The Swan Street centre will now be staffed with midwives 24 hours a day and will have all the services campaigners battled for during its troubled times.

The centre was closed for 15 months in July 2005 due to a shortage of midwives. It was re-opened by NHS chiefs in October 2006 but with severely limited services.

Throughout this time worried mums, led by the Petersfield and Liss Branch of the National Childbirth Trust, fought to see the centre restored to its previous capacity. Yesterday the campaigners, who had taken their fight to Parliament at the height of the protests, were delighted to see their aims become a reality.

Among the new services introduced is a return to longer-term care for mums recovering from birth. After the temporary closure the shortage of cover meant new mums would have to vacate the centre after just a few hours. Now they can stay for much longer.

Sarah Roberts, of the NCT, said the opening marks the end of a victorious campaign to save the Grange.

“It’s a great feeling to know that a group of people that felt passionately about something have made a difference in the community. It’s been a long, hard struggle but we got there in the end. Parents in the forthcoming years are now going to have access to the services we thought were going to be lost.”

Dawn Philips, the team leader for Petersfield community midwives, said everyone is very excited about the new services.

“The change is we are going to go back to providing post-natal stays,” she said.

“For the last two years we have only been providing post-natal and ante-natal clinics and facilities for birth but up until Tuesday women have only been able to give birth but would then have had to go home after about six hours.

“Thanks to the 24 hour care mums will be able to stay for 48 hours now.”

Women who have their babies elsewhere will also be able to use the centre to recover, which will be much more convenient for local families.

The new regime for the Grange was decided on after a lengthy consultation process run by the NHS. The extra resources poured into the Grange has meant that Fareham’s Blackbrook Birth Centre has been closed down permanently.

But the NHS warns that mums must use the Grange if it is to be maintained.

“We’re hoping to attract women from a much wider area than just Petersfield,” said Ms Philips. “We have to make it a viable centre and that means it has to be used.”

Helen O’Shea, of the NCT, said: “It’s wonderful to have 24 hour a day, seven day a week midwives for Petersfield, we’re all delighted. It’s a whole fresh start for the Grange and we are looking forward to working with the NHS to provide the best care and services for mums in Petersfield and the surrounding area.”