A total of 50 mothers have described their “harrowing” experiences of childbirth they have suffered at what they describe as failing maternity units across the county.

Campaign group, Keep the Horton General, want a second consultant-led birth centre reinstated after it was changed to a midwife-led unit in 2016 at the Horton General Hospital in Banbury amid concerns with services at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Headington.

The group says that following the change and a continuing increase in the population of Oxfordshire towns and villages, the number of pregnancies has “outstripped the capacity” of the John Radcliffe Hospital. 

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A birth trauma dossier put together by the group and Beth Hopper, whose pregnancy required numerous appointments in 2018, details the "traumatic" stories of births from 50 women between 2016 and 2024.

It claims that following the loss of the consultant-led unit in Banbury, the John Radcliffe now has “far too many births, too few midwives and maternity staff, and not enough space.”

Midwife-led care is when midwives are responsible for maternity care and is usually best suited when a woman’s pregnancy is straightforward and low-risk.

When there are high risks of complications, then consultant-led care is more suited to deal with these pregnancies.

Ms Hopper said the group's findings revealed that a number of women have been “so traumatised by their birth experiences they cannot face pregnancy again”.

The dossier adds that mothers are sent home up to 36 miles during labour, risking complications and that midwives are “unacceptably” overstretched.

The group also believe there is a reliance on induction to manage the number of expected births with some mothers in the dossier adding their pregnancies have been delayed, sometimes for days, after being induced.

Ms Hopper wrote: “I felt a mixture of anger and despair that things hadn't changed or improved since my own multiple traumatic experiences, rather they had worsened.

“I decided to start collecting these stories to create a document highlighting how many women and their families, even in my own circle, had been adversely affected and traumatised as a result of the 2016 downgrading of the Horton General Hospital and the ongoing, poor quality of care at both the Horton and John Radcliffe hospitals.”

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Research from the Keep the Horton General research suggests that by 2040 Oxfordshire’s population will have increased to 950,000 from an estimated 653,800 in 2011.

And this does not include the districts they say look to Banbury’s Horton General Hospital and the John Radcliffe Hospital from south Northamptonshire and south Warwickshire.

Charlotte Bird, media officer for Keep the Horton General group, said: “Our consultant-led unit in Banbury, with its special care baby unit for premature and ill babies, always provided a safety valve for the John Radcliffe, allowing them to divert mothers in labour, or having a planned Caesarean, to the Horton when they were especially busy.

“That safety valve is no longer there and John Radcliffe is trying to manage childbirths to match the inadequate capacity of their delivery suites and staff."

Chief Officers at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) met with the campaign group earlier this month to discuss their findings.

Yvonne Christley, chief nursing officer at OUH, said: “We are committed to the safety and wellbeing of the mothers and babies in our care and apologise to the women mentioned in the dossier who did not receive the expected level of care and support.

“The trust has thoroughly reviewed and analysed each of the 50 cases in the dossier from 2016 to 2024 and identified key themes to improve the quality and experience of our maternity services.

“We will be working alongside our maternity and neonatal voices partnerships to develop and implement these improvements and will ensure they align with the needs and preferences of those who use our services."

A spokesperson for the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire West ICB said:  “We are sorry to hear of the poor experience of care described in the dossier and we are working closely with the OUH.

“A full response will be provided once this review process is completed."

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About the author

Rob is a digital reporter who covers a wide range of topics.

He joined the Oxford Mail in February 2023 having previously been at sister paper The Bucks Free Press for two years. 

Rob completed a Sports Journalism degree before earning his NCTJ Diploma at Darlington College and can be found on X at @RobertFolker.