STROUD MP Simon Opher used his first question at the weekly PMQs to ask about a major issue. 

The GP - asking deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner in Sir Keir Starmer's absence - used his allotted slot to ask about maternity services at Stroud. 

He said: "The previous government failed countless women through chronic underfunding of maternity services.

"At Stroud maternity hospital, post-natal beds have remained closed for more than two years.

"Local, midwife-led units, such as Stroud, deliver fantastic quality of care for women, while having low intervention rates during birth.

"Can the deputy Prime Minister outline what steps this Government will take to improve maternity services."

In reply, Ms Rayner said: "I am sorry to hear about the situation in Stroud, and I thank my hon. Friend for raising this important issue for women in his constituency.

"The Darzi report clearly set out that under the previous Government, the NHS was broken, with patients waiting too long for care.

"We are committed to ensuring that all women and babies receive safe, compassionate and personalised care through pregnancy, birth and, critically, the following months.

"We will ensure that maternity services deliver the best outcomes for patients as we invest to build an NHS fit for the future."

Mr Opher recently said that the closed postnatal beds in the town's maternity unit 'must' re-open, adding that they are 'very much missed' in a debate at Westminster Hall about maternity services across Gloucestershire on Wednesday. 

Midwife staffing numbers in the county have been an issue for several years with the Aveta Birth unit in Cheltenham and the six postnatal beds at Stroud Maternity Hospital having been closed since 2022.

Chief nurse and director of quality Matt Holdaway ruled out reopening the services in Cheltenham and Stroud at a health overview and scrutiny committee in May. 

During a visit in July former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and former Stroud MP Siobhan Baillie spoke to the SNJ about fully reopening Stroud Maternity Hospital, where postnatal beds are currently only available for six to 12 hours after a birth.