Pregnant women on gynae wards

[elliejjtiny]

I don't want to give too much detail in case I'm outed but I know someone who is being treated for hyperemisis (severe morning sickness) on a gynae ward.

I was on the gynae ward when I had my miscarriages and the thought that I could have been there with pregnant women horrifies me, it is just wrong. I didn't notice any pregnant women there when I was in although there was one time when the side room was full so there was me and another lady having a miscarriage having to wait in the day room. The other lady was visibly very upset. Does this happen often? I'm glad I didn't know there might be pregnant women there at the time.

yep, very common and an important aspect of our miscarriage campaign.

I was put on the gynae ward when pregnant, though not noticably so and desperately trying to hang on to my baby. Spent the whole time trying to avoid the stares of all the dol ladies (and it stank of wee).
Horrible for the women having the miscarriages but also horrible for the women who are pregnant

Generally I agree that it is insensitive to put miscarrying women on maternity wards.

But the gynae ward is different. A woman in early pregnancy with hyperemesis would probably not be appropriate for the antenatal ward. A woman with any other gynae problem might just happen to be pregnant at that time. Women get pregnant and if they need hospital treatment then they need to go on the most appropriate ward, which isn't necessarily the antenatal ward unless they are later on in pregnancy.

Not sure what the solution to this one is. The first miscarriage I had I was treated in general day surgery, the second one I had a side room on the gynae ward away from the old ladies. Having to miscarry in front of other patients with just a curtain for privacy is just shocking though. Whatever ward you are placed on. I spent two hours sitting on a commode with my pants down and I would not have wanted the company of other women be they old or pregnant or whatever.

Antenatal clinic/ ultrasound at our local hospital had the same problem.
One lovely MW fought a one woman battle to try and slip women with suspected miscarriages in and out without them having to sit in the waiting room surrounded by bumps.

I'm 16 weeks pregnant and had surgery on the gyne ward last week. I wouldn't have wanted to be treated on maternity ward as the surgery was to try and keep my baby in. Where would you have preferred me to be?

Fwiw, I've had 4 miscarriages too, and 3 erpcs on gyne wards and I can honestly say the though of there being another pregnant woman on the ward wouldn't have bothered me at all.

Now epaus on in the same room as anti natal clinics is another thing all together.

Methe I hope your surgery is successful at keeping your baby in.

I'm not sure what the solution is. Maybe an EPU ward with single rooms and ladies having the choice to go there, gynae or antenatal. So ladies with early pregnancy complications can go to EPU or antenatal and ladies miscarrying can go to gynae or EPU. Would be expensive though. On the gynae ward where I was there was a side room with its own bathroom and a z bed for partners to stay which was for people who were having medically managed miscarriages or abortions. But there is only 1 so if it's being used and someone else comes in they will have to go on an open ward.

You want women banned from gynae wards because they are pregnant?

Really?

Do you think as a general principle doctors should decide where patients can be treated based not on their needs, but whether their presence will offend other patients on the same ward?

The trouble with EPU ward is that it is a Mon-Fri day clinic. Ours does have rooms where women can be treated in a private room but if you don't fit in with the timescale of a day clinic then you would get moved to gynae. Or if it was a weekend or bank holiday. And in my local hospital the EPU shares a waiting room with the place where women with massive bumps go for late pregnancy assessment and monitoring. Imagine if you were going in for a medical miscarriage and had to walk through that area! I preferred not to. However, if it was not for the waiting room issue, private rooms in the EPU are a good solution as most medically managed miscarriages are treated as day cases.

Gynaecology is a specialism dealing with women's health problems. Some women will be pregnant. They should be treated in the appropriate wards. Hyperemesis is something you get admitted as an inpatient for so going to EPU is not appropriate. Antenatal is often only from 24 weeks onwards. So gynae is the obvious place to be treated.

Honestly? I was a 2nd trimester pregnant woman on a gynae ward. Ten days later I was a non-pregnant woman on a gynae ward as the baby had died. I couldn't have given a damn about anyone else on that ward tbh.

On the 2nd occasion I was treated by a health care assistant who was still pregnant at the same gestation as I was. It caused me no problems whatsoever, as my grief was about my baby, it had nothing to do with hers.

