Due to issues with the availability of ambulances, and also staffing pressures during the pandemic, Crowborough Birthing Centre had been shut since December 31, 2020.
The unit at Crowborough Hospital in East Sussex is run by Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust (MTW) who reopened the centre last Monday (April 4).
By noon, little Ruby, an 8lb baby girl, was born to Megan and Matt at 11:40pm.
Nicolette McCarthy, Birth Centre Matron, said: “We were all so thrilled that baby Ruby arrived on our first day of re-opening for births, and absolutely delighted for Megan and Matt.”
A birthing centre is a midwife-run unit, whose rooms are outfitted in ‘home’ style, but with extra features such as birthing pools and birthing balls.
