Expectant mothers face uncertainty after North Devon District Hospital shuts its maternity unit

On 6 August 2026, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (Royal Devon) announced that North Devon District Hospital (NDDH) would be temporarily suspending its birthing services from 11 August until further notice.

The announcement of the closure only five days before implementation meant that some families were required to rapidly alter their birthing plans, many of which may have been in place for months, adding uncertainty to what is already a very vulnerable time.

Royal Devon has made it clear that the reason for the closure is that its medical staffing levels are ‘unsafe’, specifically at consultant and registrar level. Consultant obstetricians and registrars play a critical role in managing complications during labour and delivery, and maintaining adequate senior medical cover is essential to ensuring patient safety.

The trust is also actively recruiting a clinical matron for maternity inpatients, and a clinical midwifery manager; therefore, it appears that staffing pressures may extend beyond consultant and registrar posts alone.

On 25 August 2026, Royal Devon announced that it was working ‘urgently to restore birthing services at NDDH’, implying that the levels they were previously operating at were not safe.

It also announced that it was ‘cautiously optimistic’ that it may be open again by the end of September. Whilst active recruitment is clearly a positive step towards restoring services, it remains to be seen whether the trust can fill the necessary vacancies quickly enough to achieve its anticipated reopening timetable.

Support available for expectant mothers and birthing people

Whilst NDDH restores its staffing levels, births are temporarily taking place at Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (Exeter Hospital), with a small number at Tiverton Community Hospital. However, it is not clear under what circumstances births will take place at Tiverton.

Royal Devon has published an ‘information pack’ for women, birthing people and families in North Devon which sets out which services will still be held at NDDH and which have been transferred to Exeter Hospital. Importantly, antenatal clinics, community midwifery services, routine maternity appointments and much of the postnatal support available to families continue to operate locally, helping to reduce disruption outside of labour and delivery itself.

Royal Devon has communicated that travel, accommodation and financial support is available for those affected by the closure. It has also confirmed that patients do not need to be receiving benefits to be considered for this support and that those affected should speak with their community midwife to find out more about the assistance available. However, it appears that there is greater support available for those who are facing ‘financial difficulties or practical challenges in accessing maternity care’ in the form of a prepaid card to use for travel and accommodation costs.

Recently, a new newborn outpatient clinic opened in North Devon to provide services for newborn babies, including conducting jaundice checks and providing infant feeding support. The clinic is intended to reduce the need for families to travel to Exeter Hospital following discharge and may provide some reassurance to parents concerned about accessing postnatal care while birthing services remain suspended.

Implications of closure

Given the statistics provided by Royal Devon that 34 births took place at Exeter Hospital between 11 August and 20 August, it is clear that pressure on Exeter Hospital’s maternity services is likely to increase as more expectant mothers from North Devon are redirected there. Whilst staff from NDDH will be working at Exeter Hospital to help meet the growing demand, the sustained increase will still place additional pressure on staff, bed availability, and theatre capacity for caesarean sections.

It should not be forgotten that the staff from NDDH will now themselves face a commute to work potentially hours away from their usual place of work, adding to the stress many of them will have already been facing, having operated in a stretched service that has now been suspended.

The distance from NDDH in Barnstaple to Exeter Hospital is approximately 54 miles, a sizeable distance for a mother going into early labour. Understandably, the prospect of travelling over an hour to reach the nearest birthing service is causing anxiety to many families. Whilst some may be able to plan ahead and book into a hotel close to Exeter Hospital in the days prior to their labour, not all expectant mothers will be able to do this, particularly if births do not proceed as planned.

The closure also has implications for partners and wider family networks. Longer distances may make it more difficult for birth partners to attend appointments or be present throughout labour and delivery, particularly where childcare arrangements, or financial constraints are factors.

Given that antenatal, community midwifery, routine monitoring, and maternity advice will continue to take place in North Devon, but the labour and delivery itself may take place elsewhere, some expectant mothers are likely to feel their care is disjointed. Whilst NHS services routinely share patient information across sites, the temporary split in care pathways creates an additional need for accurate record keeping, clear communication between clinical teams, and continuity of care to ensure that important information is not overlooked during labour and delivery.

Is this likely to be a wider problem seen elsewhere?

More broadly, the suspension of services in North Devon raises concerns about workforce pressures within NHS maternity services. While Royal Devon has described the closure as a temporary measure, it highlights the challenges faced by hospitals in recruiting and retaining sufficient numbers of senior obstetric and gynaecology staff. NHS Providers chief executive Sir Julian Hartley previously warned that workforce shortages remain one of the biggest operational challenges facing NHS trusts. The situation at NDDH may therefore be viewed not only as a local staffing issue, but as part of a wider national challenge affecting healthcare services across the country.

NHS Alliance’s acute and ambulance director, Matthew Hopkins, recently told Health Service Journal (HSJ) that ‘there will be other Barnstaples’. This comment reflects concerns that, unless longstanding workforce challenges are addressed, similar service suspensions could occur elsewhere.

For the families affected in North Devon, the priority remains the safe restoration of local birthing services, but the circumstances surrounding the closure are likely to contribute to a broader debate about the resilience and sustainability of maternity care provision within the NHS.

Emma Beeson, managing associate in the medical negligence team at Penningtons Manches Cooper and head of the maternity injury team, comments:

“There is no doubt that the need to close a maternity service due to lack of appropriate staff must be a complex issue where there are multiple interrelated factors and there has to be the balancing of competing priorities.

“However, a sudden closure has meant that, at a time of great vulnerability, expectant mothers and families are facing incredibly stressful decisions.

“Stories of women being taught how to give birth whilst in a car, and families contemplating relocating to temporary accommodation, are to be expected given the situation. What we hope is that there are now very frank and open discussions with the families affected as to their individual circumstances and how these could impact and shape their risk profile to allow them to make informed decisions about their care moving forwards.

“Keeping a record of your medical information and raising anything you believe may be relevant to your risk profile are important, as well as sharing this with every member of staff involved in your care. Don’t assume that each clinician is fully aware of the detail and nuances of your medical history or be afraid to speak up if something could affect your care or influence decisions about treatment.

“Those reading Baroness Amos’ report will see it paints a very clear picture that maternity care has changed and NHS services need to adapt to the evolving landscape. It is time to start future proofing our maternity services, and to talk openly and frankly about how to achieve this.”

This article was co-written by Farida Hindi, trainee solicitor in the medical negligence team.