A maternity unit that was shut down during the Covid-19 pandemic has reopened after renovations and has already witnessed its first births.
In March 2020, the East Cheshire NHS Trust shut down the maternity services at the Macclesfield District General Hospital and transferred expectant mothers to facilities in Stockport, Manchester, or Crewe.
Ged Murphy, the chief executive, praised the reopening as "fantastic for families.".
It was a "vote of confidence" in the site, according to Macclesfield MP David Rutley.
The hospital was unable to provide anaesthetist coverage for both maternity-related procedures and the anticipated numbers of Covid patients, so services were suspended for an initial six months in March 2020. The trust later decided not to resume births on the site.
While the unit was shut down, its midwives provided care to mothers who opted for a home birth either at one of the three other hospitals or in the neighborhood.
"Fantastic for families, who access our maternity services, and our midwifery and obstetric staff, who have been working at host sites," said Mr. Murphy, who added that the hospital had now met the "robust safety criteria required" to reopen.
A "real vote of confidence" in the hospital's "sustainable future," according to Mr. Rutley, the Conservative representative for Macclesfield.
He claimed that after working with NHS executives to voice his concerns to ministers regarding the reopening of the unit, it was "now great to see that local families will, once again, be able to have their babies delivered in Macclesfield Hospital, closer to their homes and their loved ones.".
He continued, "This is a very good result.
