Six transfers for premature baby

A baby born 15 weeks prematurely, suffering from a heart problem and weighing 1lb 9oz, spent the first weeks of her life in five hospitals.

Eleanor Moore was transferred between South-East hospitals six times as she waited for an operation on a hole in her heart.

Her mother Vanessa had been expecting to give birth at Whipps Cross Hospital near the family home in Woodford Green, Essex.

But when Mrs Moore, 40, was diagnosed as suffering from pre-eclampsia, a condition which kills 600 babies and six mothers each year in Britain, the hospital said its special care baby unit was already full.

Mrs Moore, who had already lost a son to pre-eclampsia, was transferred to the nearest hospital with a spare place - Addenbrooke's in Cambridge which is 90 miles away.

Eleanor was born there on 2 January and immediately placed in an intensive care cot. But the next morning she fell seriously ill and Mrs Moore was told the baby might not survive.

It was discovered that Eleanor had been born with a hole in her heart and needed an operation.

Addenbrooke's did not have the facilities so Eleanor was booked in to St Thomas' hospital in Lambeth for the surgery. However, St Thomas' had no bed space so while she was waiting for her operation date, Eleanor was taken to her second hospital, the Homerton in east London.

After three weeks she finally got her transfer to St Thomas' but the surgery was put off for a day because she was too unwell.

Instead she was transferred to her fourth hospital - Guy's - to undergo the procedure before being transferred back to St Thomas'. Eleanor then found herself being moved again when she was transferred back to the Homerton to recover - before finally being taken to Whipps Cross to be nearer her mother.

"Eleanor had the best treatment; the staff battled for her but the system is wrong, it's shocking," Mrs Moore told the Daily Mirror. "Babies fighting for their lives shouldn't be transferred around the country for operations.

"Each hospital should cover the range of what these babies need and there should be more beds."

Around one in 10 pregnancies is affected by pre-eclampsia, which causes high blood pressure, blood clots and kidney damage and is the most common cause for serious problems in the late stages of pregnancy. The only treatment for the condition is to deliver the baby.

Eleanor's experience emerged just two days after Chris Boag told how he had to lend an ambulance crew £40 for petrol when his partner Julia Paul went into premature labour.

With Ms Paul, 30, needing a transfer from Chelmsford to the Leicester Royal Infirmary the first ambulance broke down with a flat tyre. A second made it as far as Leicester but then needed fuel and the crew's credit card would not work so Mr Boag, a firefighter, paid up.