City planners have approved proposals for a £28m upgrade of the Southern General's maternity unit in Glasgow.
The NHS plans to upgrade and increase capacity, allowing 5,200 babies to be born there annually, have been given the go-head by Glasgow City Council.
They will now be submitted to the Scottish Government, which will have the final say on whether the three storey extension should be built.
If ministers approve, construction is expected to start next month.
The new unit, which along with the Princess Royal Maternity Hospital will become one of just two maternity hospitals in the city, is expected to be completed by the end of 2009.
'State of the art'
The Queen Mother's Maternity Hospital in Yorkhill will close once the new hospital is finished, despite protests staged when plans were first announced.
The Southern General unit will have beds for 78 women and 60 cots for babies, as well as a new labour suite and obstetric theatres.
The hospital will also be a national centre for certain specialist services for newborn babies and offer specialist diagnostic facilities and treatment to unborn babies from across Scotland.
Rosslyn Crocket, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's director of women's and children's services, said: "This planning approval not only gives the green light for a state-of-the-art facility for mothers and babies in Glasgow, but also the creation of a national centre which will treat women and babies from across Scotland."
The unit will have close links with the new children's hospital, also planned on the site.
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