MALTON maternity unit is open again for births - but staffing pressure still means deliveries could be stopped at any time.

Midwives are once more delivering babies at Malton Hospital and leading home births in Ryedale after the service was suddenly axed a month ago.

The service buckled under the pressure of a run of sickness among staff working in the popular unit.

Health watchdogs, who have been scrutinising plans by the NHS trust to stop all deliveries at the unit, were outraged that they had not been told of the change after it was let slip at a public meeting.

Now stepping into the debate is Anne McIntosh, MP for the Vale of York, and Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the new constituency of Thirsk & Malton.

She is to visit the hospital tomorrow following an announcement that a decision on the future of the maternity wing will be delayed until June.

Midwife at the unit Patty Hitchcock is pleased that the MP is coming to talk to worried staff and expectant mothers.

She said: "This, of course, is a difficult time for the maternity unit, but it is reassuring that Miss McIntosh is coming to speak to us. We are open for deliveries at the unit and home births.

''The upheaval has been purely down to difficulties with staff because we had so much sickness. We have a booking for a delivery here on Saturday and we have just had two home births. As we work in a unit which gives so much women-based care, it would be nice if we could be there right from the start to look after deliveries as well as provide ante and post-natal clinics. But it is out of our hands and we are all just waiting for the final verdict in June."

Speaking before the visit, Miss McIntosh said: "The future of the maternity unit at Malton Hospital is still under threat, despite much local support.

''During my visit I shall be discussing with midwives the current funding crisis, and the impact of closing the maternity unit for expectant mothers in the area.

''I believe that women should have choice and access to local maternity services, and so I am extremely supportive of the need to maintain maternity services in Malton."

She said she is alarmed that mothers will have to travel long distances while in labour and fears the proposals are designed as a cost saving measure, as the primary care trust is £7.2 million in debt.

She added: "Also, the number of fulltime midwives has increased by only five per cent since 1997, despite the NHS budget roughly doubling. Too little money has reached frontline services."

But midwives, six of whom employed by the NHS Trust are based in Malton, insist that they are not understaffed at the unit.

Patty added: "We are not short of midwives at Malton, it is simply that there was a run of sickness.

''It got to a point where deliveries had to be stopped because without enough midwives it was impossible."

Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare NHS Trust proposes cutting deliveries at Malton Hospital and encouraging mothers to have home births.

The trust issued a public consultation on the future of maternity services, which ended on Friday, March 18. Under the plans, which have been met with stiff opposition within the local community, women will receive both post-natal and ante-natal care at the unit.

But staff and mums-to-be in Malton and across Ryedale have been told they must wait until June for a final decision after a huge response to its public consultation, which included the Gazette & Herald's 2,000-signature Birth Right petition and representations from the public, parish councils and other organisations.

Before making that decision, the trust said it would also have to examine a newly-published Government report on maternity services.

The report outlines proposals for women in England to be given a choice of where they give birth.