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Baby born on floor as West Sussex hospitals say they are full

A woman in labour was turned away from two hospitals in West Sussex before giving birth on the floor of a third.

  • Evening Standard
  • Published: 00:14 June 22, 2008
  • Gulf News

London: A woman in labour was turned away from two hospitals before giving birth on the floor of a third.

Emma Johnson, 19, delivered her daughter Sienna as she crouched in the hallway of the Princess Royal in Haywards Heath, West Sussex.

Johnson and boyfriend Edward Prior, 23, went to her nearest hospital, the Royal Sussex in Brighton, after she went into labour at 1.15am on Tuesday. But the couple were told there were no beds. They then went to Worthing Hospital, also in West Sussex, and were again told there was no room.

The birth finally happened at the Princess Royal - 32km away from the couple's Brighton home.

Johnson said: "I feel really cross about it. The staff were nice once we arrived but this shouldn't have happened in the first place."

Prior added: "The midwives all rushed to help but there was no time to do anything before the baby arrived. We only just got there in the nick of time. A few minutes more and it would have been in the car park."

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust apologised for Johnson's ordeal and said it makes every effort to avoid turning women away.

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