TWO new mothers have been collecting photographs of the babies born during lockdown at a North-East hospital.

Danielle Todd and Emma Barker, who are both from Darlington and have given birth since the start of the lockdown, have been asking other new mothers to share photographs of their babies to make a collage for the maternity ward at Darlington Memorial Hospital.

It started when Danielle, whose daughter Maisie-Anne Guest was born on April 30, asked a question on social media about how to register the birth and realised just how many new mothers there were in the town.

The friends set up a group on Facebook for other mothers and have now decided to create a collage of baby pictures to give to the maternity ward at the hospital.

So far, more than 70 mums and babies have been involved in the project, and when lockdown restrictions are lifted they are hoping to all meet in person to take a photo of them together and to organise a fundraising event for NHS charities.

Emma, 34, whose daughter Evelyn was born on May 16, said: “We wanted to put something together as a gesture to the NHS and to say thank you.

“It’s a big part of history having a baby in lockdown.

“It’s taken off more than we thought - we expected a few people to be interested.”

The mother-of-two, who also has a six-year-old called James, added: “It’s such a difficult time for people. I know myself that having a baby is a big and happy time in people’s lives but because of Covid-19 there’s that negativity and fear around it.

“I was panicking about going into hospital and my partner not being able to come in. It was quite a scary experience but this has helped put that positivity back into it.

“The staff were absolutely amazing and the feedback from other people is all about how hard they worked to keep it positive. We want to give something back to them.”

Mother-of-three Danielle, whose sons Oliver and Harry are six and four, added: “It was really difficult, especially not having my partner there until I was in established labour.

“It’s not nice being alone at such a special time but the staff were really comforting when I got upset at Anthony not being there.

“It was nice to know they were there for me which is why I wanted to thank them for everything they have done.

“There are a lot of us who have had babies who want to say thank you.”

They have set up an online fundraiser to try and raise enough to cover the cost of producing the art work and have agreed that anything raised over what is needed should go to NHS charities.

Emma is also keen to support Tiny Tickers, a charity which raises money to buy equipment to test babies for heart defects.

The page can be found by visiting www.gofundme.com and searching for lockdown babies.

Anyone who has had a baby at Darlington Memorial Hospital and would like to get incolved can do so by getting in touch with the group on Facebook, which is called Darlington Lockdown Babies.