FOI request — records evidencing consideration of alternatives to full suspension of the home birth service

Why we are asking for this information

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

This Freedom of Information request asks for the records behind that claim.

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.

This matters because a full suspension of home birth removes a lawful maternity choice from women across Gloucestershire. If safer, proportionate alternatives were available but not properly considered, the public deserves to know.

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Dear Freedom of Information Team,

I am requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

This request relates to the suspension of the Gloucestershire NHS home birth service from November 2025 onwards.

Please provide records dated from 1 September 2025 to the present which show consideration of alternatives to a full suspension of the home birth service.

For each of the options listed below, please provide any recorded information showing:

1. the date or dates the option was discussed

2. who proposed, raised, or considered the option

3. any risk assessment of the option

4. any costings or financial assessment

5. any staffing assumptions used

6. any equality, rurality, trauma-informed care, or access considerations

7. any commissioning or procurement advice

8. the reason the option was accepted, rejected, or not progressed

9. any correspondence with external providers, neighbouring Trusts, commissioners, or relevant professional bodies

The alternatives I am asking about are:

1. Use of independent midwives to support or maintain home birth provision

2. Mutual aid or temporary support from neighbouring NHS Trusts

3. Temporary commissioned external home birth support

4. Creation of a dedicated home birth team

5. Limiting eligibility for home birth rather than full service suspension

6. Increasing on-call cover

7. Use of Gloucester Birth Unit staff to maintain home birth provision

8. Maintaining the service for women already booked for home birth

9. Maintaining the service for women living in rural areas

10. Maintaining the service for women with trauma histories, previous poor experiences of hospital care, or a strong stated preference for home birth

For clarity, this request is not limited to final Board papers. Please include relevant emails, meeting notes, briefing papers, internal memoranda, risk assessments, options papers, commissioning advice, procurement advice, and correspondence with external providers.

If any of this information is already contained within the formal options appraisal or Confidential Trust Board papers considered on or around 10 February 2026, please still disclose the relevant sections or appendices, with appropriate redactions where necessary, rather than withholding the entire document.

If the Trust holds no records showing that any of the above options were considered, please confirm this clearly for each option.

Please also confirm whether any independent midwives, independent midwifery organisations, or external home birth providers were contacted in relation to maintaining or restoring the home birth service. If so, please provide the dates of contact, the organisations or providers contacted, and copies of any correspondence, with personal data redacted where necessary.

Yours faithfully,

Emma Gleave