HOSPITALS across Cumbria and Lancashire have been awarded £80,000 to help make England one of the safest places in the world to have a baby.

The Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt announced an ambition to reduce the rate of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries occurring during delivery in babies in England by 20 per cent by 2020 and 50 per cent by 2030.

In order to help University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) achieve this The Department of Health identified a training fund of £8million for NHS Maternity Services.

UHMBT bid for £174,000 to be used across the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, Westmorland General Hospital and Furness General Hospital.

Linda Womack, divisional general manager for Women’s and Children’s at UHMBT said: “The trust is delighted to have been granted £80,000.

"Improvements to safety will be achieved by incorporating traditional methods and programmes of learning with innovative, patient based co-designed training programmes along with the development of a simulation suite to underpin situational awareness, improved communication by all professionals who work with women and their families in maternity services as well as reflecting and learning from the impact of human factors."