DARENT Valley Hospital is set to open a new maternity ward which can accommodate an extra 730 mothers a year.

The hospital in Darenth Wood Road, Dartford, has seen a 32-per-cent increase in the number of babies born and a 31-per-cent rise in mothers since 2000.

From April last year until March 31 this year, 3,059 babies have been delivered and 3,013 mothers have been seen at Darent Valley.

When the hospital first opened its doors in 2000, it saw 2,290 mothers and delivered 2,318 babies.

Last month, 290 babies were born - the highest monthly figure since records began at the hospital.

The hospital's head of midwifery, Dawn Johnston, says: "We've got an increase in the birth rate and we need more delivery rooms."

The increase in the birth rate has seen 91 more babies delivered between January and April 15 this year compared with the same period last year, when there were 825 - an increase of 11 per cent.

The new ward is due to open in the second week of June.

Ms Johnston, who has worked at the hospital for five years, said "This ward is designed for healthy women who are going through a normal process and don't need all the hi-tech equipment."

Three new delivery rooms will be provided across the corridor from the eight the hospital currently has.

Ms Johnston hopes up to a third of deliveries will be carried out in the new delivery rooms.

She added: "The ward will cope with one or two extra deliveries a day on average, if our delivery rate continues at this pace."

Ms Johnston says the new rooms are being converted from an old post-natal ward, which means adapting the facilities is relatively straightforward.

She said: "We haven't really been using it for post-natal purposes since 2001.

"It has been used more as a medical ward and sometimes for pregnancies, but this was more for looking after the babies rather than the mothers."

Staff from the John Lewis store at Bluewater have been decorating the new unit, giving each room a different colour scheme and painting murals on the walls.

Darent Valley currently employs around 100 midwives, including six taken on recently to help meet the increase in the number of babies.

Because of the expansion in services, it is now planning to take on six more.

Ms Johnston says the expansion will help the hospital to meet the recommendations of the Department of Health's recent Maternity Matters report.

The report stresses the need for maternity services to focus more on mothers' needs.

Ms Johnston says the hospital will now be able to do this.

Mother-of-two Judianne Sherrell, 34, of Meadow Walk, Wilmington, is chairman of the maternity services liaison committee, which advises the Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, and is a breastfeeding counsellor for the National Childbirth Trust.

She said: "Personally, I think home birthing is fantastic but this will give people a good choice.

"Many mothers still like to be on hospital premises.

"It's important it is a very informal setting, like a home from home. Not like a hospital ward, more like your own bedroom."