DEDICATED fundraisers are hoping members of the public will help them to generate a staggering £250,000 to make the area's new maternity unit the best equipped in the country.
The BayB Maternity Appeal has been officially launched this week to ensure Barrow's new maternity centre is kitted out to the highest standard possible.
The money will be spent on equipment not affordable to the NHS to make the birth experience second to none for pregnant women and new mums across Furness.
RELATED ARTICLE: State of the art Barrow maternity unit rises from the ground for the first time
This is set to include three birthing pools, music docking stations, TVs, ergonomic swinging cots, birthing partner stayover beds and a special room for parents of babies too poorly to go home.
But the biggest expenditure is expected to be the purchase of a £100,000 virtual patient for Furness General Hospital which will provide essential hands on training on a range of different birth scenarios for doctors and midwives.
The lifelike human simulator - usually only found in large city hospitals - will be the first of its kind in Cumbria to allow maternity staff to practice and develop expertise in difficult or unusual births.
Sascha Wells, director of midwifery for the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust, said the mannequin would allow staff to keep up to speed with the very latest techniques.
"Most births are relatively straightfoward so it's vitally important that all staff working in maternity services have confidence that only experience brings to manage situations in which difficulties do arise.
"By giving them continous access to practical training through cutting edge equipment, which for all intents and purposes react just like a real birthing mum, we can ensure our teams gain hands on experience maintaining the right level of skills and knowledge that instinctively rise to the fore if faced with a problem."
The new unit, currently under construction in the grounds of FGH, in Dalton Lane, Barrow, is on track to be completed by December.
It will feature en-suite rooms, two dedicated operating theatres, a special care baby unit and bereavement suite.
Fundraising champions for the BayB Maternity Appeal hope members of the public will make donations and take part in sponsored events to help the fund reach its ambitious quarter of a million pound target.
Paula Richardson, head of charity and fundraising for UHMBT, said: "All of these items fall outside the remit of what the NHS is able to fund but as a trust, we want to provide a maternity unit for local women that is genuinely second to none in the country.
"To do that, we are asking people to help by supporting our Bayb’s Maternity Appeal."
READ MORE: Barrow's maternity care revolution gets underway
READ MORE: Official turf cutting for Barrow's new £12 million maternity unit gets underway
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here