"Had I left when told to, without being examined, I would have given birth in the car"

A mother’s experience of Oxford University Hospitals Maternity Services in 2012:

The services are so thin that they advise women to wait until they can't speak before being allowed into the ward, and this risks lives every day.

On the day I gave birth, the Spires unit had 1 midwife and 1 trainee working.

It took a while to be allowed in, and then after an hour I was told that I wasn't allowed to stay there by the midwife because, "Another woman might need me more." She said the same to 2 other women in my presence and left all of us sobbing.

I refused to leave and said I didn't need a room or assistance, but I wasn't prepared to leave. She allowed me to remain in the corridor. Ten minutes later my body was pushing and I told her there was nothing I could do to stop it. I was then allowed into a delivery room, and the trainee stayed with me because there was no qualified midwife available.

My baby arrived within an hour. Had I left when told to, without being examined, I would have given birth in the car. In my experience, if you don't fight for care you don't get any.

I know that in this forum we are the lucky ones, but it was still a miserable experience when it should be so much better.