A pregnant Nottingham mum has started a petition for a hospital trust to reinstate its full time home birth service. Mum-of-two Jess Maguire says Nottingham University Hospitals' (NUH) limited service means expectant parents in the county are unable to make a choice about where they give birth.
NUH, which runs Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital, currently only offers a home birth service between the hours of 9am-8pm, Monday to Friday. The NHS trust says it has a 25 percent vacancy rate for midwives, meaning it cannot secure appropriate staffing for later hours.
Ms Maguire, a 34-year-old doula and hypnobirthing teacher who is due to give birth next month, said she had repeatedly been told by NUH the full service would resume before it was set back. “It’s sad that people can’t make the choice about where they want to give birth, it’s really frustrating," she told Nottinghamshire Live.