Pregnant women on gynae wards are probably not having a nice life at that point, just like miscarrying women. They are also often admitted as an emergency. NHS wards cannot be run on the basis that someone might be offended / upset by another person's presence.

Btw Methe congratulations here's hoping for a smooth gentle pregnancy.

I have had 3 mmc, and been admitted on gynae wards where there are pregnant women. It didn't bother me. I wanted my baby - not theirs. Also we don't know what those pregnant ladies have been through to be pregnant - they may have had fertility problems, or recurrent miscarriages.

I am 20 weeks pregnant now - god forbid anything goes wrong with this baby - but if it does I couldn't care less where I am treated, as long as I am treated and my baby is given the best chance. If this happens - I couldn't care less who is on the ward.

I don't want to be callous, and I can see your point, but the nhs can't admit ladies to wards where they think no-one will be upset by their presence xxx

Thank you Ellie and Combine. Unfortunately the surgery ruptured my waters so although it fixed my cervix all is not good. I am likely to be the miscarrying woman on the ward over the next few weeks :(

I know miscarriages are shit, really I do, but it would be impossible to have different wards for miscarrying woman although I can appreciate it would be nice.

methe I'm so so sorry to hear that. :(

So sorry Methe . I think you're right, it's one of those things that would be nice but it's totally unrealistic. I think the whole hyperemisis thing is a personal issue for me as I had fairly severe hyperemisis with DC2 and he was my 1 healthy baby (dc1 and dc5 were miscarried at 12 and 13 weeks, dc3 and dc4 have disabilities). I really wanted hyperemesis with dc's 3-5 as I thought the worse the sickness the healthier the baby. I know it doesn't always work like that though.

I've had 2 mmc and had very different experiences with both (different hospitals).

The 1st, I was admitted to the gynae ward via A&E due to severe pain. I was scanned the following morning (wheeled through the scan waiting room in front of everyone in a hospital gown) where the pregancy was measuring 5 weeks thought it was 8 weeks since lmp, 4 weeks since a positive pregnancy test and 5 weeks since I'd last had sex due to OH being away. They refused to call a mc and I had to return a week later to be re-scanned but mc naturally in that time. sat in the waiting room full of pregnant women for an hour waiting to have the inevitable confirmed. I was given a leaflet by a midwife from the mc association but no follow up was offered.

The 2nd I was seen, refered to EPU, scanned, mc confirmed. I was taken to a private room where I saw 2 senior members of staff detailing my options. They offered to get the hospital chaplain if I wanted and let me know there was a book of rememberance I could make an entry in if I wished. I went home and decided on an ERPC, I was given a date 2 days later. Went to hospital in the morning, was given a private room, after giving my name to the staff on my way in I didn't see another patient all day. Op was straight forward and info provided afterwards was great. If you can have a "good" mc this was it.

Emotionally, I found the second mc far, far easier to deal with as I felt I had been dealt with compassion, respect and sensitivity throughout. After the first I was reeling for weeks afterwards.

I KNOW the NHS has finite resources and you're not going to be able to do the best for everyone all of the time. But I think my second experience shows that it IS possible to handle things in a way that minimises stress all round.

So sorry to hear that Methe, I know it's likely to be cold comfort but I really, really hope everything works out ok xxx

I've experienced both in different hospitals.
DS1 was 17 week m/c and I was in a private room in gynae.

DS2 was another 17 week m/c and I was in a private room on the maternity ward.
Think I preferred the gynae ward as other ladies and babies seemed further away and the gynae ward was full of older ladies. And the care was a lot better, consultant came in at least twice a day, on maternity I didn't see a doctor until the actual delivery, and I was kicked out quickly afterwards.

At my local hospital there's no gynae ward. I was in two nights while they monitored my blood loss and was on a surgical ward, which I was very grateful for. Just three older women there, who didn't know why I was in, only bad moment was after DH left and one said to me that we'd be having babies soon. Not as soon as we'd hoped, unfortunately.

ive just had my 3rd mc and the experience seems to be different everytime although they were all very early on.
the last one had to be the worst - sent t the gynae ward - fine by me but they dont tell yu half the ward is used as a day ward for the antenatal ward. so im there watching heavily pregnant women walk past and listening to heart beats - just whaqt i needed!!