Mother's 275-mile trip to give birth

The couple had to come home when their older son became ill

A woman from East Sussex had to be taken by ambulance to Manchester to give birth to her premature baby.

Claire Knight from Newhaven gave birth to a son, Harrison, last Tuesday, nearly four months early.

She and her partner have since had to return home after their older son fell ill and face a 550-mile round trip to see their baby until he is released.

Harrison could not be born at their local hospital because there was no specialist incubator available there.

Ms Knight and her partner Greg Curl had planned to have their baby born at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, about 10 miles from their home.

'Very upsetting'

But when she went into labour early they were told the maternity unit at the hospital was full.

After attempts to get her admitted to hospitals in Portsmouth, London and Cambridge failed for the same reason, it became clear the family would have to travel to Manchester, which they were told was the nearest site with the vital equipment available.

Ms Knight and Mr Curl were taken by ambulance to Manchester, a trip of about 275 miles.

They said Harrison was now doing well, but the experience had been upsetting and having to leave him when their son Elliott became ill at home in Sussex added to their worries.

Ms Knight said: "It was very emotional, very upsetting and quite nerve wracking, really.

"It was quite difficult being separated from Harrison, but Elliott needed us here so we had to come home."

Mr Curl said he told staff at the Sussex hospital he was contacting the BBC and they had asked him to highlight the lack of cots and the lack of funding both for more cots and for nurses to staff the unit.

A spokesman for the Royal Sussex County Hospital said management regretted the incident "enormously" but the hospital was full and they did everything they could to make sure the family had a safe journey to Manchester.

Health minister Stephen Ladyman said: "It is a very difficult time for parents when their newborn baby has to go into intensive care but, across the country, NHS hospitals work closely together in formal networks to provide the safest and most effective services for mothers and babies.

"In this case we understand mother and baby are doing well."

Mr Ladyman said the government had launched a consultation exercise in April on how best to improve neonatal intensive care services. A final report is due soon.

In addition, £70m had been made available to provide extra cots and specialist equipment.