An Elgin mum has revealed her waters broke in a hotel car park after she was turned away from Aberdeen Maternity Unit.
The woman had her first baby at Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin in 2020, two years after the unit was downgraded from a consultant-led service due to shortages.
However, due to last-minute complications she was advised that she would need to go to Aberdeen for the arrival of her second child.
On the day she went into labour, she called Dr Gray’s and was advised it was time to head to Aberdeen.
But, once there, she claims staff showed no understanding of the distance – and stress – she had endured to get there and instead suggested she’d need to go back home until she was closer to giving birth.
The woman has shared her story with campaign group Keep Mum, who have been heaping the pressure on the Scottish Government to take action to get full services restored to Dr Gray’s sooner than their proposed 2026 date.
‘Get a hotel’
Describing it as “awful and inhumane”, the mum said: “On the morning that my contractions started, I phoned Dr Gray’s and was advised to make my way through to Aberdeen asap as it was my second pregnancy and, because of this, they wouldn’t turn me away.
“We drove through, I was contracting the whole way there which was horrible.
“When I arrived at Aberdeen and was examined in triage I was told I was only 2cm so would need to go home as “women labour the best at home”.
“I explained that I was from Elgin and this wasn’t possible as it’s a four-hour round trip and this is my second pregnancy and I progressed quickly with my first pregnancy.
“They then advised that we would need to book a hotel as we couldn’t stay at the hospital as they don’t have space.”
‘Contracting heavily in the car park’
She described “frantically” calling around hotels to find a room, and eventually found one near the hospital – but check in was not for another three hours.
She added: “We asked if we could stay a few more hours at the hospital and we were told no.”
“I was then contracting heavily in the hotel car park, my waters had gone and were leaking everywhere.
“I was crying my eyes out, feeling so scared and uncomfortable.”
“I phoned the hospital back around 2pm and explained that the contractions were a lot stronger and closer together. I asked if I could come back in, but they said they didn’t have space for me, I could only come back in at 3pm.”
‘I still feel panicked’
Half an hour after arriving back at the hospital, her baby was born.
The mum says she still feels panicked about the experience as she said: “The whole experience was awful and felt inhumane.
“I had several panic attacks throughout and afterwards and I still feel panicked when I think about it now.”
The mum added how lucky she was to gave birth to her first child at Dr Gray’s in 2020, saying also the fear of transfer was “high at all times”, being able to labour at home until the last-minute was “amazing.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian admitted the incident fell “well short” of the “compassionate care” staff strive for.
She said: “We are disappointed to hear of the poor birth experience a family has shared with local campaigners and are very keen to reach the family directly so that we can offer a full apology and discuss service improvements.
“This was also raised at this week’s Moray Maternity Voices Partnership meeting, where members of the maternity team are always keen to hear feedback from members of the community, including representatives of Keep MUM, and learn from the experiences of local people.”
Answers – and action needed now
Campaigners say the case is further proof that mums-to-be in Moray are being let down, and cannot wait until 2026 for full services to be restored at Dr Gray’s.
Kirsty Watson, a spokeswoman for Keep Mum said: “It’s completely unacceptable that this mum was left to labour without midwives or any form of medical or nursing support in a hotel car park.
“What happened was inhumane and barbaric and anyone in a policy making role in the maternity services should be ashamed of themselves.
“So many aspects of this situation are disturbing. The woman in advanced labour clearly had no access to pain relief, the baby was not monitored, the mental health of the mum and her partner was not considered and this family has endured a heartbreaking ordeal which may affect them adversely for years to come.”
She stressed the campaign group understand the consultant-led service needs to be restored in stages, but sought answers on a timeline for the first steps towards that.
“We must see incremental steps leading to the restoration of the consultant led service,” she said. “For example, no one can tell us when elective C-Sections might return to Elgin. Or when Moray women can have an induction of labour in Dr Gray’s Hospital.
“The plan is for the consultant led service to return in 2026 – so what’s happening between now and 2026 to gradually restore services to benefit Moray women?”
‘Urgently seeking an explanation’
Moray MSP Richard Lochhead said he was urgently seeking answers over this mum’s experience, describing it as “wholly unacceptable”.
“I do hope that mum and baby are well and the family is recovering from such a traumatic time.
“I will be urgently seeking an explanation as to how this could happen and reminding NHS Grampian in the strongest terms that my constituent’s case highlights why the restoration of Dr Gray’s maternity services must make progress at pace so that more women can be safely cared for there.
“After all, we are now finding ourselves in a situation where the number of babies born at Dr Gray’s has plummeted yet, Aberdeen’s service is clearly under pressure and the travel time can lead to distress for expectant mums.”