STAFF shortages forced Blackbrook to close in August 2000, with the unit staying shut for almost a year.
Health bosses were inundated with letters from mums who grew worried the unit might close for good.
It also closed over the previous two Christmases due to staff shortages, sickness and training reasons.
Maternity services in south east Hampshire are currently under the spotlight.
The main maternity unit and the Mary Rose centre are both set to move from St Mary's Hospital in Milton, Portsmouth, to the new Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham in 2008. Health bosses are keen to boost the number of women giving birth at home.
They insist the closure is unrelated to the local maternity consultation and is purely an operational issue. Blackbrook Maternity Home was renamed Blackbrook Birth Centre by Power FM DJ Emma Scott, who gave birth to her second child Diaz there in March 2004.
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