19/03/2026
A very sad day today 😢 I had the honour of supporting many beautiful births at St Mary’s during the best 14 years of my 30 year career so far. Heartbroken for those who will never get that opportunity and for the amazing midwives, maternity support workers and others who I had the pleasure of working alongside 💔💔💔
The decision taken today by the ICB, whilst not surprising, is still utterly devastating. We mourn not just the decision, but the manner in which it has been arrived at. Nothing we heard this morning indicates that there was ever any other plan than permanent closure, and the language of “temporary” and “pause” used last summer to describe the situation was disingenuous from the outset.
Regarding safety, we continue to point out that the CQC never once raised a safety concern about St. Mary’s and it maintained right up until its closure, a CQC judgement of ‘Good’. At a time when maternity services at the LRI and LGH are still judged as ‘requires improvement’ it’s a complete travesty to deny women the option for better.
The ICB’s persistent use of “relocate” to characterise the plan does not reflect reality. To be clear, in a departure from the decision taken in 2021, the ICB today have decided to close our only stand alone midwife-led unit; not relocate it. This will limit birth choices for women not just in Melton, but right across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. With it, goes our only inpatient postnatal ward - again, severely changing the choices available in maternity care on offer.
Whilst we welcome the ICB’s commitment to work with local stakeholders on what comes next, we urge them to reflect on the trust that has been lost because of how they have gone about this process, the language they have chosen to use and the broken promise once made to safeguard services until they could be adequately provided at the LGH.
We would like to thank every single one of our supporters and campaigners throughout the years. From the small group of mums sat in a pub at the very first meeting of this group in 2009, to the hundreds who turned out last August to wave banners, bang drums and cry out in the street. Whether you’ve told your story, turned up to meetings, signed petitions, spoken to the media or simply shared our Facebook posts with friends: THANK YOU. We are gutted that we couldn’t get the result that future generations of mothers deserve. But we have not gone down without a fight.
And to the staff: You also deserved better. Thank you on behalf of all the mums and families you have supported over the years. Never doubt the difference you made. We are sure that whatever is next for you, your skills and devotion to excellence in midwifery care will continue to have an impact.
It’s not the end any of us hoped for. But throughout the journey we have secured a spotlight on local maternity services that cannot be denied. Here’s to that continuing.
