Changes to Kendal's Maternity Unit - which in late 2014 were announced as a temporary move, may be made permanent, the town's MP says he's been told.
An overnight on-call system was introduced at Westmorland General on December 1st that year, for when local women went into labour.
Women would then be assessed on the telephone, and a midwife would meet them at the hospital if needed.
At the time, the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust called it an "interim change", as part of a new shift pattern, to allow midwives to be used more flexibly across the maternity services at Lancaster and Barrow.
But now, South Lakes MP Tim Farron says he's been told by health bosses that they want to make the temporary changes to maternity services in Kendal permanent.
Last year, more than 1,200 local people signed his petition against the move.
Mr Farron said: “The Helme Chase maternity ward provides an important service for South Lakes women – it must not be watered down. Post-natal care is something which many women value, and I am calling on the Trust to look again at removing this service. I am also very worried about what message the move to an ‘on-call’ overnight service sends out.
“These changes have led to a reduction in the number of births at the unit. I’m calling on the trust to address this and reconsider these changes so that the unit remains viable.
“Women must have choices available about how they give birth – we must not remove their options.”
GP Geoff Jolliffe, the Interim Clinical Chair of NHS Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “Both NHS Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group and the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust are very keen to ensure that women are able to give birth at Helme Chase 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
“The interim arrangements mean that this is happening and the arrangements have worked well. We are planning a discussion with Cumbria County Council’s Health Scrutiny members later this month about future arrangements.”