HRH visits The Princess Alexandra Maternity Wing

Princess Anne, who is a patron of the Royal College of Midwives, was welcomed on arrival by RCM’s chief executive Gill Walton and Jane Urban, head of midwifery at the hospital.

Mrs Walton said: “Maternity services at The Royal Cornwall Hospital is a brilliant example of a dynamic maternity team, that despite geographical and economic challenges, have consistently worked hard to make necessary improvements.

“Within the new birthing centre, the staff has a positive working culture and collective ambition to provide the best care for women and their families, which has contributed to the success of service over the past number of years and resulted in high quality care, particularly for parents in their care who have experienced difficult circumstances.”

During the visit she attended a reception where she met 50 staff members and unveiled a plaque to mark the occasion.

Her Royal Highness also took a tour of the maternity unit and the branch’s new state of the art birthing centre in Truro, which opened in 2017 and has pools, aromatherapy services, reclining chairs and en-suite bathrooms.

The last member of the Royal Family to visit was Princess Alexandra, when she first opened the unit.

Jane added: “We have had an absolutely fantastic day; it’s been such an honour to welcome Her Royal Highness into our maternity service and to talk to her about all the work the midwifery team has been doing and how we have been involving local parents.

“The Royal College of Midwives has been really supporting us and put us forward for this visit so that we can celebrate what we have achieved to improve care for women, babies, families and our staff. It was a wonderful opportunity to also show off the brilliant facilities we have in our midwife-led Birth Centre and the newly refurbished delivery suite.”