Man missed son's birth after being forced out of hospital

A HEALTH board has launched an inquiry after a man missed the birth of his child after being thrown out of hospital.

Lee Burt, 22, was asked to leave the waiting room at Stirling Royal Infirmary as it was due to close for the night. He claims he was told that if he did not leave the hospital, police would be called.

He was told to return home to Falkirk and wait for a phone call when his partner, Lamara Bell, went into labour. He was contacted less than four hours later, but he missed the birth of their son Kieran on 23 January by ten minutes.

Mr Burt, who had been told he could not father children, said: "This could be the only child I ever have and I wasn't there to witness it. They've taken that away from me."

A spokesman for NHS Forth Valley said partners were allowed to stay when a woman had been admitted to the labour suite. "However, if a woman is in a ward and not showing any signs of going into labour, fathers would normally leave at the end of visiting time and staff would contact them if the situation changed."