A MUM in labour had to endure a two-hour ambulance ride to Norwich to give birth – because it was the closest hospital with an available bed.

Sophie Webster’s waters broke at 5.30am, so she immediately called her registered maternity unit at Colchester General Hospital.

Doctors there told her because her waters had meconium – baby’s poo, which could be a sign of foetal distress – in it, she was told she had to be admitted to hospital.

But, for the first time in up to five years, there was no room at the Turner Road inn.

Instead, she travelled more than 60 miles in the back of an ambulance on the way to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, where baby Jake William was delivered safety, weighing a healthy 8lbs 10oz.

Miss Webster, 31, of Blackheath, in Colchester said: “It certainly wasn’t ideal – my partner had to follow in the car behind because, otherwise, how else would I have got back?

“I was a bit all over the place. My two-year-old Frankie was with me and my family lives on the other side of Braintree so I had to wait until they arrived before I could go.”

She added: “When I called them, they said their unit was closed because they didn’t have any beds.

“She called me back to say she’d contacted Broomfield [in Chelmsford] and a few others and Norwich was the closest for me.

“We obviously couldn’t go very fast but we got there at about 9.30am and I had him at 12.53pm.”

The mum-of-two, who gave birth on Thursday, was joined by partner Scott Erthy, 39, for Jake’s birth, which went very smoothly.

She added: “I honestly can’t fault the people in Colchester or Norwich hospitals, but yeah, I probably hadn’t met the person who delivered my baby before.”

The hospital wasn’t the only one in the region which was busy so Miss Webster’s had to wait until about 3pm on Friday to be discharged.

A spokesman for Colchester General Hospital said: “We would like to congratulate Miss Webster on the birth of her son and to thank her for her kind words about our staff.

“Unfortunately, the Neonatal Unit at Colchester General Hospital was completely full at the time so, in the best interests of the baby and mother, we had to find her a bed at another hospital.

“Because of high demand throughout the region, the nearest available space was in Norwich, which we acknowledge was highly inconvenient for Miss Webster. We have written to her to apologise.”