Baby born in ambulance
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by chief Reporter Angela Cole
acole@thekmgroup.co.uk
A baby was born in an ambulance after her mum was turned
away from Maidstone Hospital and sent to Pembury instead.
In what will soon be standard practice for Maidstone mums, Maria
Marques was told she would have to go to Pembury Hospital, 16
miles away.
But there was no time for her to get there – and despite
diverting to Medway Hospital, which ambulance drivers said would be
quicker to get to, she gave birth in the ambulance.
The family’s doctor said it should have been a “risk-free”
birth, but little Fabienne had to be kept in a special care
baby unit for two weeks and her family now fear she may have
long-term health problems.
It has led to renewed claims that closing Maidstone’s full
maternity unit and moving it to Pembury will put mums and babies at
unnecessary risk.
Mrs Marques, of Willington Street, rang Maidstone
Hospital on Thursday, June 24 when her contractions began.
Mrs Marques said: “When they said 'we cannot take you' I
thought, 'my God’. I was in pain and I felt so stressed. I was just
worried whether everything was going to be OK. I thought 'why do I
have to go to Pembury?'”
Her husband, Ricardo, was at work in Stansted. As her
contractions were strong and every five minutes and her waters had
broken, she first called a friend and then dialled 999.
A paramedic arrived, who then called an ambulance.
Mrs Marques said: “We were going to go to Pembury because that
was what Maidstone had told us, but then, because it was coming so
quickly, they decided to go to Medway instead as it was nearer.
However, they did not make it to Medway Maritime
Hospital and baby Fabienne was born when they were
five minutes away.
Mr Marques said: “When I got there they told me she (Fabienne)
was very poorly. Intensive care there did everything to help our
baby though, and they have done a really good job, although we
don’t know yet whether she will have problems in the future. But I
don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”
Fabienne spent two weeks in the special care baby unit before
coming home last week.
Mrs Marquees added: “If Maidstone had been open the baby
probably wouldn’t have been so stressed. You live near
Maidstone Hospital so you think you will go there.”
Mrs Marques’ GP Dr Paul Hobday, who is also chairman of
the Maidstone division of the BMA, said: “This was on the
face of it a totally risk-free birth, but because Maidstone was
full up she was diverted. She would have got to Maidstone OK. This
just shows that we need to keep a maternity unit at Maidstone.”
A trust spokesman said: “Mrs Marques was advised by a midwife to
go to Pembury as soon as possible. Generally, we advise all women
who need to come into hospital urgently to call an ambulance.
“Unfortunately, women can be asked to go to Pembury or Maidstone
maternity units, when one or other is full, because our services
and staff are split between two sites.
“One of the reasons for change is to give women the certainty of
having their baby where they had planned to.”
A spokesman for the South East Coast Ambulance Service said it
would have been a clinical decision for the benefit of the patient
as to which hospital she was taken.
He added: “We are pleased to hear that mum and baby are
doing well and we are proud of the staff who helped deliver Mrs
Marques’ baby."
Friday, July 23 2010
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