The Lying in Hospital was Belfast’s first maternity hospital and was established in 1794 due to the efforts of a small group of philanthropists.
A meeting was held on 23 December 1793 and the charity entitled the Humane Female Society for the Relief of Lying-In Women (later the B.L.I.H) was founded. They opened the hospital in a house rented to them by the Belfast Charitable Society at 25 Donegall Street.
The aim of the hospital was to aid labouring ‘indigent females’ by providing accommodation, food and medical supervision during childbirth
The hospital remained in Donegall Street until 1903 when a new facility opened in Townsend Street, west Belfast.
Do you want to learn more about the history of Belfast? Check out my Doctors and Diseases Tour!