Joni DeSilva was told on Monday (August 11) that the DGH was closed to new admissions. It shut from 9.30am-7pm because of a lack of beds in the delivery suite, although she was the only woman sent to the Conquest in Hastings.
Joni, in labour with her fourth child, had gone to the DGH on Sunday night (August 10) and was told to come back the next day when her contractions were three minutes apart.
On calling the hospital the next day, she was told she would have to go to the Conquest.
She said staff there were brilliant but she had become increasingly scared she would have a roadside delivery before arriving, after a short cut through Battle was closed.
She said, "It felt like forever getting there. When you are in that much pain you really don't want a half-hour journey.
"I was a bit distressed, I live two minutes away from the hospital and was told I had to travel for half an hour."
Joni felt she should have been warned she would have to go to another hospital sooner.
A spokesman for East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust said, "Diverting new admissions is in accordance with the trust's contingency plan, developed in the interest of the safe provision of care for women and babies.
"It is not uncommon for maternity units to work together to provide a safe level of maternity care across the county.
"Although this is disruptive to the individuals affected, we make no apology for putting mothers and babies safety first.
"This is a national problem and it needs to be recognised that neighbouring NHS trusts also find it necessary to divert patients from their midwifery units from time to time."