Queen’s Hospital was forced to call in extra staff after a busy night in maternity.
The hospital in Rom Valley Way, Romford delivered 18 babies in eight hours overnight on Wednesday July 11, three times as many births as they would normally have in that time.
Consultant midwife Sue Lovell said: “All babies were delivered in one of our 17 labour rooms.
“We have an experienced midwife in our reception area, and she prioritised women to make sure that those in active labour were taken straight through to the labour ward.
“Some women in the earlier stages of labour had to wait longer than usual.
“Other local hospitals were also extremely busy, so they were not able to take our mothers-to-be under the London-wide escalation policy that we follow. However, we brought in extra staff and made arrangements to make sure every woman received the care they need.”
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