Medical dates:

Medical character:

In 1918 Ilford Urban District Council opened a maternity home in two houses.

In 1926 the Ilford Maternity Home moved to a new purpose-built building in Eastern Avenue, Newbury Park.  The Home was administered by the Borough of llford and contained small wards of 1, 2 or 3 beds each.

In 1948 the Home joined the NHS with 51 beds under the control of the Ilford and Barking Group Hospital Management Committee, part of the North East Metropolitan Regional Health Board.  It was renamed the Ilford Maternity Hospital.  An annexe with 9 beds for postnatal patients was established at Wilnott Lodge in Chadwell Heath.

In 1955 weekly Breast Clinics were established at the Antenatal Clinic to encourage mothers to breastfeed.  Mothercraft lectures were held monthly and were attended by both parents.  The Hospital had no Premature Baby Unit, nor a Pathology Department (specimens were sent to five other hospitals instead, the neighbouring King George Hospital being unable to undertake the work).

During the mid 1950s the main kitchen, two wards, and the sitting and dining rooms in the Nurses' Home were redecorated.  The aged refrigerators were replaced at the rate of one a year.  The covered way to the Admission Room was extended and new toilet facilities were built for visitors.

During 1958 the Hospital was forced to close because of an infection on the wards.  It re-opened after thorough disinfection.  The wards were redecorated and new, low, upholstered chairs replaced the old wooden ones.  The Labour Ward on the ground floor was reconstructed, and the operating lamp was replaced with the latest mobile shadowless one.

The Breast Clinics were discontinued in 1959.

By the end of the decade there was an overwhelming demand for the Hospital's services.  Overspill cases had to be sent to Barking Hospital or Mile End Hospital.

In 1960 an Antenatal Ward and a theatre block were urgently needed.  A Special Care Baby Unit for premature babies was proposed.  In August 1961 a new Recreation Hall opened.  It had cost £13,300 and was officially opened in October 1961 by Mr Arnold Walker, Chairman of the Central Midwives Board. A new milk kitchen and entrance hall were built in the early 1960s.

In 1978 the Hospital lost its separated identity, becoming known as the West Wing of its neighbour, the King George Hospital.  It had 54 beds.

By 1980 it had 36 beds and had become the headquarters of the District Health Authority.

It closed in 1993, along with the main King George Hospital, which had been rebuilt on part of the Goodmayes Hospital site.

Present status (June 2011)

The building was demolished shortly after it closed.  The 3-acre site has been redeveloped now contains a new road - Royal Crescent - with new housing, commercial retail units, a hotel and a community facility.