‘Even babies are queuing up’

Forty-five babies have been born at the Midwife-led Unit at Blackpool Victoria Hospital since it opened on August 14, with half of women making use of the new birthing pools.

Head of midwifery Nicola Parry said the unit is boasting 100 per cent customer satisfaction.

She said: “That is satisfaction not just from the mothers but from the fathers, grandparents and brothers and sisters.

“The unit is a fantastic investment to enable staff to promote a positive birth experience and to make sure we provide care to the best of our ability in the best environment to give our babies the best start in life.”

In January, health minister Dr Dan Poulter revealed £680,000 would be spent creating the unit, which boasts four spacious en suite rooms, two with birthing pools and one-to-one midwife care.

Its aim is to provide a home birth experience for women in the safety of the hospital and offer more choice to mothers-to-be on the Fylde coast.

Ms Parry said: “It’s a fantastic environment for our babies to be born in and for families to have that experience.

“Getting it right at the beginning makes the experience as positive as possible from health care right through to helping with parents and relationships. We were always providing lots of good care, but there was an element that was missing.”

Ms Parry said it was thanks to staff in the family division that the unit was possible.

She added: “It’s been a huge amount of work, but it’s been a great pleasure.

“I am very proud of this. We’ve put a substantial amount of work and effort into raising this standard to make sure we give the best possible maternity care to the people of Blackpool.

“When we opened, there were excited families, really enthusiastic staff and there were even babies queuing up to be born – babies one and two were born within 60 seconds of each other.

“It’s been a wonderful boost for all of us to be a very important part of a family’s journey.”

Work started on building the unit the day after the funding was announced. The unit’s bid was supported by Blackpool Clinical Commissioning Group.