WORCESTER’S new midwife-led birth centre has delivered its first baby.

Oscar Louis Andrews was born in the Cornflower room of Worcestershire Royal Hospital’s new midwife-led Meadow Birth Centre at 8.51am on Tuesday, April 14, weighing a healthy 8lbs, 3oz.

Parents Claire and Oliver from Wick, near Pershore – who already have a three-year-old son, Philip – said they were “thrilled” to be the first couple to deliver their child at the centre, which opened the same day Oscar was born.

Mrs Andrews said the care and support given by the centre’s team of midwives during the delivery had been “just amazing”.

“They made us feel so relaxed and the environment is relaxed and happy,” she said.

“We feel lucky to be the first to have our baby here.

“I would recommend it to anyone."

Her husband said: "Oscar was eleven days late so we weren't sure if we were going to get in here.

“But we're really glad we have as everyone's treated Claire and Oscar brilliantly.

“It's got a really relaxed feel about it."

Allison Collins, who was on hand along with colleague Lucy Laird during the birth, said she was “proud and honoured” to have helped deliver the first baby at the centre.

Team leader at the centre Louise Turbutt said she and her colleagues were “elated” to be able to celebrate their first delivery after months of preparation. “We're really excited to have helped deliver a lovely baby boy,” she said.

The centre is intended for straightforward low-risk births and was funded by a £497,000 grant from the Department of Health and an additional £103,000 from Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

It has four en-suite delivery rooms, three with birthing pools, and is situated next to the hospital’s regular delivery suite in case something goes wrong during a birth.

It is expected the centre will deliver about 500 babies – between one and two a day – in its first year, and twice that in the second.

Another baby boy has since been born at the centre, arriving on Wednesday morning.