Rishi joined the team at the Friarage Hospital Maternity Centre to help celebrate its 10th anniversary as a midwife-led unit.
The MP met members of the unit which has brought more than 2,000 healthy babies into the world in that time.
He also congratulated the team members who recently tackled the Hadrian’s Wall National Trail in just four days to raise money to make the unit an even more attractive place to give birth.
Walking more than 20 miles day and camping overnight the team raised more than £4,000 for additional equipment and facilities to create a home-from-home environment in the unit’s birthing rooms.
Led by experienced midwives, the maternity centre offers holistic maternity care for pregnancy, birth and beyond, and serves an area of more than 1,000 sq km in North Yorkshire.
Rishi spoke to unit manager Clare McMann and her team about the walk and the success of the unit in providing a comfortable relaxed environment 24/7 for women and their partners.
The unit is run by a team of enthusiastic, experienced and skilled midwives who provide friendly individualised care to women with straightforward pregnancies.
During his visit Rishi also met the latest arrival on the unit – 6lb 10oz Florence and her proud parents Tim and Katie Smith-Burrows of Morton-on-Swale who couldn’t praise the Friarage centre and the team enough.
Rishi said: “The maternity centre is another great success story at the Friarage. Tim and Katie told me what a wonderful birth experience the Friarage team provided and that is the best recommendation for the great service provided here.
“The Friarage is a good choice for women who are keen to have a natural birth with minimum intervention.”
The unit manager Ms McMann said: "I am proud to celebrate 10 years of our midwifery-led unit and look forward to the next 10 years and beyond, with the continued support of our wonderful local community. At the heart of our maternity unit is a commitment to family-centred care, where our dedicated and enthusiastic staff provide a range of services to all families throughout pregnancy and the postnatal period, tailored to each individual’s needs."
