The future of maternity services at a Northern Ireland hospital could go out to public consultation later this week.
The Northern Health and Social Care Trust plans to seek approval from the Trust Board at its upcoming meeting to go out to public consultation on options for the future provision of acute maternity services at the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine.
The Northern Trust says the current configuration of maternity services in the area is "a fragile and vulnerable service model that is unsustainable".
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It plans to immediately commence a 14-week public consultation process if approved by the Trust Board when it meets this Thursday.
The Trust added that available consultant obstetrics and midwifery resources are spread too thinly across both the Antrim and Causeway hospital sites and it is seeing a year-on-year decrease in birth numbers in the Causeway Coast and Glens area.
One option would be to move all consultant-led births to Antrim and establish a midwife-led unit at the Causeway. Also under consideration is moving all births in the area to Antrim.
A Trust spokesperson said: “We urgently need to provide a model for maternity services that addresses current challenges, including issues to do with staffing and recruitment and neonatal care.
“There are clinically deliverable options for providing a more sustainable and safe model and we have always stressed that we would try to make no permanent changes without full public consultation.
“That remains our preference and we plan to seek approval from the Trust Board to immediately commence a 14-week public consultation process.
“Our aim will be to ensure that people fully understand the need for change, the various options and their implications and that they have a real and meaningful chance to fully explore those options and have their say.”
In a statement, the Department of Health said it has been advised by the Northern Trust of the planned public consultation on the future of acute maternity services in the area.
A spokesperson added: "The Trust has also kept the Department informed on the fragility of the current configuration of services.
"The Department fully understands the sensitivities and anxieties of individuals and communities that potential changes to services can create, and therefore requires Trusts to carry out extensive consultation prior to any planned change.
"Recommendations and proposals from the consultation will come to the Department for assessment. Central criteria in this assessment will be how best to provide safe and sustainable care that meets the needs of the community.
"Any permanent changes to services will require Ministerial/Departmental approval."
The Northern Trust aims to have a new-build £150m Women and Children's Unit on the Antrim Hospital site for maternity and paediatric services. Subject to business case approval and funding availability, it hopes that this facility could be commissioned for service in 2027/28.
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