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Health bosses agreed to have the unit stocked by midwives only, meaning about 300 births a year compared to 2,700 with a doctor-led service.
Solihull mums who need a doctor would instead have to go to other hospitals, such as Heartlands in Bordesley Green and Good Hope in Sutton Coldfield.
Only low-risk pregnancies will go to Solihull but the change raises the prospect of women being driven to another hospital while in labour if they run into complications.
Health bosses say the move is essential as there are not enough doctors to work between midland hospitals, putting sick newborns at risk.
All births stopped in April 2010 over concerns about the lack of doctors at Solihull, with medics having to also cover Heartlands and Good Hope. A midwife-led unit opened in July.
The plans caused an outcry when first announced in 2009.
This led to a march through the town when the plans were first announced, a petition of 3,000 signatures and a Facebook group with more than 4,000 members.
But just 181 people gave their views during an official consultation from October to January this year, about 0.1 per cent of the borough’s adult population.
Some 64.4 per cent of those who responded backed the plan for Solihull, which bosses said gave them a mandate to approve the changes.
The change comes despite the Conservatives criticising Labour’s closure of maternity units before the 2010 General Election.
Health secretary Andrew Lansley said in 2007: “You can't provide choice in childbirth to mothers by closing down their local maternity units.”
The boards of NHS Birmingham East and North and Solihull NHS Primary Care Trust yesterday agreed the change.
Click here for previous stories about the changes.
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