The temporary suspension of births at Cossham Birth Centre will remain in place until Spring 2024.
We took the difficult decision to temporarily pause births at Cossham due to workforce challenges so that we can maintain safe care for all women and babies across our maternity units.
Maternity recruitment remains a challenge across the NHS and while we are making good progress, we expect to remain challenged until towards the end of this year and into early next year.
We remain committed to providing maternity services at Cossham Hospital and will use this time to work with our colleagues, local women and partners through the Local Maternity Neonatal System and Maternity Voices Partnership to see how we can develop further services on the site for local families.
Community appointments, breastfeeding support and other services continue to be run from Cossham while births are temporarily paused.
NBT Chief Nursing Officer, Professor Steve Hams, said: “Cossham is a valuable community resource, providing an important hub for a range of healthcare and maternity services.
“Temporarily suspending births at Cossham was a difficult decision to take but was one that was imperative to ensure we maintain the safety of all women and babies in our care.
“We are committed to providing maternity services at Cossham Hospital and hope to use this time to work with our NBT colleagues, local women, the Maternity Voices Partnership and local partners to strengthen the opportunities we provide for women and families in the local area, and more widely across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.”
We understand that birth choice is important and wanted to ensure women are clear about the options available while considering where to have your baby.
While births are paused at Cossham, our relaunched home birth service remains available on a case-by-case basis.
Mendip Birth Centre at Southmead Hospital is also available as an alternative midwife-led setting to Cossham.