A PREGNANT woman has been turned away from three maternity hospitals as the shortage of midwives has led to a near-crisis.

Maria Loreto Sharpe, 29, of Salisbury Road, West Ealing, is 17 weeks pregnant with her second baby and has so far been refused admission to Ealing Hospital, Queen Charlotte's Hospital in Hammersmith and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

She said: "I haven't had my first scan nor have I been booked in because all the maternity hospitals in my area are full.

"My GP has referred me three times and all of them have refused me and I am sure I am not the only one."

Pregnant women in the Ealing area may have to go as far as Chertsey in Surrey or Hillingdon because a shortage of midwives means hospitals are unable to cope with the demand of new patients.

Mrs Loreto Sharpe, who has a four-year-old son who was born in their home country Chile, is worried she may have to travel miles away for routine maternity care.

She adds: "All the hospitals are fully booked and they are sending us far away when we have hospitals in my area."

Ealing Hospital is not taking any new admissions to its maternity unit until March next year because they say they had to cap the number of patients they take because they don't have enough midwives.

A spokesman for Ealing Hospital said: "We are really sorry for this but we are doing all we can. We currently have a 32 per cent vacancy rate in the hospital's maternity unit but this is already full until next February.

"We are trying desperately to get more midwives in but until then we have to think about the safety and quality of care of our patients."

However Andrew Slaughter, MP for Ealing, Acton and Shepherds Bush, believes the situation is a lot worse than he first thought.

He said: "I knew there was a problem at Ealing Hospital but if people are being refused by the hospital to which they are being referred to then there is a serious crisis.

"I will try and get on to this and see what I can do."

Where you could give birth:

If you live in Acton, Central Ealing or Hanwell you could be referred to Queen Charlotte or University College Hospital.

If you live in Southall you could be referred to Ashford and St Peter's Hospital in Chertsey If you live in Northolt or Greenford you could be referred to Hillingdon Hospital, Queen Charlotte or University College Hospital