A HEARTBROKEN mother who suffered two stillbirths within a year has spoken of her decision to sue a Bolton hospital.

As reported in last night's BEN, Paula Tomlinson and her husband John decided to take legal action against Bolton Hospitals Trust after she lost her baby, Rita Anne, 30 weeks into her pregnancy.

John and Paula of Carlton Gardens, Moses Gate, believe doctors should have stepped in and performed an emergency Caesarean operation.

And they believe the decision to delay was heavily influenced by the fact that that all Bolton's intensive care cots were full at the time.

Paula has previously suffered difficult pregnancies and their five-year-old son Mathew was born by emergency Caesarean.

"We were very lucky with him, they caught him just in time. He was born at 36 weeks weighing 3lbs 40 ozs," said Paula.

But in April, 1995, she was not so lucky and lost baby Jack at 28 weeks after developing the highly dangerous condition pre-enclampsia.

"We were devastated about Jack but at the time I was more worried about Paula," said John. "We had lost the baby and I did not want to lose her as well."

Paula survived. She became pregnant again soon afterwards and readily agreed when it was suggested she should go into hospital to be monitored closely.

"I just thought if anything goes wrong at least I will be in the right place," she said.

"I knew if anything happened they would have to deliver very quickly and I thought they would do something straight away.

" I really believed I would be leaving with a baby in my arms.That's what everybody was telling me."

According to the couple, a month later the baby showed signs of distress and Paula was given steroids to develop the baby's immature lungs in preparation for an emergency delivery. In the afternoon a doctor inquired about intensive care cots but was told they were full, said Paula.

"You don't tell a doctor straight out you want an emergency Caesarean but I was pointing out the problems and so were the midwives," said Paula.

The next morning the baby was dead.

"She knew straight away when they could not find the heartbeat on the monitor. It was motherly instinct," said heartbroken John.

Paula endured nearly 10 hours of labour before Rita Anne was born weighing 2lb 7oz on November 31st.

Paula was dangerously ill with pre-enclampsia and suffered a convulsion, kidney and liver problems. She was only released from hospital on January 6.

"I was very poorly for the first few days so it was only afterwards I started asking questions," she said.

"I was told the baby was safer inside me because she would have been born with breathing difficulties and needed a transfer which would have been difficult and dangerous".

John said: "If it was the first baby I could understand it but with Paula's history it should not have happened.

"She was being prepared for an emergency section but it was not done and they seemed to put that down to a lack of facilities".

Now the couple have given up any hope of adding to their family. "I have been through it twice and I don't think I could go through it again. I would be too frightened," said Paula.

And they have hired specialist lawyers who will bring in independent medical experts to examine the records relating to Paula's care.

Miss Jean Bracken, head of maternity services in Bolton, yesterday told the BEN that Bolton had 21 special care cots including three intensive care.

She could not comment on the Tomlinson case but said if the Princess Anne did not have the facilities to cope with certain cases, they transferred the patient to a regional specialist unit.

She said: "Certainly this baby had every chance of survival. This hospital's policy is to transfer people if there are not the necessary facilities available a this hospital. Under no circumstances would an operation of this nature be cancelled because we did not have the facilities available."

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