Winchester health bosses may take drastic action if the chronic staffing crisis at the city's maternity unit does not improve.

The Royal Hampshire County Hospital still has too few midwives for the number of births, despite a recent six-figure cash injection which helped fund extra health care assistants.

Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust board heard that, without extra funding, several measures may be taken, including restricting the number of pregnant women who use Florence Portal House.

Expectant mums from outside the area might be barred, as may emergency transfers, even if an intensive care cot is available. Other activities such as antenatal parent education classes could be halted.

Kay Riley, director of nursing, said: "A lot of mothers come to Winchester to have their babies, but we may have to look at capping our services."

One new mother, who asked not to be named, said: "It was obvious the levels of stress staff were under. They appeared to be constantly irritable when caring for me. It was worrying. The hospital should fund it properly or close it. Personally, I was glad to get out."

Last October, an internal report revealed a crisis, with midwives complaining of crippling workloads, bullying and harassment, long hours and a lack of proper training opportunities.

The report said the situation had got so bad that managers even considered closure and sending expectant mums to other hospitals.

But this week, trust board members heard that the crisis was easing following a cash injection.

Some £174,000 was found for nine new health care assistants to help ease the burden on the midwives.

Money has also been allocated to recruit two more midwives to cover for the night shift and on-call rota. But the trust will still be seven short of the number it needs for the amount of births each year.

Figures suggest that, for the 2,945 newborns, the equivalent of 86 midwives are needed, instead of the current level of 79. The number of births for 2004 showed an increase of 154, or 5.5%.

Board chairman, Barbara North, praised the level of care provided by staff in the department, but added that more could be done.

Unions spokesman, Doug Smith, said: "More needs to be done. We will be closely monitoring the number of patients going through the unit and the amount of stress staff are under."