A pregnant woman says she was left feeling 'anxious and frustrated' after being told a home birth 'would not be safe'.

The woman who is a registered nurse and currently 35 weeks pregnant claims her midwife warned her another mum-to-be had been left waiting four hours for an ambulance after calling one during her labour.

She said: "I was discussing the possibility of a home birth with my midwife when she told me that it wouldn't be a good idea.

"She said she wasn't going to sugar coat it and wanted me to make the most informed choice, so she told me about a home birth she had attended the previous week.

"She said something went wrong and they required medical assistance, but they were forced to wait for four hours for an ambulance.

"She told me giving birth at home would not be the safest option due to the pressures on the services right now.

"I was flabbergasted. It feels like women and women services have suffered once again as a result of the pandemic. It is disappointing to say the least."

When we put the woman's concerns to the ambulance service they admitted they had been under 'extensive and sustained pressure'.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “As a service we've been under extensive and sustained pressure during the last few months. 19 of our 20 busiest days on record were experienced during June, July, August and September.

"When demand is high, it will take longer than we would want to get to patients for which we apologise.

"We are prioritising our sickest and most severely injured patients and our staff and volunteers continue to work tirelessly across the West Midlands to reach patients as quickly as possible."

The mum-to-be, who has asked not to be named, said it was her second pregnancy. Her first child was born at the Worcestershire Royal's midwife-led Meadow Birth centre.

NHS advice for mums is that a planned home birth is as safe as having a baby elsewhere for second babies. Home births may hold a slightly increased risk of serious problems for the baby if it is a first child.

The Worcester News understands that on a normal day the ambulance service would get around 4,000 calls but last week they saw the fourth busiest day ever, with 6,392 calls made.

Hospital pressures are also aggravating factors as it means crews aren’t able to offload patients quickly which has a knock-on effect on their ability to get to people.