Surrey mother turned away by Surrey Memorial Hospital, gives birth in the car

A Surrey woman says she delivered her baby in the car after she was told to go home by doctors at Surrey Memorial Hospital.

On Sunday morning, Harneesh Hothi says she felt labour pains and went to the hospital.

She tells CityNews’ sister station OMNI News that the doctor said they weren’t labour pains and proceeded to give her morphine and tell her to go home and wait.

Hothi, pregnant with her second child, says the staff could see how uncomfortable she was and was told to leave, despite asking to stick it out at the hospital. Two hours later, she called her aunt in a panic because the pain had worsened, and she needed to return to the hospital.

She says while en route back to the hospital, and driving along King George Boulevard, she had her baby in the car, surrounded by family, and with zero medical help.

“This was very horrible. We were all in shock at that time. What will happen next? Is the baby OK? Will I be OK?”

Hothi can’t believe what she went through, and she wants other would-be parents to be aware.

“I want to say the hospital’s management and the doctors, they all need to take care of the women who are pregnant and listen to them.”

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Given how chaotic things were in the vehicle, she admits she did not hear the whole conversation between her aunt and the 911 dispatcher, but recalls them telling her that they would not be able to get an ambulance there right away.

Hothi says they continued to the hospital and once they got there, staff helped as soon as they arrived in the parking lot.

Hothi’s mother, who held the baby right after delivery, has only been in Canada for a short time and says she’s stunned that this is the state of the Canadian healthcare system. She tells OMNI News the entire experience has left her shaken as she worried about the health of her newest grandchild.

Dr. Darren Lazare at Fraser Health says it’s very rare for moms not to make it to the hospital before they deliver.

“I absolutely feel for her. It’s a frightening experience and it’s not what one would expect,” said Lazare.

“I’ve seen this so many times: patients are in early labour, they’re offered pain medication usually in the form of morphine and Gravol and they are encouraged to go home. Because they are in early labour, we don’t know how long that process is going to take.”

Lazare acknowledges SMH has been dealing with a chronic staffing and bed shortage and was asked if this was the reason Hothi was sent home.

“We are providing the best possible care through our teams regardless of what resources are available. We are absolutely on the same side and always on the patient’s side. We currently do not have the resources that we need, whether it’s the number of beds and space, whether it’s the number of nurses or some combination of nurses and beds, that has been articulated very well through the community.”

While Hothi says she and her baby are now home healthy and safe, she hopes no other mom has to go through the same thing.

This incident is just the latest after SMH was plunged into turmoil after dozens of doctors went public with behind-the-scenes concerns about patient care.

Earlier this month, Health Minister Adrian Dix announced an expansion of services at SMH including hiring more staff for the ER, maternity ward and for mental health services over the next 18 months but didn’t detail where that staff would be sourced. Dix also promised upgraded cardiac diagnostic services and renal care. He also confirmed urgent care centres in Surrey would be open longer.