'I was terrified': Mother left for five hours with stillborn baby
A woman thought she was going to die when she went into labour and waited five hours for an ambulance to arrive before her baby was declared stillborn.
Deborah Clark, from Chirk, was 19 weeks pregnant when she went into labour at her home.
However, despite calling the ambulance at 8pm, one did not arrive at her home until 1am and by that time she had given birth to a boy, who was stillborn.
She has spoken of her terrifying experience and how she said it seemed like she was going to die. She said: “I was in severe pain and rang the ambulance myself and it just went a bit crazy from there really.
“At quarter to 11 I felt the baby coming out and we were still on the phone to the ambulance, and they just didn’t come even though the baby was there.
“I was terrified where I was in a lot of pain, I was screaming. I had my four-year-old son there, he did quite well he was really calm.
"I’m appalled, they should have been on the ball really. They’re meant to be there to help, but they just didn’t com. It seemed forever I was waiting.
“It seemed to drag, like I was going to die.
She gave birth to her son, who was named William Edward Clark, on April 4, and he was declared a stillborn.
Deborah has complained to the ambulance service, but is yet to receive a response.
She added: “I would like an apology because I did put in a complaint to the ambulance service but I haven’t heard anything back – no apologies, no reason why they didn’t turn up, they just told me it was busy.”
Patsy Roseblade, interim chief executive of the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: “We have spoken with Ms Clark to offer her our sincere apologies and heartfelt condolences. We are arranging to meet her as soon as possible to discuss the circumstances.
“The service provided was absolutely not at the level we wish to provide and we have instigated an urgent and detailed review.
“We are also working closely with colleagues at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board on a joint investigation into the incident and will involve Ms Clark at every stage.
"Given the ongoing nature of the investigation, we are not able to provide any further details, other than to say again how very sorry we are.”
