It is operated by the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.

The site selected was open land on the north side of Coxford Road, opposite Southampton General Hospital.

[2] The new hospital was designed in the modern style, built in brick and glass and was opened by Princess Anne on 28 March 1981.

[7] In April 2019, the hospital was ranked by the US magazine, Newsweek, as one of the best 129 specialist care centres in the world.

[8][9] Princess Anne, who is Patron of the Royal College of Midwives, returned to the hospital for a visit and spoke to patients in February 2023.