Woman forced to travel 40 miles to give birth as three hospitals run out of midwives
A woman was forced to travel 40 miles to give birth after three NHS hospitals ran out of midwives.
Barbara Job, 25, had to make an hour-long journey from Peterborough to Leicester on Sunday while in labour.
She was told that there was not enough staff to safely deliver her baby at Peterborough City Hospital, Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon and the Rosie Hospital in Cambridge.
Mrs Job was finally accepted at Leicester Royal Infirmary, where she gave birth to a healthy baby boy on Tuesday.
However, the delay in being admitted to hospital meant she was in "incredible pain" during the long journey, her mother-in-law, Rica Scott, told the BBC.
'I hope other mothers don't go through this'
"When I had my children you got so much attention back then, whereas now you're having to fight," said Mrs Scott. "I hope other mothers don't go through this."
The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care System, which represents all of Cambridgeshire's NHS providers, said: "The safety of the parents and babies using our maternity units is an absolute priority.
"Whilst we appreciate the sensitivity of the moment, at times it may be necessary to ask mothers to use alternative maternity units if another unit has reached its current capacity.
"All patients are risk-assessed before they are transferred to an alternative location.
"Anyone with urgent questions about their pregnancy, please contact your local maternity team, who can provide support."
More than half of maternity units in England consistently fail to meet safety standards, a BBC analysis of Care Quality Commission (CQC) figures previously found.
Mrs Job's account comes two years after the damning Ockenden Report was published, detailing shocking failures in maternity care at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust.
It was the biggest review of maternity services in NHS history.
Women left screaming in pain for hours, being told they were "lazy" for wanting a caesarean, having their excruciating pain dismissed as "nothing", and being made to feel "pathetic" were some of the unimaginably traumatic experiences recounted.
Also laid bare were stillbirths which could have been avoided and excessive force used with forceps which led to the deaths of babies.
Others told of repeated failures by staff to recognise mothers and babies in deteriorating conditions, including one mother whose baby died because staff were "too busy" to monitor her during labour.
