Hillary Clinton angers family of dead mother-to-be with her latest gaffe

Mrs Clinton has been publicising her plan for universal healthcare by telling a tragic tale of a pregnant woman from Ohio who sought medical care at a local hospital.

According to Mrs Clinton, 35-year-old Trina Bachtel was turned away for lack of insurance and both she and the unborn baby died.

Miss Bachtel's family, however, say the story is simply not true.

"Trina had good insurance," her 80-year-old grandmother May Mayle said yesterday. "She was a good girl and she worked hard. That story made her look like she was a welfare bum."

The controversy comes after Mrs Clinton, who is battling to be the Democratic candidate for President, was caught out lying about coming under fire on her arrival in Bosnia in the 1990s.

When TV footage showed she had landed without a hint of gunfire, she claimed she had "misspoken".

Mrs Mayle confirmed that her granddaughter died last August from complications related to a late-pregnancy miscarriage, but said she was never turned away from a hospital.

As Mrs Clinton told the story during campaign rallies, Miss Bachtel was turned down for treatment because she was uninsured and couldn't pay $100 (£50) upfront.

She didn't name the woman, but it has emerged to her still-grieving family's horror.

"Of course she would have had $100," said Mrs Mayle. "Her boyfriend's real angry about it, too, because he had good insurance."

Mrs Clinton apparently learned of the story from one of her local supporters, deputy sheriff Bryan Holman, who claims to have heard it secondhand from Miss Bachtel's family.

Mrs Mayle said Miss Bachtel went to hospital for a routine check and was told her baby was stillborn.

"They told her to come back the next day, and she did, and they made her deliver the baby even though he was dead. Then she just didn't get better."

The Clinton camp said it had tried to check out as much of the story as possible, but hadn't been able to verify all the details.