Pregnant women being offered classes on how to give birth in a car after Devon maternity ward closes

Pregnant women being offered classes on how to give birth in a car after Devon maternity ward closes EXCLUSIVE: The maternity unit at North Devon District Hospital is temporarily closed due to staff shortages, so expectant mums are learning what to do if labour starts on the road Pregnant women in a Devon town are being offered classes on how to give birth in a car – after the sudden closure of a local maternity ward. Barnstaple’s North Devon District Hospital has temporarily shuttered its birthing wing due to staff shortages, forcing expectant mums to make the gruelling nearly two-hour journey to Exeter. We can now reveal the situation is so dire that couples are being taught how to deliver their babies while driving along the motorway or parked on the hard shoulder. Antenatal teacher Catherine Mchomvu, who runs the sessions, told The Mirror: “It’s about trying to create the birth environment that you would normally have in the hospital or at home, in your car. “Birth can happen very quickly for some women – so I’m teaching them positions to potentially slow labour down, essentials for the car like big bottles of water, enough fuel in case you need to keep it warm, plenty of towels and blankets to catch and wrap the baby, and advice like not cutting the cord until help arrives. “Preparing to give birth is fraught with enough anxiety and anticipation for many women as it is, and where they should be having endless reassurance, they’ve had the rug pulled from under them – they’re anxious, stressed, disappointed and don’t feel heard or seen.” The trust suspended all births, including c-sections, on August 11 due to a lack of consultants and obstetricians. Triage appointments - to check on mum and baby if any problems are suspected - have also been stopped. On a visit to Devon Antenatal Family Centre in Barnstaple, where the classes take place, we spoke to a string of soon-to-be mums who feel frightened and left in the lurch. Among them is Hannah Rulton, who is 27 weeks pregnant and lives in Ilfracombe, an hour-and-40-minute drive from the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. The mum-of-two, 37, is fearing the worst after she and her son narrowly cheated death during her last labour. She said: “We are petrified. My son was born with shoulder dystocia - which caused his shoulder to get stuck on my public bone - and it took five minutes to resuscitate him. We both nearly died. Our worry is that this next baby will follow in that pattern as the risk of shoulder dystocia is high. “If I go into spontaneous labour, which is likely, we’ll be in a car for at least an hour and 40 minutes on our own without any help or intervention that we might need if it does happen on the side of the road. My anxiety is so high at a time when it should be really enjoyable. This special time is being distorted because I’m constantly worrying and thinking, ‘what if the worst happens?’ “We feel helpless, because there is no answer and there is no quick fix. There is no promise or guarantee that things will be sorted. Everything is just absolutely terrifying.” It’s a similar story for Vicky O’Loughlin, 34, who is due to give birth in October. Holding back tears, she told us: “When I first learned of the closure I was really shocked and upset. My family are all from here [Barnstaple] and I was born here. I’m really stressed. "I have issues with my immune system which I’ve heard can put you at risk of preeclampsia (a pregnancy complication that causes high blood pressure and organ damage) – so nearer to the time you just don’t know what’s going to happen. They’ve [hospital staff] given me leaflets and a bit of advice from the midwife, but that’s all. We don’t have anywhere to go and we can’t afford accommodation in Exeter.” Others who gave birth in Barnstaple last year have also been shaken by the closure. First-time-mum Cherri Taylor fears for women who face complications during labour, after her tot Albie came out with the umbilical cord wrapped around his head. “I dread to think if we were going to Exeter and that happened on the roadside. It’s something you don’t want to think about,” the 30-year-old said. "It would have been absolutely horrendous and really scary – I can’t think of anything worse.” Her friend Lauren Baker, 27, who gave birth to little one Paisley nine months ago, added: “I was induced and in hospital for a week, but thankfully we lived just fifteen minutes from the hospital. But if you’re in Exeter your partner has to travel over an hour, so you may be on your own when you have your baby – because we all know what labour is like, it can just happen. “It means your pregnancy becomes pure anxiety. You’re anxious anyway but it’s extra stress that you don’t need. You’re having to think about blankets and fuel when you should just be thinking about giving birth to the most precious thing in your life.” Last week hundreds of expectant mums took to the streets of Barnstaple calling for the unit to reopen. And just days later, the trust’s medical director Dr Karen Davies resigned in protest over the situation, saying bosses "could have produced a plan to avoid closure.” Lib Dem MP for North Devon Ian Roome is doing all he can to support women and is in the process of fast tracking visa applications for consultants and obstetricians willing to move to the hospital. He told us: “Tens of thousands of people rely on NDDH, and asking patients to travel significantly further for essential care is not a sustainable solution. “Quite frankly, the situation is unacceptable. It jeopardises the safety of pregnant women and babies, and lets down the brilliant midwives and maternity staff at our hospital who care for them. I have written to Yvette Cooper, the Health & Social Care Secretary, stating this situation is unacceptable and rural acute hospitals should be prioritised for extra funding." The trust's chief executive, Sam Higginson, has insisted: "We're trying to get it reopened as quickly as we can. It is totally dependent on us being able to attract both permanent and temporary staff." A government spokesperson said: "We expect clear plans to be in place to ensure mothers and babies are supported during this temporary closure, and for services to be back up and running as soon as possible. Any changes must be based on clear evidence that they will deliver better outcomes for patients. "This year we have seen record numbers of doctors working in the NHS, with 12,000 recruited since July 2024, and 2,000 more midwives. This government is determined to ensure safe, high-quality maternity and neonatal care across every part of the country, and we will ensure that is the case in Devon too.”