Tests due on newborns at infected hospital

THE parents of 24 babies will know today if their children are free from the infection that caused the deaths of three newborns at a hospital.

The results of tests carried out on babies in the neo-natal unit of the Royal Maternity Hospital in Belfast will be known today.

Northern Ireland’s health minister Edwin Poots has revealed the number of confirmed cases of pseudo-monas in babies at the hospital is six, not seven as previously believed.

Three babies have died and three others have contracted the infection, which affects the chest, blood and urinary tract.

A deep clean of the hospital was to be completed last night, and a helpline set up to support expectant mothers worried about giving birth at the neonatal unit has been extended