Angela Breeds was forced to travel 250 miles between four hospitals
An expectant mother of twins was ferried 250 miles between four hospitals only to have her babies separated as soon as they were delivered.
Angela Breeds, 30, was told she needed a Caesarean section when doctors found one of her unborn babies was too small and not getting enough nutrition.
But what should have been the most thrilling moment of her life turned into a five-day ordeal because the hospitals either did not have the right scanning equipment or the incubators.
Doctors finally performed the Caesarean and delivered Suzie and Sonny nine weeks early. But then Sonny had to be moved to another hospital five minutes after birth - again because of incubator shortages.
Miss Breeds and her partner, Lee Taylor, 35, are now getting up at 5am every day to take breast milk to the babies at each hospital.
Miss Breeds said: 'I'm just so angry about being pushed around everywhere. Then when I found out they had to be separated I was completely gutted.'
Doctors in Basildon, Essex, became concerned following a routine scan and sent Miss Breeds to King's College Hospital in South-East London for a specialist scan on December 3.
She drove the 31 miles there with Mr Taylor and doctors confirmed one of the babies was significantly underweight and would have to be delivered early by Caesarean.
The couple then drove back to Basildon for the emergency operation that evening, only to learn the hospital had no intensive care cots available.
This meant Miss Breeds, from Stanford le Hope in Essex, had to go 110 miles to Peterborough Hospital in North Cambridgeshire, in an ambulance which was using its sirens and flashing lights, which she found 'incredibly stressful'.
Premature newborn Suzie. The baby's twin, Sonny, was taken to The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, an hour away, as there were not sufficient facilities to care for both
Doctors there wanted to run more tests to check she still needed the Caesarean and only decided to go ahead with the procedure three days later.
But by then their incubators were full and Miss Breeds had to be sent to Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone, East London, 86 miles away. This time, Mr Taylor, a welder, drove her there as she could not face another journey by ambulance.
She gave birth to two-and-a-half pounds Suzie and two-pounds Sonny the following day, December 8, but only one incubator was free so Sonny was taken to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.
He has spent the past week there, although doctors believe he is now strong enough to be reunited with his sister at Whipps Cross this week.
Miss Breeds added: 'It takes about an hour to get from our home to Whipps Cross, then another hour to get to Whitechapel. It's very tiring.'
Her mother Barbara, 57, a sales consultant, criticised the shortage of facilities and complained the unborn babies had been put under more stress because her daughter kept having to starve herself in preparation for the Caesarean.
'Something that should have been one of the happiest days in our lives was totally ruined by all the travel and stress involved,' she said.
Basildon Hospital blamed the problems on 'unpredictable' demand for neonatal intensive care.
NHS East of England, the strategic health authority for the region, said it was reviewing neonatal services in an attempt to improve care.
Basildon Hospital maternity unit, which turned away Miss Breeds as it did not have the facilities to perform a Caesarean section
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