The new £70 million Maternity hospital at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast is on track for completion later this year.

Health Minister Robin Swann visited the site of the new facility to see the significant progress ahead of the planned handover.

Speaking following his visit to the facility, Minister Swann said: "The new Maternity hospital, co-located with the Critical Care building will help transform maternity services for women and their families. It will also contribute to the objectives of improving neonatal care in the Department's 10 year Paediatric Strategy for Hospital and Community Services.

"I recognise that this is a long awaited project but I was pleased to see that the building is nearing completion and that the Trust should be in a position to welcome women and babies by next summer.  

"I want to also commend the team in the Belfast Trust who have forged ahead with this project despite the challenging circumstances of the past two years."

The new Maternity hospital, which is constructed over five floors, has been designed to provide the highest standards of clinical excellence while at the same time providing a 'hotel-like' feel to help normalise the birthing experience for women and their partners.

Dr Cathy Jack, Chief Executive of the Belfast Trust, commented: "We are very much looking forward to welcoming women and their partners to our new facilities next year. The hospital is designed to ensure every mother, child and partner receives the most appropriate care in the best environment across a full range of maternity and obstetrics service.

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"Babies and families who may need additional clinical support after birth will be cared for by our exceptional team at the regional neonatology services for Northern Ireland based at the hospital. As the regional referral centre for foetal medicine, investigation, diagnosis and treatment of foetal anomalies the new hospital will allow families from right across Northern Ireland, whose babies need that specialised care to benefit from our state of the art facilities. 

"Obstetrics, Maternity and Neonatology Services will continue to be delivered at the Royal Maternity Hospital until next year."

Once opened, the hospital will have an Admission Unit, Early Pregnancy Department and Active Birthing Centre (ABC) that will provide 10 dedicated rooms for women who choose midwifery-led care. Also included in the development is a new neonatology unit with 45 neonatology cots, the unit will have a link bridge to the Trust's paediatric intensive care unit and paediatric theatres. Three delivery theatres are located adjacent to the Critical Care building and will have direct access into the Critical Care building’s theatres and ICU via the new link bridge. A 10-bed ward is also located directly above the theatres to facilitate the care of high risk antenatal and postnatal women.

The new Maternity hospital also has a link bridge to the Critical Care building, which has 48 inpatient ensuite bedrooms and an outpatient floor for maternity services.

Heather Jackson, Interim Director Maternity Services, added: "From the very start, one of the most important things for us was that our staff and the women and families who use our services were involved at all stages and their feedback and input has been invaluable.

"Women give birth to around 5,000 babies each year at our hospital and this new facility has been designed to provide a caring environment for every mother as they prepare to welcome their baby into the world.  

"None of this would be happening without the dedication of our staff across a range of specialities bringing their skill sets together to deliver this. We are forever grateful for the work they continue to carry out to ensure we can open the building as soon as possible."

The building is expected to be handed over to the Trust by the end of 2022 and the clinical commissioning process should be completed by summer 2023.