A round-up of other health news in brief
Ambulance refused to young mother
A young mother gave birth on a pavement outside a hospital after she was told to make her own way there, she said yesterday.
Mother-of-three Carmen Blake called her midwife to ask for an ambulance when she went into labour unexpectedly with her fourth child.
But the 27 year old claims she was refused an ambulance and told to walk the 100m from her house in Leicester to the city’s nearby Royal Infirmary.
Her daughter Mariah was delivered on a pavement outside the hospital by a passerby, just before ambulance crews arrived.
Ms Blake said she started going into labour at about 7.15am on Sunday, August 2nd.
She said: “I phoned up the Royal Infirmary, it’s just across the road, and they said to go into a hot bath, and then to make my way over there.
“I went into the bath and realised she was going to come quickly. I didn’t think I’d be able to make it out of the bath, so I phoned the maternity ward back and told them to get an ambulance out.
“They said they were not sending an ambulance and told me I had had nine months to sort out a lift.”
Children’s bite as forceful as that of a dog
Children as young as three may have the ability to bite with as much force as a dog, research revealed yesterday.
It is hoped the findings from the study, by the University of Leeds, will be used to improve toy safety tests and prevent injury and deaths from choking among the under-fives.
The results also revealed that the force of a child’s bite is affected by poor dental health, weight and ethnicity.
Following the research, scientists have called for toy makers to review their safety tests and introduce a bite-testing standard for toys.
They claimed that age labels on toys were not sufficient to prevent accidents as parents do not read, or misunderstand, warning labels.