A GENERAL hospital is planning to expand its maternity services to provide a greater choice for expectant mothers.

County Durham and Darlington Foundation NHS Trust said it hopes to launch a midwife-led maternity unit alongside its consultant-led service at Darlington Memorial Hospital.

The announcement comes days after Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt ruled a public consultation should be launched into a scheme to change the consultant-led maternity service at a neighbouring general hospital, the Friarage, in Northallerton, to a midwife-led unit.

NHS studies have suggested that should the Friarage service be changed, more women from North Yorkshire would choose to give birth in Darlington, leading health campaigners to express concerns over whether that service could cope.

Details of the Darlington hospital proposal, which has been in development for several months, have emerged after the trust moved to end speculation that the launch of a midwife-led unit would mean the closure of the infirmary’s consultant-led unit.

A spokesman for the trust said: “Darlington Memorial was built for people in North Yorkshire and much as South Durham, but in recent years that has changed.

“We look forward to welcoming mothers-to-be from North Yorkshire as we work to deliver a gold standard maternity service.”

He said there would be no reductions at the consultant-led maternity service, and that their enhanced service may require more consultants.

He said: “It is a key service for us. Our clinical staff are working with local clinical commissioning groups to look at how we meet key quality standards.

“Looking ahead, we would like to enhance our service for expectant mothers with a co-located midwife led unit, and we hope to begin planning this and other developments, later in the year.”

While creating the new unit would not involve building work, it is thought internal changes to create room for it beside the consultant-led service could take about three years to complete.

A spokesman for the trust said the new unit was part of a seven-point drive, including objectives such as staff training and how women are managed in early pregnancy, to improve its maternity service.

The trust hopes to follow the Royal Victoria Infirmary, in Newcastle, which in 2011 launched the midwife-led Newcastle Birthing Centre (NBC) for women expecting straightforward births, alongside its consultant-led unit, providing specialist care for women who need close attention.

The trust spokesman said: “Mothers-to-be who are experiencing difficulties don’t want to be in the same area where people are having uncomplicated births. It is fundamental to the service we provide.”

While some of the campaigners who have battled for 18 months to retain a consultant-led maternity service at the Friarage said the Darlington plans provided hope, others said it did little to overcome the consequences of Mr Hunt’s decision.

Upper Dales councillor John Blackie, who has helped lead the Friarage campaign, said: “It is wonderful for the residents served by the Darlington Memorial Hospital that they are going to have a significant upgrade, but it makes it all the more disappointing that we cannot retain our services at a centre of excellence.”