Doors close on birthing centres

The new birth centre at Ashurst will be midwife-led

Two birthing centres in Hampshire are closing their doors to mothers after months of protests to keep them open.

The Lymington and Romsey centres have shut ahead of the opening of a combined birthing unit, Snowdon House, Ashurst.

The Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust has said a third centre in Hythe will close once the new facility is up and running.

Staff were informed last week of the closing date, Wednesday, and midwives are available for the community.

Helen Dennett of the Lymington Birth Centre Support Group, said that any mothers who had given birth at the centre were low risk and could go home within a couple of hours.

She said women going into the centre in the last two days were warned about the situation.

Plans to close the centres were announced by the Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust (SUHT) months ago, due to the centres operating below full capacity.

Announcing the closures in November, Mark Hackett, the trust's chief executive, said: "Rather than having several birth centres standing half empty, we will have a thriving centre of excellence offering a better service for local women as well as more job satisfaction for our staff."

However, Ms Dennett said she was "very disappointed" by the decision, adding: "How can losing seven beds make things safer when we have a rising birth rate?"