A MOTHER last night told how she had to give birth in a lay-by on the A19 because maternity services in her home town have been suspended.

Caroline Kitching delivered her son, Joshua, in the back of an ambulance half way between the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, and The James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, in the early hours of Sunday.

Maternity and children’s services at the Friarage have been temporarily suspended because of staffing shortages.

Mother and son are now safe and well at home in Northallerton, but Mrs Kitching said last night: “The whole experience was so traumatic.

“I was beside myself by the time the baby was born and the midwife didn’t have the equipment to help me.

“You know a birth might not be smooth, but you don’t expect to give birth in a lay-by without your husband by your side.”

Her ordeal began when her contractions came on very quickly on Saturday evening and she and her husband, Nick, decided to go to the Friarage instead of risking the drive to Middlesbrough.

Mrs Kitching was transferred to The James Cook University Hospital because after the birth of her first child, Daniel, now four, she needed two hours of emergency surgery, and her latest pregnancy was classed as highrisk.

“I agreed to go because I thought there wasn’t a consultant at the Friarage if anything went wrong,” she said.

“It turned out there was a consultant in Northallerton, so I need not have gone through the nightmare.”

Mr Kitching was unable to accompany his wife in the ambulance because of a lack of space so drove on ahead.

After a 20-minute delay the ambulance set off, but was forced to stop in a lay-by, where Mrs Kitching gave birth without gas and air after it ran out during the delivery.

Mr and Mrs Kitching, who also have another son, Ethan, two, feel they have been let down by South Tees Hospital Trust and that not enough information has been released.

“I saw the service was closing, but my midwife hadn’t been given any information,”

said Mrs Kitching. “We didn’t get a letter – why couldn’t they just hold a meeting?

“I’m upset about the situation, not with the staff at the Ambulance Service, to explain how the suspension of services came about and how the Friarage, and James Cook Hospitals, are coping.

Health officials said there had been no serious or lifethreatening incidents since the suspension, although they acknowledged some patients had made complaints.

Simon Pleydell, chief executive of South Tees Hospital Trust, told the meeting that the service suspensions at the Friarage were the result of a staffing crisis, caused by consultants on long-term sick leave, retirements and holidays.

“Sometimes these things cannot be foreseen, and usually in a situation like this, staff from the two hospitals would cover both sites, but this time we did not have enough staff to do that without compromising patient safety,” he said.

“The safety of women and children who come through the doors takes priority, and this is absolutely not a money saving exercise or an attempt to wind down services at the Friarage.”

After several members of the public raised concerns about the poor standard of information that had been sent to expectant mothers, Mr Pleydell agreed that it was an issue that needed to be considered again.

“We need to check that our communications strategies are working properly as we have heard the concerns today, to make sure everyone knows where they stand.”

Maternity and children’s services have been closed since July 17, and are due to reopen at the Friarage on October 26.