Five paintings of sunflowers have been donated to the maternity department at Conquest Hospital by the local Darvell Bruderhof community in Robertsbridge.
The pictures were painted by children aged eight to ten who were inspired by the work of Vincent Van Gogh.
The donation was the idea of Sadie and Colin Stangl, who had their baby Kayla at the Conquest last year. The paintings were presented at a Team Appreciation Day, held at the Darvell Bruderhof community, to which all the midwives who work at the hospital were invited to attend.
Sadie Stangl said: “Having had our baby at Conquest Hospital, we wanted to show our appreciation for the hard work of everyone who works in the maternity department.
“The children chose to paint sunflowers as they are so bright and cheerful. We’re very pleased that the paintings are now on display and brightening up the area in the corridor outside the Buchanan Delivery Suite. We hope they will be enjoyed by all who pass by.”
Cathy O’Callaghan, Interim Head of Midwifery for East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “On behalf of maternity services at Conquest Hospital, I would like to thank the Darvell community for their kind donation of the paintings and also for making myself and my colleagues feel so welcome when we visited for the Team Appreciation Day.”
The Darvell Bruderhof community are now looking at other ways in which they can support the maternity department and hope to be able to fund a Cardiotocography (CTG) machine, which is used to record fetal heartbeat and uterine contractions during pregnancy and labour, later this year.