Births moved to Princess Royal Hospital due to 'essential' works at Shrewsbury and Ludlow
All births at Shrewsbury Royal Hospital will be moved to Telford for two weeks because of essential maintenance work at two of the county's Midwife Led Units.
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) has temporarily suspended all services at Ludlow MLU due to concerns about the condition of the building.
There will also be some disruption to maternity and paediatric services at the RSH from Monday due to maintenance work.
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust said it is working hard to ensure disruption caused by the essential works to the main plant room in the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital's Copthorne Building is kept to an absolute minimum.
Due to the nature of the work, it said some disruption will be caused to maternity and paediatric services at RSH. A small number of services will be temporarily suspended, while others will continue to operate as normal, with the exception of hot water and heating.
The Shrewsbury MLU will temporarily stop receiving women in labour as of 8am on Sunday.
Sarah Jamieson, Head of Midwifery at SaTH, said: "We would like to apologise for any inconvenience this temporary closure may cause. We are seeking to minimise the disruption caused, and while the essential works are estimated to last a fortnight, all options are being explored to get the services restored earlier.
"All women booked for the Shrewsbury Midwife-Led Unit at the RSH will be redirected to the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, where they will be able to choose to give birth at either the Wrekin Midwife-Led Unit or the Consultant-Led Unit. The women will then continue to receive their postnatal care in the unit where they give birth until they are able to go home. Their community care will not be affected and hospital staff will be redeployed to these areas to facilitate the additional activity."
All women booked to have their baby at the Midwife-Led Unit at RSH between October 17 and October 31 are being notified of their options for birth and the important telephone numbers they may require.
Community Midwifery services will be entirely maintained and should women have concerns they should contact their community midwife using the numbers given to them and contained within their hand-held records.
Expectant mothers due to give birth at Ludlow MLU have been contacted, and alternative arrangements have been put in place.
Simon Wright, Chief Executive, said: "I would like to apologise for any disruption this temporary closure may cause.
"The decision to temporarily suspend services is not one we have taken lightly, but one we felt to be necessary and in the best interest of mums, babies and staff.
"I have requested a number of reports, including a structural survey, to be conducted into the condition of the building. No further decisions about when services will resume will be made until the findings of those reports are returned and evaluated.
"SaTH is looking to find an alternative area locally to house our antenatal services."
