Parents' 250-mile trip to newborn

Harrison was born three months early

A Sussex couple are 250 miles away from their newborn baby due to a shortage of neo-natal hospital cots.

Clare Knight, 30, and Greg Curl, 27, live in Newhaven but when she went into premature labour, the nearest vacancy was in Manchester.

Miss Knight was driven there by ambulance, and gave birth to a baby boy called Harrison weighing two pounds.

A spokesman for the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust said the situation was "regrettable".

We were shocked when we heard Clare had to go there Greg Curl

Miss Knight went into labour last Sunday, when only 25 weeks into her pregnancy.

The seven neo-natal intensive care cots at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, which is 15 miles from the couple's home, were all full.

There were no available cots in the South East but one was found at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester, to which Miss Knight was taken by ambulance.

She gave birth to a boy called Harrison last Tuesday and has now returned home, but the couple face a 500-mile round trip to visit their child.

'Isolated'

Mr Curl, a firefighter, told the Evening Argus newspaper in Brighton: "We were shocked when we heard Clare had to go there.

"At that moment you need your family and friends around you so we felt a bit isolated."

A spokesman for the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Sussex County, said there are plans for more neo-natal cots.

There were no vacancies at the Royal Sussex

Ian Keeber said all the beds are full "95% of the time", but the following night there were two or three vacancies.

He added that an emergency bed service, operated from London, had failed to find another bed nearer the couple's home.

Mr Keeber said: "Obviously the situation is regrettable, and it is unfortunate that Clare and Greg have to travel to Manchester to visit their baby.

"But as an organisation we did nothing wrong. Our only interest was for the safety of Clare and her unborn baby.

"We had to find the suitable facilities and if that meant Manchester, then that was far safer than us trying to look after them because we were full."

He said there was underfunding of neo-natal intensive care across the country.