Pontefract maternity unit to close permanently

Friarwood Birth Centre at Pontefract Hospital has been shut since 2019

The maternity unit at Pontefract Hospital will be closed for good, the NHS has announced.

Friarwood Birth Centre temporarily shut in 2019 due to a midwife shortage, now the closure has been made permanent.

The NHS said the number of births at Pontefract was "lower than expected" so it cannot justify midwives being deployed there.

Local Labour MP Yvette Cooper blamed the decision on a lack of government investment.

A NHS report said about 200 women a year gave birth at Pontefract before the unit's suspension and midwives continued to work at centres where the numbers were higher.

The Mid Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust said maternity provision would continue to be offered at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, and a full range of antenatal and postnatal care would still be available at Pontefract Hospital.

Women will also still have the choice of giving birth at home, based on clinical assessment.

Anne-Marie Henshaw, director of midwifery at the trust, said recruiting midwives in the area was "still a challenge".

"We've worked really hard to attract, to recruit, to develop and to return our staff," she said.

She added: "At the moment the future looks positive in terms of workforce, although we recognise that there are regional and national fragilities in maternity workforce generally."

Anne-Marie Henshaw, director of midwifery at the Mid Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust, said recruiting midwives in the area was "still a challenge"

Ms Cooper said expectant women in the area were "being badly let down".

"We were told that this closure was temporary several years ago because of staff shortages, but actually those midwives shortages have become deep and long term because the government has repeatedly failed to tackle those shortages," she said.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, backed by over £2.4bn in government funding, is aiming to increase the number of nursing and midwifery training places to around 58,000 by 2031/32 and we have also invested £165m a year since 2021 to improve maternity and neonatal care.

"This will rise to £186m a year in 2024/25, improving the quality of care for mothers and babies and increasing the number of midwifery posts available."