Bad experience- advice/opinions please

[newmummytonoah2016]

I’m 15 weeks and had a bit of a bleed one morning last week, rang my midwives who advised they would ring the early pregnancy unit at the hospital to see if what they advise. They rang me back and said they had booked me in for a scan the following morning at the hospital, and so I waited for an agonising 24 hours to see what was going on.

When I arrived at the hospital I had a chat with a nurse and then was told to take a seat before someone would do my scan. When waiting I overheard the lady who was scanning me telling the nurse I had just seen that they shouldn’t have been scanning me at my amount of weeks and who referred me etc. Also she said we wouldn’t scan unless they were overweight to which the other nurses muttered under her breath ‘well she’s not fat but she’s chubby’. Very mortified I had the scan (luckily all was ok) but hearing all this whilst having the agonising wait was just horrendous. I said during the scan I had overheard her saying she shouldn’t be scanning me and she said ‘well at your amount of weeks the midwives or GP can listen in to the heartbeat, it could have saved you waiting’. I so wish I’d raised at the time the weight comment I’d heard too!

Anyway since then I have logged a complaint with the hospital and that department with the conversations I overheard. I probably am ‘chubby’ but do not think a health professional should be saying that in a room with an open door near the waiting area. Do you guys think I did right or am I overreacting??

I’m at the midwives for a check on Monday so I’ll ask them there if they could have acted sooner etc and their take on it etc. Second baby but this experience has set me off to a bad start to be honest.

P.s. thanks if you stuck this out until the end!!

[FutureFairyCrayon]

Well being overweight does make a difference to a sonographer, and may affect a midwife's ability to detect a hb with a doppler at 15 weeks.

I'd find it hard to get to upset about it tbh. Most of my scans had a variation on 'maternal adiposity affecting image' on the notes. A lot of women are a bit 'chubby' by 15 weeks if they've been following the beige food only first trimester diet (chipsticks and cheese was my particular staple).

I say this as someone who had a bmi of 39 at booking in, and has spent more time than I care to think about waiting for scans in the EPU, so maybe I'm a bit blase.

I'm sorry you were upset by it though, and maybe she'll be a bit more discreet in future if it's pointed out to her. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy.

[newmummytonoah2016]

Thanks for your reply!

Had an email back from my complaint apologising for what I overheard, so small victories I guess. Just if there is ever a time to get offended by things it’s when your hormones are raging isn’t it .

Thanks very much! Hoping for not many more scans of a nervous wait like that throughout. Also very much on the beige food diet

[peachesarenom]

newmummytonoah2016 I think it was good of you to complain, hopefully they will now realise they can be heard!

[LS83]

It was rude and uncalled for. Im a midwife and I would have also referred you to early pregnancy. I wouldn't be attempting to listen in to a fetal heart at your gestation and the sonographer would know that.

[newmummytonoah2016]

That’s useful to know thank you! I can’t say I’d have been happy to just hear the heartbeat to be honest anyway. The midwives I saw assured me they did all the could have done at the time. I did definitely think it was rude and uncalled for!

[Greenshoots1]

surely you already know you are chubby, and that that impacts on your health care in all manner of ways? hardly a shocking thing to hear.

[newmummytonoah2016]

Useful advice there greenshoots1 thanks. I think the issue is more a health professional not being professional, as another’s midwife agrees with above!

[MadameJosephine]

At my trust you would only be referred to early pregnancy for a scan up to 14 weeks and after that we would attempt to listen to the fetal heart with a Doppler if you’d had a bleed so that could be their trust policy but she should have been more sensitive and careful what she says where she could be overheard