The suite on the Southern General Hospital site is said to offer mothers and infants the latest equipment and technology.
Neonatal intensive care facilities for sick babies, theatres and high dependency care for mothers, are all close together in the centre.
It is also a crucial piece in the jigsaw which will eventually bring maternity, children and adult hospital services on to one site – an arrangement known as the “gold standard” in healthcare.
Dr Stewart Pringle, lead clinician at the Southern General maternity service, said: “The redeveloped unit is outstanding. It allows us to look after low risk mums who are looking for minimal intervention through to high risk mothers who require significant support and medical input in a modern and excellently equipped environment. The redevelopment represents a significant step forward in the care of mothers and their babies.”
The unit includes 12 labour rooms with ensuite facilities, two birthing pools and 60 cots for babies who need intensive care or extra support after birth.
A new foetal medicine unit, where babies with problems can be diagnosed and treated before they are born, is also on site. It will look after expectant mothers from across Scotland.
Eleanor Stenhouse, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s head of midwifery, said: “We are delighted with the redevelopment which significantly increases the unit’s existing capacity and enables it to provide a wider range of services to mums and their babies.”
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde expects around 5,500 babies to be delivered at the base every year.
It is part of the controversial plan to cut the number of maternity hospitals in Glasgow from three to two – a scheme which will become reality when the Queen Mother’s Hospital closes in January.
The loss of the Queen Mother’s, which sits beside Glasgow’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Yorkhill, means sick babies who need specialist paediatric care at the children’s hospital may have to be transported across the city. The new children’s hospital being built at the Southern General is not due to open until 2015 – a delay which is causing concern.
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