Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust has announced plans for a series of maternity unit improvements following a successful bid to the Department of Health for additional funds.

Patient Carla Illsley tries the birthing pool at Good Hope Hospital with partner Scott Newton and midwife Zoe Wright standing to the side.

The maternity units at Heartlands and Good Hope Hospitals will share a total of £232,000 between them after being awarded a share of a £25m Department of health fund set up in November of last year to improve and upgrade maternity units.

The investment works, to be completed this spring include a new birthing pool for the Heartlands Hospital delivery suite, a total refurbishment of Good Hope Hospital’s bereavement suite and the upgrading of en-suite facilities on the maternity wards at Heartlands.

Applications for funding were only approved where there was evidence that local mums and dads were engaged with the changes and the bids were judged by a panel that included representatives from the Royal College of Midwives and Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Trish Ryan, deputy head of midwifery, said: “We are thrilled to have been one of the selected Hospital Trusts to receive the maternity services funding. The planned developments will provide a real boost to the high quality care we provide for all of our patients. The birthing environment in our maternity units must be appropriate, so that both mothers and fathers, and the staff who work in the units can benefit from being in a pleasant, relaxed place at an important and challenging time.

“It was absolutely key that we spoke to our clients during the bidding process to find out what they felt was most important to them on our maternity units and we have used their feedback to help shape how the investment money would be spent.”

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