Is that really true about govt hospitals not turning ppl away? A friend recently gave birth and had the most harrowing experience. She was booked to deliver at QE hospital but they were very full. She told us the first time she arrived (pains, water not broken), they told her to go home b/c she wasn't dilated enough yet, and she waited at home for about 10 hours until the pain became unmanageable, at which pt she returned to the hospital - only to be told that they were completly full and she was told to go to a different govt hospital! In the end, she was lucky to have a family friend as an OB whom she then contacted. This doctor was able to get her into a ward room at the Canossa and she delivered there. But what a harrowing experience to have to go through all that, and while in labor too!