Northallerton Friarage Hospital maternity consultation

The proposed change would end consultant-led maternity services at the hospital

A three-month public consultation on plans to reduce maternity services at a hospital in North Yorkshire has begun.

The proposed change would replace consultant-led maternity services at Friarage Hospital in Northallerton with a service led by midwives.

Pregnant women at risk of complications would have to travel to Middlesbrough, 22 miles (35km) away, to give birth.

The Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said current services were unsustainable.

The plans have been heavily criticised and the local Conservative MP, Foreign Secretary William Hague, led a march of several thousand people through Northallerton last year.

In May Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt rejected the campaigners' call for an independent review.

Dr Vicky Pleydell, the CCG's chief clinical officer, said: "We believe that if you have a high-risk pregnancy or a delivery that goes wrong you need to be in the right place with a high quality team of people to support the baby and the mum.

"The case for change is clear, and it would not be safe for the service to remain as it is currently."

The consultation runs until 25 November.