A number of midwives approached GMAG with serious concerns about the Trust’s proposed Community Birth Team model. With support from colleagues at AIMS and Birthrights, we reviewed the staff consultation document in detail and passed our notes to HOSC. What we found raised major questions about the options presented, the use of “continuity”, staffing, geography, escalation, fragmentation, unfinished impact assessments and whether the consultation was ever genuinely open to change.

On 7 September 2026, MPs voted against putting vital maternity and neonatal safety measures into law. Find out what the amendment called for, how Gloucestershire’s MPs voted—and use our template letter to ask your MP why.

Over the summer, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust ran a staff consultation on its proposed Community Birth Team model. Staff raised serious concerns, submitted alternative proposals, and asked for key evidence, modelling and safeguards. The Trust has now chosen to continue with its original centralised model. We are sharing the documents one by one because families deserve transparency about the future of home birth and community maternity care in Gloucestershire.

Stroud Maternity Unit was closed on Friday 26 June and women were redirected to birth at Gloucester Royal Hospital.

This raises serious concerns about the proposal for 3 midwives to cover Stroud / Cheltenham AND all homebirths across the county.

We believe community birth should be strengthened and ring fenced, and have asked senior leaders for a meeting to discuss the plans.

Gloucestershire NHS Trust have spent the last 6 months waiting for this document to be produced but reads more like a high-level slide deck of assumptions than a serious evidence base for major maternity transformation.

Join our panel discussion to create a formal critique and proper case to be made.

Bethany was effected by the homebirth service suspension - after a traumatic birth in hospital, and a lovely homebirth - she knew where she wanted to be and chose to birth in her pool with Doulas Emma & Kit.

We’ve heard reports that mothers have been forced to sign formula feeding agreements to be allowed to tale their babies home - one at 2 days old!

We would like to know if this is routine practice at GRH & support mothers to access breastfeeding support if that is their feeding preference.

Cllr Laura Hall-Wilson of South Cotwolds writes in support of maternity choices.

This Freedom of Information request asked Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for records relating to A-EQUIP and Professional Midwifery Advocate involvement in the decision to suspend the home birth service.

The Trust’s response stated that no relevant records were held.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has stated that alternatives to suspending the home birth service were considered.

We want to see whether options such as independent midwifery support, mutual aid from neighbouring NHS Trusts, increased on-call cover, a dedicated home birth team, or maintaining support for women already booked for home birth were properly explored, risk assessed and costed before the service was suspended.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has referred to consultation and engagement with a wide range of organisations and internal committees in relation to the suspension of the home birth service.

We want to understand whether stakeholders were meaningfully asked for advice, concerns, alternatives, and scrutiny before decisions were made — or whether they were simply informed after the direction of travel had already been decided.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s complaint response refers to a Confidential Trust Board meeting on 10 February 2026, where key papers appear to have been considered about the suspension of the home birth service, the options appraisal, and plans for restoration.

On 1 December a complaint was raised with Gloucestershire NHS Trust regarding the homebirth suspension. Here' is the original complaint, their response and our assessment.

We have run an analysis on the number of births happening in. community settings since Jan 2022 and found it is falling dramatically.

GMAG has submitted this FOI request because we are being told one thing publicly and another by staff on the ground. At the ICB meeting, we were told there was no “new” postnatal pathway, yet staff report internal communications referring to a new pathway. This request seeks clarity on when the current pathway was introduced, what documents define it, and what staff have been told internally.