‘Fantastic’ revamped maternity unit at Warwick Hospital is open

And since opening on Tuesday, the hospital’s head of midwifery Wendy Jones has already seen a “phenomenal” improvement.

She said: “We had had lots of comments about the service we were offering. Women coming in to give birth had to walk down a long corridor before they even saw a friendly face, but now we have a lovely big reception area where someone meets and greets them as soon as they walk through the doors.

“Parents who had stayed in the special baby care unit had also commented that we could improve the family accommodation. It is just fantastic that we have been able to do that.”

As well as a new reception area and improved special baby unit accommodation - which includes a self-contained apartment, the unit now has a refurbished bereavement area for parents who have lost their babies, which is set well apart from the rest of the unit so that those using it will not be around other babies.

There is also a new assessment suite for women who are about to give birth but not yet in labour, meaning more space in the labour ward has been freed up.

Some 3,000 babies - 85 per cent of whose mothers live in south Warwickshire - are brought into the world each year at the hospital, thanks to the hard work of 120 midwives and 15 special baby care unit staff.

Ms Jones said: “The work has already made a phenomenal difference to patients. It has also improved staff moral.

“The project was undertaken while we continued to work in the area and the whole thing was managed really well as the amount of disruption was minimised.”

The project was partly funded by a £200,000 Government grant and is part of a bigger improvement plan on the maternity unit that is expected to take another few years to complete.