationship with that amazing home birth midwife that was a pivotal part of that experience for me – it put me into such a relaxed and safe mindset."

She said she was worried that other parents would not benefit from a "bond and support" from the same midwife through to delivery.

"I think it's a real shame and disappointing," said Ms McCarthy.

"With the community midwives, you still have that medical care and assistance, but you don't know on a personal level who's going to walk through that door to support you at that most vulnerable stage of your life."

'High quality'

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it planned to carry on with some "key elements" of the Blossom team.

"Whilst we acknowledge there may be circumstances when it is not always possible for a woman [or] birthing person to have the same midwife, we do plan to have a named midwife throughout their pregnancy and birth, to help with continuity of care," the trust said.

"People who choose to give birth at home will still receive personalised, high-quality care from our community midwives.

"We want to reassure everyone that this change will not affect the standard of care or the support our service users receive throughout their pregnancy and birth journey."