Newry Mothers Fear Losing Inpatient Maternity at Daisy Hill
Mothers in Newry say plans to move inpatient maternity care from Daisy Hill Hospital to Craigavon would leave families facing longer and riskier journeys.
Northern Ireland's Southern Health Trust intends to temporarily consolidate births and inpatient maternity care at Craigavon Area Hospital from 23 November. It says it has been unable to recruit enough consultant obstetricians to staff both hospitals safely. It has five vacant obstetrician posts, and chief executive Steve Spoerry told Stormont's Health Committee a transfer is "highly probable" next month.
The trust employs 15 consultant obstetricians. Sickness, reduced working arrangements and maternity leave mean not all of them can join the on-call rota.
A journey of 40 miles
Natasha Daryaie went into premature labour and needed specialist care. Midwives at Daisy Hill wanted to send her to Craigavon but were told there was no room, so she was rushed 40 miles to the Ulster Hospital. A midwife from Daisy Hill travelled with her. "The journey was scary," she said. She spent four nights there before being stabilised and sent home. Her son Odin was born at full term at Daisy Hill.
"What does it say if a woman can't give birth in her own city?" she asked. She added that Craigavon did not have room for one local mum from Newry and wondered how it would cope with 1,400 more births a year.
Mark Annett and his wife Naomi had their third child, a daughter, last Thursday. They live in Kilkeel, about 35 minutes from Daisy Hill. Craigavon would add another hour. Their second birth took only minutes from the waters breaking, he said, and he fears what would happen if a baby arrived halfway across the mountains.
Staffing and births
Births at Daisy Hill rose between 2019 and 2025 while those at Craigavon fell. The number of midwives in the two acute units has dropped since October 2019, though the trust says more now work in the community. Current vacancies equal 0.61 full-time posts at Daisy Hill and 11.69 at Craigavon, and 16 newly appointed midwives are due to start between November 2026 and January 2027.
Dale Spence, director of the Royal College of Midwives in Northern Ireland, said more midwives are needed and that those in post feel overburdened. Northern Ireland should not rely on their goodwill to keep services afloat, she said.
The trust has also said that since emergency general surgery was withdrawn from Daisy Hill in 2024, maternity services have used a risk-stratification procedure. Fewer women are now judged suitable for elective caesarean sections there, and overall births have fallen over the past two years.
Source: BBC News