£3.7m midwifery unit planned at Antrim Area Hospital

Plans for an interim facility alongside the existing provision were outlined to members at last month’s board meeting. In March, the Northern Health and Social Care Trust board approved the recommendation that all hospital births in the Northern Trust area should take place at Antrim Hospital with provision at Causeway Hospital “unsustainable”.

The recommendation followed a 14-week public consultation on the future of maternity services in the region and approved by the Department of Health in June. Members were advised this approval was subject to “the development of an alongside interim three-bedded Midwife-led Unit on the Antrim site to offer additional capacity in advance of the new-build women and children’s unit planned for 2027/28″.

It is anticipated the new midwife-led unit should be operational by end of June 2025. As well as three birthing suites, two must include a birthing pool. There will also be a clinical assessment room and utility rooms.