Decision on Shropshire's midwife-led units should be made by June

Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group is currently carrying out a review into the county's midwife-led units.

The trust that run's Shropshire's two main hospitals recently said they think the three midwife-led units at Bridgnorth, Oswestry, and Ludlow should be become 'birthing centres' – closing at night.

Campaigners fighting the possible changes to maternity units said they would resist the move, which they see as a downgrading of services.

Julian Povey, chairman of Shropshire CCG, said they were doing the review as the units were struggling and Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) said it could not deliver the services under the current costs.

He said: "We have put money aside for the service currently as it is and we are making sure we include everyone in the review.

"Currently 85 per cent of births are done at the consultant-led unit in Telford. In the evening 33 per cent of midwives are in the midwife-led units where there are less deliveries – there is a mismatch of where the most deliveries and staff are.

"The midwife-led units are much loved and the people who use them have brilliant experiences. We want everyone to have that.

"We are doing the review to make sure we use the best of the resources we have.

"We are hoping to have a view by the end of June and plan for the changes over the summer – if any are needed."

Dr Julie Davies, director of strategy and service redesign at the CCG, said: "We need to validate the claims made by SaTH and get the full picture.

"That will either support the case for change or not.

"We want to make sure everyone is involved in the review. We are taking everyone's views on board.”