My fury at selfish Britain, by woman forced to give birth on Tube



A young Polish woman who was forced to give birth on the London Underground has revealed how she was sent away from a leading maternity hospital just two hours before her baby was born.

Julita Kowalska, 26, became the first woman in 84 years recorded as giving birth on the Tube when her daughter Jennifer was born at Kingsbury, North London, on the evening of December 19 last year.

Earlier that night Julita had been taken by ambulance from her home in North London, to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, West London, where Prince William and Prince Harry were delivered.

Turned away: Julita Kowalska, here with new daughter Jennifer, says hospitals in her homeland would have treated her better

But a midwife examined her and sent her away.



Julita claims she was told not to come back ‘every time you have pain’. Her sister Anna had accompanied Julita to St Mary’s and, as they began their 35-minute journey home on the Tube, Julita went into labour.

Now Julita, a cleaner who has two other young children back in Poland, has spoken of her anger at her treatment.

Julita, who was one week overdue when she went to St Mary’s, said: ‘I was suffering labour pains every eight to ten minutes. A midwife saw me but said they were very busy. She said the baby probably was not going to be born for two days.

‘So I walked downstairs from the second floor but, by the time I got to the ground floor, the pain was very bad. The contractions were now coming very often. So I went back upstairs but a second midwife really seemed to have a dislike for me.

Julita gave birth to her baby daughter on the tube after she was turned away from a London hospital

‘She grabbed my jacket and pulled me out of the maternity ward. Outside the door she told me “You do not need to come back to the hospital every time you have pain” and



“Why did you choose this hospital? You should have chosen one near where you live.”



‘I could not say anything to her. She just said, “Go, go, go.” I was angry.



'I had heard very good things about hospitals here. The hospitals in Poland are very good. I’ve never heard of this happening there.’



Julita, who has lived in the UK for 18 months, then walked a quarter of a mile with Anna to Paddington station.

She said: ‘We rushed to the incoming train but I felt there was pressure in my stomach, like the baby was coming.’



Their journey home involved them catching a Circle Line train to Baker Street, then the Metropolitan Line to Wembley Park and finally the Jubilee Line to Queensbury.



But they never completed it as Julita’s labour pains became so severe they had to get off one stop early at Kingsbury.



Despite both women becoming hysterical as the labour pains increased, they say no one tried to help them until they climbed off the train at Kingsbury.

Julita said: ‘There were lots of people going out to parties on the trains and lots of people looked at us. But no one came to help.’



At Kingsbury station, the contractions were coming almost every minute.



Only the station staff and one young Hungarian man stopped to help Julita on to a bench on the platform.

A member of staff called 999 just before 9pm but the ambulance was delayed because, say the sisters, the emergency service operator said he ‘could not find Kingsbury station on our system’. It arrived 24 minutes later.



Station supervisor Sebastian Rebello said: ‘Julita was in pain. She was screaming. She was in agony as she did not have any painkillers. I was terrified I would have to deliver the baby.’



He helped her into his small, threadbare office just off the platform, gave her a blanket and switched on the heating. It was then Julita’s waters broke.



At 9.22pm the ambulance arrived. Both paramedics were men and one said he had never delivered a baby. With Julita lying on a blanket on the concrete floor, Jennifer was born at 9.35pm.



Julita said: ‘It was very intimidating to have to undress in front of all of these men. It was very difficult but they were very nice.



‘I was angry and scared as we had to wait so long for the ambulance.’



The baby was wrapped in a towel and both mother and Jennifer, who weighed 7lb 8oz, were taken to nearby Northwick Park Hospital, where they stayed for four days.



A month later, Julita’s ordeal has still left her shaken. She said: ‘The worst part was being thrown out into the cold. I thought: “Who is going to help me now?” I had heard from so many friends that it is so good to have a baby in England.’



A spokesman for St Mary’s Hospital said: ‘When Ms Kowalska came to us she was given a thorough physical examination which revealed that she was not in labour at the time.



In these circumstances, expectant mothers are discharged with advice on when to return.



‘It is Trust policy never to turn away a woman who is in established labour. Ms Kowalska was at no stage turned away due to a lack of beds.’



The spokesman said they had no record of Julita returning to the ward and being removed from it.



An ambulance spokesman said: ‘There was a short delay in registering this location on our system but this was resolved within a few minutes of the original call.



‘As soon as a crew became available, they were sent to the scene.’



The only other recorded birth on the Tube was in 1924 when a woman called Daisy Hammond gave birth to baby Marie on a Bakerloo Line train at Elephant and Castle station.

