The Northern Health and Social Care Trust has acknowledged higher-than-usual staff absence rates in its maternity services in recent months. The admission came as campaign group SOS Causeway Hospital raised concerns about pressures at Antrim Area Hospital, where all consultant-led births have been centralised since July 2023.

SOS Causeway Hospital presented data obtained under freedom of information laws that it said showed repeated delays in inductions and planned caesarean sections, plus an increase in red escalation events. Figures covering August 2023 to October 2024 show that the number of inductions delayed by more than 12 hours peaked at 23 in October 2024, with other months recording between two and 22 such delays. Inductions delayed by less than 12 hours reached a high of 37 in August 2024.

Planned caesarean sections also faced waits. Nine patients experienced delays exceeding 12 hours in each of April, September and October 2024. Overall, the hospital performed 1,408 planned and emergency caesareans in 2024, up from 1,250 in 2023.

A trust spokesperson said the absence levels were affecting staff, but that patient and staff safety remained the priority. The trust has introduced a new four-hourly monitoring tool for maternity activity, unique in Northern Ireland, and keeps staffing rotas under review. The spokesperson cited the 2024 Renfrew Report, which noted a region-wide rise in intervention rates and complex pregnancies, and said decisions to delay procedures are made on a clinical basis.

Meanwhile, a £5.7 million midwifery-led unit is under construction at Antrim Area Hospital. The facility, funded by the Department of Health, will provide three birthing suites for low-risk pregnancies, separate from the main ward. It is expected to accommodate two to three women daily. Northern Trust interim chief executive Suzanne Pullins noted that unlike other trusts, the Northern Trust has no existing midwifery-led unit.

SOS Causeway Hospital, however, questioned whether high levels of maternal complexity would limit the unit’s use. Gemma Brolly, chairperson of the group, argued that the centralisation of births at Antrim had been a mistake. She said the group was assured capacity was in place and that antenatal services at Causeway would be enhanced, but evidence now points to a need to correct the decision.