Pregnant women under 25 attending the Royal Victoria Infirmary in the city will all be screened for the symptomless sexually transmitted infection.
The scheme is being run by the Northumberland, Tyne and Wear chlamydia screening programme in partnership with the local hospital trust.
Michelle Stamp, screening programme manager, said: "Chlamydia is a particularly nasty infection which can be passed on to the baby during birth and can lead to premature birth, pneumonia and conjunctivitis."
She said she hoped to roll the scheme out across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear in the future.
If left untreated, chlamydia can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease and leave both men and women infertile.
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