Maternity services at a Wirral Hospital have been hailed as the best in the north west and among the best in the country.

Wirral Women and Children’s Hospital was awarded the accolade followed an investigation by the Care Quality Commission into women’s experiences of maternity care in England earlier this year.

More than 23,000 new mums were asked their opinions about three key areas covered – antenatal care, care during labour and birth and post-natal care.

Jill Galvani, director of nursing and midwifery at Wirral University Teaching Hospital said: “To be named as one of the top seven maternity units in England and the best in the north west by our health regulator is a tremendous achievement.

“Our hardworking staff takes great pride in the personalised and high quality service we provide for our mothers, their partners and their babies.

“We are delighted that the mothers who use our service rate us to highly.”

Almost 140 eligible NHS trusts took part in the CQC survey on maternity care.

Patients were asked a series of questions ranging from ‘dignity and respect’ to ‘kindness and understanding.’

The data provided the health regulator with information to indicate which hospitals were performing better, worse of about the same.