A MOTHER said that she was 'made to wait' at the maternity unit of the Royal Lancaster Infirmary because her booked induction of labour was cancelled. 

The mother wrote to this publication on Saturday, September 16 saying that the hospital had cancelled booked inductions that day and on Sunday and had extra staff on shift rushing people through who were left from Friday. 

She said: "Desperate mothers-to-be are made to wait." 

Heather Gallagher, director of midwifery at Morecambe Bay Trust, which operates the RLI, said: "The maternity unit at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI) deals with emergency and unplanned care as well as planned care such as inductions of labour.  

“There are times when planned procedures are delayed following robust risk assessments. This is done with the sole aim of maintaining safety for all mothers and babies on the unit.  

“On Saturday 16 September the team on the unit made a clinical judgement that the safest option was to delay starting the inductions so that one-to-one care could be provided to all. All women who were booked for induction of labour over the weekend have now either given birth or commenced their induction.”