An independent health watchdog has found new mums in Hillingdon are receiving a good standard of maternity care.

Healthwatch Hillingdon commissioned a review of maternity care in the borough, finding 'an overwhelming majority of women are happy with the care and service provision at Hillingdon Hospital'.

The report was commissioned following improvements made to maternity care in North West London in 2015, which led the closure of the maternity ward at Ealing Hospital.

Anita Hutchins, Head of Midwifery at The Hillingdon Hospitals said: “We are delighted that our staff’s commitment to care has been recognised.

“We are really pleased that Healthwatch Hillingdon’s report is aligned to what we are currently trying to achieve.”

The changes saw maternity units in north west London consolidated on to six sites to improve safety and access to midwives and consultants day and night for all women.

At Hillingdon Hospital improvements and provision were put in place for up to 600 additional women a year to give birth.

The report also provides some recommendations to further improve maternity care, including providing women with more information about where they can give birth and improving continuity of care between women and their care professionals.

A spokesperson said work to improve these aspects of care is already underway as north west London has been awarded funding to further improve maternity services in line with new national guidelines ‘Better Births’.

This new programme has been designed to test new approaches to deliver greater continuity of care to women throughout their pregnancy and postnatal care.