Staff at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital have been praised for helping women through more complex pregnancies to deliver the most babies born in a single month this year.

Midwives and doctors have helped women give birth to 480 babies in September.

Nine months on from Christmas, September is traditionally a busy time for maternity hospitals but almost 50 more babies were born in Hull last month compared to August, including 22 in a single day.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said although the annual birth rate had fallen from 5,505 in 2016/17 to 5,285 in 2017/18, 2,676 babies had already been born since April this year.

More women were experiencing complicated pregnancies, requiring admission to the hospital’s antenatal ward before giving birth, and more were having caesarean sections, meaning they were staying longer on post natal wards after their babies were born.

The complexity of cases was also increasing, with more women with high body mass indexes (BMIs) giving birth.

Janet Cairns, Head of Midwifery, said: “We are seeing more women who need more support from our staff both in the hospital and out in the community.

“The whole unit has been busy and our community teams have visited all these families at home.

“I’m very proud of how hard our team has worked and thank them all for their dedication and commitment to provide great care and support to the women and families we look after.”

The next HEY Baby Carousel, where prospective parents can get a wealth of information and advice on pregnancy, birth and child care from our team of midwives and birth educators, will be held on Wednesday, October 31, at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital.

Held between 6pm and 8pm, there is no need to book an appointment and people can just turn up.