By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
Cheltonians will continue to be born in hospitals elsewhere in the county as the spa town’s maternity unit will remain closed for the foreseeable future – despite dozens of new midwives being recruited since 2022.
The Aveta birth centre at Cheltenham General Hospital was closed temporarily more than three years ago due to staff shortages and a need to ensure safety, according to hospital bosses.
Currently, apart from home births, babies are born at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in Gloucester and Stroud Maternity Hospital. Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has since focussed on increasing the number of maternity staff they employ and have added the full time equivalent of 25 midwives.
However, hospital chiefs say that while the number of births in Gloucestershire is declining, the complexity of care has increased.
And they will conduct a health needs assessment of the county’s maternity service later this year before making any decision on reopening the birth centre in Cheltenham.
“The decision to temporarily close Aveta was taken in April 2022 in response to significant staffing concerns and a need to ensure safety,” an Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said.
“Over the past two years, we have focused significantly on increasing the number of maternity staff across our services, in the context of real challenge nationally in recruitment.
“This work is succeeding and we have added the equivalent of 25 full-time midwives to our service since April 2022. It is important to recognise though that midwives are just one part of the team that support women and babies, and we are currently focussing on recruiting additional obstetricians also to support the growing number of women who require medical support.
“It’s also important to note that many of our new midwifery colleagues are newly qualified and we have worked hard to put in place further training and supervision as part of their induction with us.
“We know that in recent years the number of babies born in Gloucestershire has fallen but the complexity of care has increased – more women are having caesarean sections now than ever before is just one example of this.
“This means the needs of women are changing, and we need to understand what that means in order to plan how we deliver safe and high-quality care for the future.
“To help us understand this more fully, a Health Needs Assessment for maternity services in Gloucestershire is underway, led by the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and includes insight from families and staff and will help shape how we deliver maternity care, whether that’s in a hospital setting, birth centre or in people’s own homes across Gloucestershire.
“The health needs assessment is expected to be completed later this year and will be considered alongside any recommendations coming from the national review of maternity and neonatal care announced in June 2025.
“Our focus will always be the safety and experience of mums, babies and families and while staffing levels have improved there is more work underway, and a decision on reopening Aveta will not be made until after the completion of the health needs assessment, and the national maternity and neonatal review.”