Twenty babies born since maternity unit closure
BBCAbout 20 babies have been born in an alternative hospital after the temporary closure of a district maternity unit, health bosses say.
Medical director Dr Karen Davies has also resigned from Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (RDUH) in protest at its decision to temporarily suspend births at North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple due to staffing issues.
The move was heavily criticised by pregnant women who now face long journeys to give birth in Exeter, about 54 miles (87km) away, while the county council leader said the closure was "a catastrophic failure of senior management".
Sam Higginson, the trust's chief executive, said he wanted the suspension to be short.
Higginson could not commit to a reopening date.
In her resignation letter Davies wrote: "I am leaving my job because I cannot support the way the trust has handled, and is handling, the maternity situation."
She added: "We have known for several years that there have been concerns about fragility, as well as safety and culture, in the northern maternity unit."
Davies said she was concerned a proposal for additional support which "could have produced a plan to avoid closure" was not brought in.
She said she had not taken the decision to bring her retirement forward lightly and several colleagues had asked her to stay.
"But ultimately I have to accept that my repeated warnings and concerns over the last two years have not been heard and have not been acted upon," her letter added.
'Patient safety'
Responding to Davies' resignation Vanessa Purday, chief medical officer at RDUH, said the trust "has a responsibility to make decisions based on clinical risk, patient safety and the available evidence".
She added: "The decision to temporarily suspend birthing services was reached through established clinical, executive and system governance processes when safe staffing could no longer be assured."
Purday said every available option was considered and the safety of woman and their babies was the "overriding consideration".
She announced a review into what happened and said: "The trust takes all views and concerns raised by senior clinicians, or any colleague seriously."
Higginson said the trust needed to "be creative" with its recruitment strategy to promote north Devon as a great place to live in order to help fill vacancies.
He said his number one priority was to keep the temporary suspension as short as possible but he could not say when the suspension would be lifted.
"We haven't committed to a specific date yet," he told BBC Radio Devon.
"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."
On Saturday hundreds of people protested in Barnstaple over the closure.
Rebekah Hester, from Ilfracombe, is classed as high-risk due to having pre-eclampsia, a complex condition which causes high blood pressure that can put both baby and mother at risk, and said she was looking at tutorials on giving birth and home deliveries.
Hester said coming to the realisation having a birth which may be not as planned was "terrifying".
She said: "You turn to midwives and you turn to Google, and Google is saying an hour-and-a-half drive is too far, you need to find a closer maternity unit, or you need to watch these tutorials on giving birth and home deliveries."
'Tip of the iceberg'
Gill Walton, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said the organisation was concerned about the impact of the suspension on women and their families.
"I'm absolutely sure it has increased their anxiety at this time in their pregnancy," she said.
"But we're not surprised by it as there has been a staffing crisis in maternity services all-round the UK where services have been closed and home birth services have been stopped.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg, really."
Walton said the situation was unusual compared with other cases as it was about not having enough obstetricians - doctors who specialise in pregnancy - rather than low levels of midwives.
She said she was aware the trust had to make decisions about delivering safe services.
"It's weighing up the balance of risk between not having the right doctors on site and women having to travel to another hospital that does have the right number of doctors," she said.
"We're keeping a very close eye on it because we would want this situation to be resolved as soon as possible."
