Pregnant woman twice turned away from hospital (From The Argus)
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Pregnant woman twice turned away from hospital
3:50pm Wednesday 15th February 2012 in News By Emily Walker, Chief Reporter
Little Alfie at home with his parents Tracey and Paul and sister Lily
A mother was turned away from two maternity units before finally giving birth on her sofa.
Tracey Morris, of Hassocks, was planning on having her second child at the Princess Royal Hospital, in Haywards Heath, but when she went into labour the maternity ward was full.
Mrs Morris and husband Paul then set off for the Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton, where they were told maternity staff would be expecting them.
Staff at the Brighton hospital said their baby was not due imminently so the couple returned home – only for little Alfie to arrive in the living room.
Mrs Morris went into labour at 2.30am and, after being turned away twice, she finally got home at 8.30am.
The pair realised they did not have time to get back to hospital before Alfie was born, just after 9.23am.
If they had kept us at Brighton for just an hour, then Alfie would have been born there instead of on the sofa
Tracey Morris
Mrs Morris said: “It was not a good experience.
“It was a scary place to be and I had no pain relief until the ambulance arrived at the house.
“If they had kept us at Brighton for just an hour, then Alfie would have been born there instead of on the sofa.
“Once we got back, there wasn’t enough time to get back to Brighton.”
Mr Morris fought back tears as he described his fear as his wife delivered their baby at home.
He said: “Knowing you’re not in a hospital is worrying. You don’t know what might happen.
“You don’t know if an ambulance will have the equipment you might need in an emergency.”
Five paramedics arrived at the Morrises’ home, in Friars Oak Road, Hassocks, and delivered baby Alfie. Two midwives arrived shortly afterwards.
A spokeswoman for the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust, which runs both the Princess Royal and Royal Sussex County Hospital said: “When this lady called in they had no beds to offer labouring women so we asked her to go to the Royal Sussex County.
“When she arrived she wasn’t in labour, that was at 6.50am, and she was booked in for an inducement.
“Once she got home she had a rapid onset of contractions and the baby was born very quickly."
Comments(9)
boytodd
says...
4:36pm Wed 15 Feb 12
Brighton_Belle
says...
4:38pm Wed 15 Feb 12
The baby was delivered by trained professionals, it's not like they went through it completely alone. Sometimes nature takes it's own course and things won't always happen when we want and that isn't always someone's fault. Glad baby arrived safe and well.
The dad made me laugh with this comment:
“You don’t know if an ambulance will have the equipment you might need in an emergency.”
I'd expect most ambulances to have emergency equipment :)
brighton-breezy
says...
5:35pm Wed 15 Feb 12
Broadwater Juice wrote:Great to hear baby and mum are all good, Broadwater Juice, on what basis do you believe that home births are safer than hospital births? I find it hard to believe that as being a fact.
Importantly the bay was born safe and well...
However, when are people going to realise that it's perfectly safe to give birth at home! In fact it's SAFER!
brighton-breezy
says...
5:35pm Wed 15 Feb 12
Broadwater Juice wrote:Great to hear baby and mum are all good, Broadwater Juice, on what basis do you believe that home births are safer than hospital births? I find it hard to believe that as being a fact.
Importantly the bay was born safe and well...
However, when are people going to realise that it's perfectly safe to give birth at home! In fact it's SAFER!
Broadwater Juice
says...
7:10pm Wed 15 Feb 12
brighton-breezy wrote:Hi,
Broadwater Juice wrote:Great to hear baby and mum are all good, Broadwater Juice, on what basis do you believe that home births are safer than hospital births? I find it hard to believe that as being a fact.
Importantly the bay was born safe and well...
However, when are people going to realise that it's perfectly safe to give birth at home! In fact it's SAFER!
Just lots and lots of research.
My son was born 9 years ago and my partner really wanted a home birth as she had an irrational dear of hospitals.. I wasn't keen, so to educate myself I literally read several books, reports, articles and such like, and concluded that the best environment to have a baby was indeed in the home.
S0ds law was that as it happened, baby didn't want to come so we have to be induced in hospital anyway! Worthing maternity ward were superb and helped overcome my partner's fears, but I wouldn't hesitate or worry about having a home birth in the future
UglyAmerican
says...
7:43pm Wed 15 Feb 12
You don't need medical intervention to go to the toilet do you?
Of course there are instances where intervention is needed, but not nearly as frequently as those in the medical profession would have you believe.
ladybird82
says...
8:59pm Wed 15 Feb 12
mtmoocher
says...
12:49am Thu 16 Feb 12
Broadwater Juice says...
4:16pm Wed 15 Feb 12
However, when are people going to realise that it's perfectly safe to give birth at home! In fact it's SAFER!