The babies are tiny, but they need more space!

They may look tiny and helpless but these babies, born weeks prematurely, are little fighters.

Now, the centre which helps them battle to stay alive is to be rebuilt and expanded in a £6 million move to help keep more of the most poorly babies alive and cope with rising numbers of premature births.

Hospital bosses say in some cases they are forced to send babies to other areas because there is not enough room at Leicester Royal Infirmary's neonatal unit, the biggest in the region.

The existing 25 intensive care cots will be transferred to the new unit and hospital bosses hope to increase numbers to about 40 in the coming years.

For the first time, there will be dedicated accommodation for both parents to stay at the hospital.

Dr Allan Cole, medical director at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, said: "Our facilities are grossly inadequate and almost 19th century in terms of the space.

"At the moment, it is close to impossible to get close to the cots.

"Higher birth rates and medical advances mean demand for this specialised care is increasing. We face situations where we have to turn away a number of babies."

Demand for the neonatal unit has risen largely because the number of premature babies who survive and need intensive care has increased, coupled with a rise in birth rate.

As a regional centre for neonatal care, the infirmary's incubators help families from throughout the Midlands.

Work is due to start on the new centre later this year and it will cost between £4 million and £6 million.

Each cot will have 20sq m of space – instead of the current eight – to accommodate the equipment needed to treat and keep the babies alive.

It will take up the whole of level two of the infirmary's Kensington building, space currently used by administrative staff.

Dr Cole said: "I am really pleased about this development. There is a feeling that we are at last making a small step of progress."

The modernisation has been welcomed by Syston mum Lindsay Rajczyk, whose son, Alex, now 11, was born 11 weeks early weighing 1lb 6oz.

Lindsay, support group co-ordinator for the charity Adapt, which supports parents of premature babies, said: "The nurses are brilliant and the medical care is second to none on the unit, but more space is desperately needed. There is little or no privacy at the moment, especially if a baby dies.

"This development will be a great improvement."

Expansion of the unit is the first major development at Leicester's hospitals since the collapse of the Pathway project 18 months ago.

The £700 million scheme, ditched when it was deemed too expensive, included plans for new maternity and neonatal services at Glenfield.

Dr Cole said they would retain a unit at Leicester General Hospital which does not provide high-dependency care, but said the future of city maternity services was still to be addressed.

He said: "No decisions have been taken, but modernising neonatal care at the infirmary makes it more likely maternity services could be unified on this site."