FROM today ill babies will be brought to this high technology ward in Calderdale.

The final baby has left the special care baby unit at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary as it formally closed today.

This new neonatal unit at Calderdale Royal Hospital can care for up to 26 babies and features £100,000 of live-saving equipment, including ventilators.

The ward also includes six intensive care cots to care for the most critically-ill newborns, improved lighting and air conditioning, rooms for parents and a breast milk bank which stores donated milk.

Dr Gill Sharpe, head of children’s services at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The new unit means we will have all our expertise in one place, which will ultimately lead to benefits for our patients.

“It will mean our more experienced paediatricians can spend more time working alongside their more junior colleagues, which will have benefits for training.

“The increased number of cots in one place also means that we will be able to accommodate twins and triplets more often than we currently can as very often it is difficult to keep siblings together.

“This has been a great opportunity to upgrade the whole unit and we now have the most modern unit in the region.”

The ward’s first patient is Ellie Thornton who was admitted on July 21 – the day the new unit opened.

Ellie, daughter of Adele and Andy Thornton, of Milnsbridge, was born three weeks prematurely at 5lb 6oz.

First-time mum Adele, 25, said: “The unit is really good. Me and my husband have both said it’s quite refreshing. It’s nice and relaxed which is what you need when you’re under quite a bit of pressure.

“We were warned about the unit at Huddersfield closing and that we might have to come over here.

“We were a bit concerned about the extra travel, but once we got here it was completely refreshing and we’re happy with it.”

The switch of maternity and special care baby facilities from Huddersfield Royal Infirmary to Calderdale was passed after a long-running campaign by thousands of people against the plan.