Princess visits staff and babies at maternity unit

THE Princess Royal paid a visit to a Newcastle hospital while in the North East.

- By KRISTY DAWSON

Princess Anne, Patron of the Royal College of Midwives, met staff and heard about refurbishment projects

Princess Anne visited the maternity services at the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) on Wednesday in her role as Patron of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM).She walked around the unit - one of the largest in the UK with more than 5,000 babies born each year - and spent time with some of the hospital’s youngest patients.

Her Royal Highness also met families, midwives, maternity support workers, students, doctors and support and administration staff from across the services.

During a tour of the maternity services, she visited Newcastle birthing centre, the neonatal intensive care unit, the fetal medicine service and a specialist facility for bereaved parents called the Halcyon Suite.

She then unveiled a plaque to mark the visit outside Newcastle birthing centre.