Midwives at Bradford Royal Infirmary’s £1.2 million birth centre are hoping babies born at the unit will return next month with their parents to help them celebrate their first birthday.

Since the unit opened ten months ago, 1,421 babies whose mums come from across the district and as far away as Leeds and Halifax, have been born at the centre, which offers ‘home from home’ rooms where women can be in labour and have their children in peaceful surroundings.

Birth centre manager Carol Dyson said: “The unit has exceeded all our expectations. We can’t believe the centre is nearly one year old as the time has flown by. We are delighted that we are now seeing women from far and wide coming to Bradford to have their babies after hearing about our fantastic facilities. Our reputation is definitely spreading outside the city.”

She added: “To mark our first birthday we are inviting all the women, as well as their partners, and babies who were born on the unit to come back and help us celebrate with a cup of tea and a chat.

“We especially want parents to bring back their babies as we want to start a picture wall in the unit, so parents-to-be can see all the little faces of the children that have been born here.”

On November 23, the unit will be hosting a special drop-in session between 10am and 3pm in the parent education room at the Women’s and Newborn unit, which also houses the birth centre at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Feedback has been positive from new mums with 35 to 45 per cent of woman being able to return home with their babies after just six hours.

The Birth Centre has seven en-suite rooms, two with birthing pools. With the emphasis on a natural birth with less pain relief, women are encouraged to be mobile during labour and use birthing aids such as birthing balls, stools, mats and slings.

The suites are all named and have a nature theme, corridors are curved and feature murals, and rooms have low lighting and iPod docking stations to give a homely environment.

The adjacent consultant-led labour ward has also benefited from a full refurbishment and a new lift has been installed, linking birthing facilities with the post-natal wards in the floors above. A new bereavement room has also been created.

A further £400,000 has been invested in staffing levels and £2 million is being spent on the renovation of a new, expanded neo-natal unit.