A mum was left “angry and upset” after being branded “neglectful” for leaving her sick baby to look after her two other young children overnight.

After spending a week at Medway Maritime Hospital where her newborn daughter was in the special medical unit, Kayliegh Gadsden asked if she could spend a few hours at home where her disabled mother was caring for her sons, aged four and 17 months.

The 38-year-old said: ”There was nothing I could do [in hospital]. I couldn’t even give my baby a cuddle.

“I was getting anxious because I’d never been separated from them before.

“My baby, Maisie was wired up to several machines and surrounded by nurses and doctors.

“As far as I was concerned, she was in the best possible hands.”

She said she was “horrified” when, as she was returning the following morning, she received a call from a social services worker saying staff at the Gillingham hospital had reported her for neglect.

“I got really angry and upset because anyone who knows me knows my children come first...”

She said: “I kept my calm and told the lady on the phone what I had been through and she apologised saying there had been a misunderstanding and the case was closed.

“I got really angry and upset because anyone who knows me knows my children come first.

“They are my world and without them I’m nothing.”

Kayliegh, who described the incident as a slur on her character, said it came after a traumatic birth on Saturday, May 13.

She had rushed to the hospital from her Sheerness home with her partner Tim, a delivery driver who works shifts, the week before fearing her waters had broken.

“They said it was an infection so we went home,” she recalled.

“A week later and I was in excruciating pain and I went back and was given an emergency C-section.

“My daughter wasn’t breathing when she was born and she was blue in the face.”

Medical staff revived the baby, who weighed in at a healthy 7lbs 9oz, and she was able to hold her three hours later.

As she was being discharged the following day, partner Tim asked why the baby was “so yellow”.

“We are very sorry to hear that Ms Gadsden was unhappy with the care she and her child received...”

She was taken to the Oliver Fisher Special Care Baby Unit attached to the hospital and the parents were told she had “severe jaundice”.

Kayliegh said after several days the little girl was transferred to another unit where she was unable to see her.

She said: “I wasn’t allowed to be with her so I asked to go home for the night to be with my other two children, one who has ADHD.

“They created such a scene telling me I needed to be at the hospital for my daughter and I needed to get my priorities right.

“After about five hours they agreed I could go home for the night.”

Kayliegh said that, after having time to reflect on what happened, she did not want anyone else to go through what she experienced.

“I honestly think that Medway needs improving. It’s disgusting how they treat people.”

Jayne Black, chief executive of Medway NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Our priority is caring safely for women using our service and their babies.

“We are very sorry to hear that Ms Gadsden was unhappy with the care she and her child received. We would invite her to contact us so we can investigate her concerns.”

A spokesman for KCC said for safeguarding and data protection reasons it does not comment on individual cases.