Maternity crisis: More mums choosing Pinderfields hospital amid Leeds inquiry
More pregnant women are choosing to move their maternity care to other hospitals in West Yorkshire since a formal inquiry into services in Leeds was launched last year, The Yorkshire Post understands.
Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust, which runs maternity units in Wakefield and Dewsbury, said it has seen an out-of-area referral increase of 41.7 per cent since October 2025.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced the independent inquiry in the autumn after sustained pressure from families who had lost babies while under the care of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
According to Mid Yorkshire Hospitals, the increase equates to some 15 extra women each month requesting to move their care to its services.
The figure has been revised down from one presented to the Trust’s board in January, which reported a 144 per cent increase in out of area referrals since October, although that figure has been revised down after enquiries from the Yorkshire Post.
Board papers also state that staff had seen an increase in referrals from the Leeds area, and a “deepdive” has been planned into postcodes of which GP surgeries the referrals were coming from.
According to papers for a meeting last month, “concerns about the consequent service pressures have been raised with the regional Chief Midwife, the Local Maternity and Neonatal System (LMNS), and the Integrated Care Board (ICB), and discussions are ongoing about how the impact of the increased bookings can be managed.”
Women have the right to request their care is handled by the NHS trust of their choosing. According to guidelines, as long as a woman is prepared to travel she can request any alternative hospital to be in charge of her care.
The increase could equate to around 180 extra births each year at Pinderfields and the Bronte Birth Centre in Dewsbury if it continues.
The Trust said the referrals had come from across the region, and that it was able to manage the increase.
Chief Nursing Officer, Talib Yaseen said: “Over the last five months, we’ve seen an additional 15 women and birthing people booking to birth with us from across the region each month.
“While this is a manageable increase, we continue to monitor demand closely to ensure we maintain safe, high-quality maternity care for everyone who chooses to book with us.”
The issue was discussed as early as November last year, when board members at Mid Yorkshire were said to be also “in agreement that people had a choice but they needed to ensure this was measured as the Trust did not have the capacity to take high activity levels of extra patients.”
Staff at Leeds Teaching Hospitals have said they have not noticed a substantial increase or decrease in maternity bookings.
Dr Magnus Harrison, Chief Medical Officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We fully respect the rights of families to choose where they give birth, and we always support families in their decision.
“We haven’t seen any evidence that the number of families choosing to have their baby in Leeds has decreased. We have also not seen any significant increase in the number of families booked in to have their baby at Leeds who have asked to change hospital. More families gave birth in Leeds hospitals in 2025 than in 2024, a total of 8,739 babies.”
It comes as families affected by the maternity scandal in Leeds hit out at Wes Streeting, saying they have lost faith in the Department for Health to carry out the inquiry.
Families have requested the inquiry to be chaired by experienced maternity investigator Donna Ockenden, but no chair has been announced.
Mr Streeting is set to meet bereaved families again later this month.