A maternity unit at a hospital in Perth's south east will remain open after West Australian Health Minister Kim Hames responded to public pressure for babies to continue to be delivered there.

Dr Hames announced last November that Bentley Hospital's maternity unit would close, following the release of a review led by senior obstetrician Con Michael that found the safety of caesarean deliveries at the hospital could not be guaranteed, and there were no senior staff rostered on after hours.

It found the hospital was "an unsatisfactory facility that is badly in need of refurbishing" and was "not conducive to establishing a different and safe contemporary model of care".

The 23-bed unit was "old and tired", Dr Hames said at the time, and services would relocate to Fiona Stanley Hospital [FSH].

However, the Minister said he had listened to a "broad spectrum of the community", and it made "no sense" to close the Bentley Hospital unit at this time.

He said he had met with senior staff at the unit this week.

"The Bentley maternity unit safely delivered 1,060 babies in 2015," he said

"I understand from talking to staff and patients at the hospital, that it is strongly patronised and favoured by the local community, with the bulk of births supported by general practice (GP) obstetricians and experienced midwives.

"The State Government has made the decision that maternity services at Bentley will remain available subject to ongoing operational and cost-efficiency reviews and in mid-2018, we will again review the model."

Shortage of midwives not helping: Minister

He said the move to keep it open was because of the current pressures on maternity services.

A national shortage of senior midwives meant FSH was yet to become a full capacity maternity hospital, but "this remains an ongoing priority for the health service," Dr Hames said.

The Australian Medical Association welcomed the decision to keep the maternity unit open.

AMA state president Michael Gannon said it was a good move because FSH could not have dealt with the extra workload.

"It was not the right time to ask Fiona Stanley Hospital to do another 1,000 births," Dr Gannon said.

"We need a very careful and considered plan that takes into account the whole system and the ability to provide the safest possible care and where possible, close to where people live."