THE maternity service at Leighton Hospital has been awarded £80,000 for training to improve and enhance the safety of care women and their families receive.

The hospital is one of 136 NHS organisations to receive money from Health Education England’s Maternity Safety Training Fund.

It will be used to provide additional training for all midwives at the hospital, as well as doctors and maternity support workers, and to buy an advanced maternal and neonatal birthing simulator.

The simulator, known as ‘Noelle’, will help prepare staff and students for complex cases and help with team building, communication skills and multi-disciplinary teaching and training.

Elizabeth Nocton, workforce development lead for the women’s and children’s division, said: “We provide care for women and their families from the start of their pregnancy through to birth and beyond and are committed to delivering high quality and safe care at every stage.

"We’re delighted to receive this investment as it will allow us to provide staff with further training.”

As part of the investment, all the hospital’s midwives will gain accreditation as a Newborn Life Support Provider by attending a Resuscitation Council (UK) course.

This training provides theoretical and practical instruction in the management of resuscitation at birth and will ensure all babies born receive the best care.