Olympian Sally Gunnell returned to the birthing room where she spent hours in labour 16 years ago to officially open it after a refurbishment.

The sprinter, who lives in Steyning, gave birth to her first son Finlay after hours of labour in the birthing pool at the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

Cutting the ribbon in the newly refurbished room, she said: “I am very happy to be back in Brighton opening these fantastic new rooms.

“I found being in the water during labour very calming and relaxing and it is great that more women will have chance to use the water in such lovely surroundings.”

The refurbishment has been funded by the Department of Heath, which gave £400,000 to the hospital maternity services of the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals, the NHS trust for the Royal Sussex and the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.

As well as the refurbishment of the Royal Sussex's two rooms with birthing pools, the money has also paid for a new birthing pool and en-suite facilities for rooms at the Princess Royal.

Around 10% of women use birthing pools for labour at the two hospitals, and around 4% stay in the pools for the birth of their babies.