Isle of Man baby clinic plans to cost £3.5m
The Isle of Man's parliament will be asked to fund a new multi-million pound building to cater for "critically ill" new born babies.
The health department wants £3.5m to finish work on a nine-cot facility at Noble's Hospital in Braddan.
Politicians will vote on the request during the October sitting of Tynwald.
Consultant Dr Prakash Thiagarajan said the new unit would "address some outstanding concerns" from a healthcare commission report published in 2006.
He added: "The existing facilities remain absolutely safe, but in terms of best practice, things have certainly moved on from the mid-90s, practically a lifetime ago, such is the speed of developments in medicine."
"The new unit will enable us to maintain our current capacity of nine cots, but will provide more space per cot as well as better facilities for parents such as overnight accommodation at what can be an extremely distressing time. "
Tynwald is due to sit between 15 and 17 October.