St Peter's Birthing unit in Maldon closed due to lack of staff

Parents will need to travel to Broomfield Hospital for births or opt for a home birth as a result of the closure of the birthing unit at St Peter's in Maldon

A birthing unit has been closed due to staff shortages.

The closure of the St Peter's unit in Maldon, run by the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, will be reviewed every two weeks.

It means women in the Braintree, Chelmsford and Maldon area will only be able to give birth at Broomfield Hospital, or opt for a home birth.

The trust said the closure was temporary and would be reviewed every two weeks.

A spokesman for the trust said: "The safety of the women, birthing people and babies using the maternity services remains our absolute priority."

The trust, which runs the third largest maternity service in the country, said a recruitment drive was under way for midwives, but that it would need to make sure "staffing is concentrated in the right areas" in the short term.

"For that reason, we have made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend our labour and birth activity at the midwifery-led birthing unit at St Peter's Hospital," the spokesman said.

"We will also not be offering specialist post-natal care during this time. We will however continue to offer a Home Birth Service."

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust will review the closure every two weeks

The closure came into place on 15 August and is to be reviewed every two weeks.

"We are committed to reopening St Peter's birthing unit as soon as it is safe to do so," the spokesman said.

Antenatal and postnatal outpatient clinics as well as antenatal triage for low risk pregnancies will continue at the unit between 09:00 and 15:30 BST.

The Royal College of Midwives trade union has this week warned about "plummeting" numbers of midwives across England, while the government said it was aiming to hire 1,200 more midwives and 100 consultant obstetricians as part of a "£95m recruitment drive".

In December, the Care Quality Commission rated maternity services at Broomfield Hospital, the only open birthing centre in the area, as "requires improvement".