Pregnant woman is turned away by three hospitals

A PREGNANT woman told today how she had been rejected by three hospitals as London's midwife crisis grows. At least three West London hospitals have closed their doors to new admissions until February because of staff shortages, meaning expectant mothers are being forced to travel across the South-East for vital appointments.

Loreto Collao-Sharpe, who is 17 weeks pregnant, said her GP had referred her for her first ultrasound scan to three hospitals, all of which refused admission.

She should have had her first scan after 12 weeks followed by another eight weeks later.

The 29-year-old freelance interpreter, from Ealing, said the strain of finding a midwife could have an adverse impact on her pregnancy.

"It is very frustrating and has taken a lot of my energy," she said. "I should be enjoying the experience of being pregnant, enjoying the moment and relaxing. But for the last three weeks I have been fightingthe system." She was referred by her GP to Ealing Hospital and then to the Queen Charlotte's Hospital in Hammersmith. When both said they had no space, her GP referred her to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

Again she was disappointed.

Ms Collao-Sharpe, who had her first child, Matias, four years ago in her native Chile, said was stunned at the inadequacies of the NHS.

"People pay a lot of taxes here and the system should not be like this," she said. "In Chile, even if you have no money, you have the right to a proper check-up at the nearest hospital."

The number of British midwives has fallen by 25 per cent in the past decade while in London 15 per cent of posts are vacant. This means women are not guaranteed treatment at their local hospital - nor continuity of care at a single institution.

The National Childbirth Trust said if the numbers of midwives continued to drop, it expected complications in pregnancies would increase.

The Ealing Primary Care Trust admitted the shortage of midwives was a problem, especially with a 15 per cent increase in the number of babies born in the North West London Strategic Health Authority area.

The authority's director of public health, Professor Yi Mien Koh, said the birth rate was projected to keep rising along with the vacancy rate among midwives and obstetricians.

She added: "We are tackling this by recruiting more skilled professionals from abroad and training more midwives." Ms Collao- Sharpe was finally given a scan - five weeks late - at Ealing Hospital last week but was told she would not be able to have her baby there.

"I am speaking to the trust at the moment and they have indicated it may be at University College Hospital in Euston," she said. "I'd rather not go there because it's so far away from home but nothing is settled anyway."

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