THERE has been an increase in women turned away from Basingstoke hospital’s maternity ward because it is full up, forcing them to give birth at Winchester hospital instead.

Statistics obtained by The Gazette from Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) show that between April and October this year 24 women were sent to Winchester from Basingstoke to give birth, compared to just two in the previous six months.

However, questions have been raised over the accuracy of the statistics provided by the hospital, after The Gazette is aware of a number of women who gave birth at Winchester in May, but were booked to have their baby at Basingstoke.

The hospital trust’s statistics show that no women were sent to Winchester from Basingstoke in May to have their baby.

The hospital trust said it changed the way it collects data in June, meaning some women who had to give birth at a different hospital prior to this “were not logged”, resulting in inaccurate data.

Fiona Watson is one of those who was forced to give birth in Winchester after expecting to have her second child in Basingstoke.

The 36-year-old, from Beggarwood, had a complicated pregnancy because she suffers from crohn’s disease and has a high BMI, resulting in her baby measuring larger than average.

She said: “They said that because of the abdominal surgery I have had they wanted to do a planned c-section rather than it end up as an emergency. We eventually decided that I would try naturally but would know that there’s a surgeon on site in case. I didn’t even consider that I wouldn’t be going to Basingstoke.”

Fiona’s waters broke and her husband phoned Labour Line to be told that Basingstoke hospital was full and they would have to go to Winchester instead.

“My biggest worry was that my detailed notes were at Basingstoke,” she said, adding: “I didn’t know where the hospital was or parking and it was 2am. I was trying to stay calm because my contractions were getting quick. I don’t really remember the journey I was just concentrating on breathing and I was worried I wasn’t going to make it. When we got there we didn’t know where to park or where to go.”

Fiona said it was very stressful trying to explain her history to staff at Winchester whilst in labour, adding: “All the meetings I had had all the notes from them were in Basingstoke. I had nine different scans but all the information was in Basingstoke. I was having contractions and trying to think what to tell them.”

Fiona said the birth ended up being a positive experience and Oscar arrived naturally on May 7.

However, she said she wishes she had been warned that she might have to go to Winchester, adding: “When I got to Winchester I was very anxious, none of it was familiar. I had done the tour of Basingstoke hospital and I knew where to park and then there was the added stress of having a toddler at home half an hour away from me.”

The hospital’s statistics show that July was the busiest month, with 12 women asked to give birth at Winchester rather than Basingstoke.

An average of 450 babies are born in Basingstoke each month.

Alex Whitfield, chief executive of HHFT, said: “Wherever possible, we try to support women to give birth at their hospital of choice. It is difficult to predict when our maternity units will be busy and sometimes the number of women we are caring for and the complexity of their birth and care needs means they have to stay on the labour ward for longer than usual." When this happens, the first thing we do is to move staff from our other site to help. However, if one of the units is particularly busy, we may ask women to birth at our other hospital to avoid any delay in them being seen and to ensure that they receive one-to-one care in labour.”

She add the units have been “very busy recently". with more babies born than usual in several months, adding: “This has been reflected in the number of women asked to birth at a hospital other than the one they had planned to.”

Anyone who has given birth at a different hospital to the one they had planned can share their experience with the hospital’s customer care team on customercare@hhft.nhs.uk or 01256 486766.