Pregnant women face two-hour journeys to give birth after North Devon maternity unit closes

Pregnant women in North Devon are facing journeys of up to two hours to give birth after staffing shortages forced the temporary suspension of births at their local hospital.

Birthing services at North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple have been suspended since 11 August after the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust concluded it did not have enough senior medical staff to operate the service safely. Women are instead being directed to alternative maternity units, including the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, leaving some families travelling around 55 miles while in labour.

For women living in rural communities further away from Barnstaple, the journey can be particularly daunting. Some expectant parents have described feeling frightened about what could happen if labour progresses quickly or an obstetric emergency develops while they are travelling.

The situation has led antenatal teachers in the area to help parents prepare for the possibility of labour during the journey, including what they should do if they are unable to reach hospital in time.

One expectant mother, Hannah Rulton, who is pregnant with her third child, has spoken publicly about her anxiety after experiencing a serious obstetric emergency during the birth of her second child. She and her husband now face an almost two-hour journey to Exeter if she goes into spontaneous labour before her planned caesarean section.

The closure was introduced after the trust determined that shortages meant women could not consistently be guaranteed the level of senior medical support they might need during labour. The maternity service had relied on locum and agency cover for some time before further staffing shortages and absences during the summer made the position unsustainable.

The suspension affects births and face-to-face maternity triage at North Devon District Hospital, rather than the entire maternity service. Community midwifery, scans, ultrasound clinics, birth planning and antenatal outpatient appointments have continued to be provided in North Devon.

More than 300 women who were at least 34 weeks pregnant, as well as those considered vulnerable or clinically high risk, were contacted ahead of the closure to discuss their individual circumstances, birth plans and available travel and transport support.

The trust has now made progress in recruiting the doctors needed to restore the service and announced this week that it is working towards reopening births in Barnstaple from 29 September. A final review is due to take place on 14 September to ensure medical rotas, the mix of clinical skills and other essential safety requirements are in place before the reopening is confirmed.

Between the suspension beginning on 11 August and 2 September, 77 women and birthing people from North Devon gave birth at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. Free taxi support has also now been introduced following work between the trust, Devon County Council and NHS commissioners.

The trust has maintained that temporarily stopping births in Barnstaple was the safest option despite recognising the additional risks and difficulties created by longer journeys. Its priority, it says, is to ensure the service only reopens when there is sufficient medical cover to operate safely and sustainably.

The situation has nevertheless highlighted the particular consequences of maternity staffing shortages in rural areas. Closing a service in a city may mean travelling to another hospital several miles away; in communities such as North Devon, losing the nearest birthing unit can instead turn getting to hospital during labour into a journey lasting hours.

National childbirth organisations have warned that recruitment and workforce pressures are affecting maternity services elsewhere in the country too, raising questions about how access to safe local maternity care can be protected in areas where neighbouring hospitals are considerable distances apart.

For families in North Devon, there is now the prospect of local births returning before the end of September. Until the final safety checks are completed and the unit reopens, however, expectant parents are continuing to plan not only for the birth of their baby, but for the possibility of a lengthy journey to reach the hospital where that birth can safely take place.

Stay informed with the stories shaping health and social care.

Register with The Daily Round for the latest sector news, inspections & reports, wellbeing content, workforce insights, expert features and practical updates—delivered free to your inbox.