I’ve submitted a set of Freedom of Information requests today (17 November 2025) to get clarity on what’s really happening inside Gloucestershire’s midwife-led services. Women deserve transparency, not rumours and silence. The Trust now has 20 working days — until 15 December 2025 — to respond.

One request asks for a full breakdown of how often the Gloucester Birth Unit has been closed, restricted, or running at reduced capacity this year. Another examines how many times midwives have been pulled away from midwife-led care and how many women have been redirected as a result. And a separate request demands the paperwork behind the decision to convert two clinical rooms in the Birth Unit into office space — including whether this was justified on the basis of a supposed “drop in births.”

These answers matter. They reveal the real state of the service, the real impact on women, and the real decision-making happening behind closed doors. If the system is safe, the data will show it. If not, the public has a right to know.

An overview of the freedom of information requests already made. Will they reveal why the Trust is failing in it’s duty to provide safe and equitable maternity care when the answers have been laid out?

After submitting Freedom of Information requests to Gloucestershire NHS bodies, I examined the documents claimed as evidence of “co-production” in maternity services. What I found was activity without accountability — meetings, events, and reports that spoke the language of collaboration but delivered little change. Here’s what the papers reveal, and why true partnership still matters.After submitting Freedom of Information requests to Gloucestershire NHS bodies, I examined the documents claimed as evidence of “co-production” in maternity services. What I found was activity without accountability — meetings, events, and reports that spoke the language of collaboration but delivered little change. Here’s what the papers reveal, and why true partnership still matters.