London - Pregnant women are to be barred from giving birth at their local hospital if midwives deem them too fat, it emerged.
Those with a body mass index of over 34 pounds (15 kilograms) the equivalent of an average woman of 5ft 6in weighing 15 stone - will be turned away over fears obese patients could die.
Rejected mothers-to-be will instead be forced to travel to another hospital with a more hi-tech maternity unit.
The move by Weston General Hospital, in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, triggered claims that larger women are being unfairly treated.
But a spokesperson for the Weston Area NHS Trust, which runs the unit, today insisted: "Our foremost concern is for the safety of mothers who deliver here and their babies.
"Mothers with a high BMI are at increased risk in labour of bleeding, needing an instrumental delivery or complications, such as the baby's shoulder becoming trapped behind the pubic bone."
He added: "Our midwife-led centre is extremely popular because many women don't want to give birth in a hi-tech unit. There are no plans to change it."
He said the alternative for those with who failed the BMI test was to give birth at St Michael?s Hospital in Bristol.
But Slimming World class leader Carole Welch said it was totally wrong that bigger women could not safely give birth near their home.
She said: "Women who live in the town, no matter what their size, should be able to give birth without travelling miles and miles.
"Let's face it, at the moment obesity is a growing problem and more women are coming under this 'over 34 BMI' bracket."
She added: "Surely the hospital should upgrade their facilities to take in every pregnant woman? "If I was over 34 BMI I would not be happy about it - it just doesn't seem fair."
NHS North Somerset primary care trust's annual report found the number of overweight and obese people has spiralled over the last few years.
Experts estimate that 29 600 adults - a stunning 18 percent of the population - were obese and warned a further 6 000 would be dangerously overweight by 2013.
In the report, director of health Max Kammerling said: "We know that obesity affects people in more deprived areas to a greater extent and we think that levels of obesity are above national average in Weston south." - Daily Mail