3:11pm Wednesday 10th March 2010
A HOSPITAL has launched a charity appeal to raise money to expand maternity care.
Money donated to Darent Valley Hospital’s Little Buds Fund will go towards the cost of buying specialist equipment for the hospital’s maternity and special care baby unit.
Celebrity guest and patron of the fund Cheryl Baker attended the launch event, where guests were taken on a tour of the fetal monitoring unit as well as a larger maternity and midwifery led unit.
While the hospital gets some funding from the NHS, it has to raise much of the money needed to improve facilities by relying on donations.
It estimated the overall cost of looking after a baby in special care is £800 a day.
Darent Valley’s consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Atef El-Matary said: “Here at Darent Valley we want to give every baby the very best possible chance by using the very latest technology locally, saving the parent’s anxiety and the expense of travelling to London.
"If problems are seen sooner they can, if necessary, be referred earlier to a specialist centre for possible treatment in the womb or after birth.”
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