NHS midwifery service terminated with only a week’s notice

The Neighbourhood Midwives scheme in Waltham Forest, north-east London, have announced their closure on 7 February 2019 with just one week’s notice.

As a result of this, expectant mothers who have planned a home birth may no longer be able achieve this.

The service offered a midwife to expectant mothers before, during and after the birth of their child.

However this has come to an end after those booked in with the service received an email telling them about the forthcoming closure. All appointments were cancelled and clients were instructed to refer themselves to other nearby NHS Trusts.

Many women took to social media to express their anger at the situation. It seemed that although most women thought the midwives were fantastic, they were feeling hugely let down by Waltham Forest Clinical Commissioning Group.

Amanda Cavanagh, a Medical Negligence Specialist at Ashtons Legal, says: “These mothers have been badly let down by this almost instantaneous shutdown. Women, who are potentially on the brink of giving birth with specific birth plans in place, are now in the position of having to refer themselves to another birthing unit without the support and planning in place, despite what NHS England have said it is unlikely that the birth of their choice will be accommodated”.