LEIGHTON Hospital’s maternity unit has bagged a hat-trick of honours after they were awarded a top rating by UNICEF and the World Health Organisation.

Following a thorough two-day assessment, the Crewe hospital was officially named as a UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Hospital for the first time in its history.

The award comes after the hospital, which is run by Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (MCHFT), was named the Midwifery Service of the Year by the Royal College of Midwives in March and named as one of the safest units in the country by the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST) programme.

Pam Cornwall, lead nurse and head of midwifery at MCHFT, said: “We have now received the three top ratings that any maternity service can be awarded.

“There aren’t many organisations in the UK who have achieved what we have, which means that local pregnant women and their families really do have a top class service available on their doorstep.”

The Baby Friendly Initiative is a programme designed to support breastfeeding and parent-infant relationships by working with public services to improve standards of care.

The programme is divided into three stages, with organisations requiring to complete audits and assessments at each stage.

MCHFT achieved stage one in 2010 and stage two in 2013.

The maternity unit was assessed for stage three in May and is now fully Baby Friendly accredited.

Ms Cornwall added: “It gives me enormous pleasure that we have received this accreditation.

“We scored 100 per cent in 10 out of the 14 criteria that we were assessed on, with our lowest score being 91 per cent.

“This is a phenomenal achievement and I would like to thank everyone within our maternity, Neonatal and Paediatric teams for their commitment to continually improving our services.”