The pregnant women in the Scottish Highlands being bitterly failed by a dearth of services

Exclusive: ‘Every mother in Caithness has got their own different version of an ugly story,’ one mother tells Maya Oppenheim

Cuts to the maternity service have resulted in the overwhelming majority of women being forced to make a 120-mile trip (Getty Images)

While pregnancy can be an anxious time for all expectant mothers, many women living in the Scottish Highlands are forced to grapple with concerns which would feel inconceivable to most women in the UK.

In Caithness – deemed one of the most outlying, rural parts of Europe – the overwhelming majority of women living are forced to make a 120-mile trip down one of the most dangerous roads in the UK to give birth.

From being stuck in a snowstorm while in labour, to spending four hours on public transport to give birth, to going through childbirth alone after an ambulance blocks your partner from accompanying you, to actually giving birth on route to the hospital, there is no shortage of childbirth stories in Caithness.