Angry midwives have given a “catastrophic" warning that Cumbrian mothers and babies WILL die if night-time consultant cover is removed from the West Cumberland Hospital.

Proposals to send complex births from Whitehaven to Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary during the evening would also result in “brain-damaged babies" treated in a “Third World area", the midwives state.

In a letter to Stephen Eames, chief executive of North Cumbria University Hospital NHS Trust, the midwives said birth complications “will not fit into any allocated time slots with medical care that you decide to give us".

They wrote: “Transferring ladies in labour with complications will be catastrophic. How do we treat ladies who need urgent delivery such as a crash caesarean, shoulder dystocia and haemorrhaging?

“These ladies need urgent intervention – not an ambulance transfer to CIC with a bed-to-bed transfer time of one hour and 40 minutes."

The trust’s plans are “cost-cutting", the letter says.

The midwives also question how the mothers-to-be would be transferred to the Cumberland Infirmary and who would take responsibility for the women en-route.

In the letter, they state: “We would deplore a situation where a single midwife has to care for a seriously ill lady/baby when they believed earlier medical care could have prevented this situation.

“We already live in a deprived area where some women struggle to find the bus fare to attend the ante-natal clinic at WCH. To ask them to go to CIC for an ante-natal clinic would be ludicrous and many will not attend because of the financial problems and time constraints with a journey time of at least two hours.

“Our peri-natal mortality rate will rise because of those problems. Our ambulance service is already over-stretched and those changes will cause further strain to the service.

“It would appear we are to become a Third World area in this so-called prosperous country."

The Government’s Success Regime – which is heading a major review of services across North and West Cumbria – has suggested a midwife-led unit at the WCH, with consultants available on site only during the day.

Midwives said they were “passionate about their jobs and passionate about their community" and stated the potential changes to the maternity services “would ruin many midwives" lives and careers due to the stressful situation they would find themselves in on a daily basis whilst caring for women and babies.

“We are unable to stand back and be unaccountable by not voicing our concerns," they said.

In the letter, the midwives also warned that legal proceedings arising from complicated births could be “enormous".

And the midwives added: “The amount of money that (the trust) will be paying out in litigation would be better spent on recruiting staff and making our hospital sustainable again."

A Success Regime spokesman said: “The Success Regime is currently looking at several options in respect to maternity services and we welcome the value and input of staff in helping shape which options are right for our services and the families of north, west and east Cumbria.

“Whilst we are in this period of engagement no decisions will be made about the future service configuration, or options to remove consultant cover from West Cumberland Hospital and nor will they be until after further engagement.

“Any potential proposals for changes to maternity services will then be subject to a full public consultation, which is due to begin in September. Any changes to services would only be implemented following detailed planning and discussions with clinical teams.”