Hundreds of people have attended a rally opposing the decision to halt births at the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine.
The rally took place in the Diamond in the town centre on Saturday.
Campaigners say they are seeking legal advice in a bid to overturn the decision made by the Northern Trust to cease maternity services at the Co Derry hospital in the absence of an elected minister.
Read more: Rally to oppose decision to halt maternity services at Co Derry hospital
In March, the Trust said hospital births in the area - which covers Coleraine and Magherafelt, as well as Cookstown and most of Co Antrim - should now take place at Antrim Hospital instead.
The decision came after a 14-week public consultation period but it now requires approval by Stormont's Department of Health.
Chairperson of the Save Causeway Hospital Campaign, Gemma Brolly, who organised the event, said: “The cutting of maternity services in our region is a life and death issue. It's wrong and our campaign will fight it.
“We need more investment in our hospital, not less. Mothers are already giving birth before they have been able to reach Antrim Hospital and if Causeway's maternity is closed, nearly a thousand women each year will have to make the longer journey to an already overcrowded hospital”.
“FOIs that we have submitted show that key maternity services have been stripped back at Causeway Hospital since 2013. This has reduced the number of births that are happening at our hospital and therefore reduced opportunity for staff.
“This is creating staffing problems and leading to increased pressure on Antrim Hospital. This is not by accident.
“It's as a result of service centralisation and the health budget that is nowhere near large enough to deal with the demands on the service. The five Stormont parties have signed up to this process of centralisation.”
She added: “This is only the start of the fight back. We now have a growing campaign built with real people on the ground. We are a campaign of families, nursing staff, community groups, sporting organisations and representatives.
“We will not sit back and watch the closure of services that will cost lives. We are currently taking legal advice on the legality of hospital service closures at a time when there is no Health Minister or functioning Stormont.
“There is no democratic accountability for these cuts. We demand speaking rights at the next public meeting of the Health and Social Trust Board. We demand a meeting with the Private Secretary within the Department of Health.
“We will organise further protests and public meetings in the coming months to keep these services.”
Announcing its decision to move maternity services away from the Causeway Hospital in favour of Antrim Area Hospital, a spokesperson for the Trust said in March: "Clinicians have advised the Trust that the current provision of maternity services at Causeway Hospital is unsustainable because of falling birth rates, workforce challenges and the absence of neonatal special care baby unit facilities at the hospital.
“The workforce challenges reflect the wider problem of attracting specialist clinicians to smaller hospital sites.”
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