This my letter I have sent to my local hospital.....
I would like to share my experience of my miscarriage at ### Hospital in the hope that learning can be taken from it.
Wednesday morning I was excited to have my first home visit from the midwife. Everything was so far going well, I was nearly 10 weeks pregnant.
I started spotting on Thursday and having googled, was reassured that this could be fairly normal. However Friday came and the bleeding persisted, at which point I decided to text my midwife. I was surprised to receive a text back saying that she had booked me in for a scan at ward 2 for Monday, But if the bleeding becomes heavy or I experience a lot pain I should take myself to A&E. I was hoping to be reassured that this was normal and not to worry.
By Saturday the bleeding was heavier (the concern was growing) but I was still not experiencing any pain, so was still hopeful. However the stress of not knowing what was happening for another 2 days was too much to bare, so my Husband, my 1 year old son and I made a trip to A&E. Upon arriving the memories of having my son here struck me along with dread of what could be happening to us now. We were sent straight to majors and seen surprisingly quickly by a nurse in Majors. The nurse was very apologetic that there was little she could do other than take my vitals. I was not bleeding heavily enough and was not experiencing any pain. The nurse advised that there was no access to an ultra sound at the weekend and that she’s already see 4 women like me today that she’s had to send home. So feeling quite hopeless and still hoping for the best we went home.
Sunday came and our worst fears looked like they were being realised. It was 1pm my sanitary towel felt more wet than usual so I went to the toilet, and a gush of blood fell into the toilet. Feeling anxious I rang 111 asking for advise on what to do, and was told to wait for a phone call from an out of hours doctor. The doctor advised me to go to A&E. Having already been to hospital yesterday I queried whether that particular hospital was the best place to go as I had been told they could not scan me at the weekend, but was assured that they would have my notes so should go there.
I packed a bag with sanitary towels, spare knickers and spare trousers (hoping I wouldn’t need them) then my husband, son and I made the journey again to A&E.
Again we were sent straight through to majors and sat in the waiting room, it’s now 1:30 Sunday the 28th of October.
9pm Sunday the 28th of October I finally leave Majors and get to go home.... and greave!
I spent the majority of the 7 and a half hours i was in A&E miscarrying in a busy waiting.
By the time I arrived at hospital I had to take my self straight to the only toilet I could see (available to the majors patients)and change my trousers as I had bled through my sanitary towel onto my trousers. I had my vitals taken a couple
Of times and then sent back to the waiting room to carry on with my miscarriage. I made many (between 20-30) trips to this toilet, I still wasn’t experiencing any pain but could feel that I needed to visit the toilet and every time a gush of blood with blood clots would come out. I would look into the toilet bowl (hoping I wouldn’t see anything) clean up and walk back to busy waiting room where my husband and son were waiting for me.
By around 6pm my parents arrived to take my son home, who having been very well behaved for such a long time, was now becoming restless.
Not long after this I was seen by a doctor and asked to do a urine sample then hand it to a nurse, I would then be taken to Gynaecology. I desperately wanted to get out of the waiting room having been miscarrying in front of a bunch of strangers for around 5hours now. Back to the toilet I’d become very used to, I was struggling to urinate (I was managing to make a bloody mess of the small specimen bottle) but could not urinate, I drank cup after cup of water but still no urine. I eventually went back to the nurses station and managed to get someone’s attention. I was worried that because I couldn’t provide the urine sample they wouldn’t send me to gynae, I pleaded to them to let me go to gynae despite the urine sample. I was told ‘no’ by the nurse at which point I got upset , patients were on stretchers around the nurses station listening to everything I’m saying. A doctor is sent to me and again says I must drink more water and provide the urine sample before I’m sent to A&E. I break down in tears, desperate to find out if I still have a life inside of me and desperate to leave this waiting room. I beg to leave and go home and walk out on tears (my husband missed all this having been sat in the waiting room), a nurse came out to me and asked my name then I came back in to see my husband.
Things started happening soon after this, my vitals were taken again and I was told that there were no beds in gynae but a doctor from the ward will come down to A&E and see me in one of the side rooms.
It was probably 8pm by the time a doctor from Gynae came to see me. In a side room in the department I’d become very used to, he carried out an internal and pulled out what was described as tissue (I think this was my 10 week baby). The doctor finally confirmed after 4 days of worrying and not knowing, that I had in fact had a miscarriage. At this point I was almost relieved, We at least new what had happened and could go home to our son. (It wouldnt be until the coming days I would really greave).
I informed the doctor that I already had a scan booked in for Monday afternoon, and asked if I should cancel the scan. As it would be too late to use the slot for anyone else he thought it would be a good idea to use the appointment to check that all tissue had been expelled and that there wasn’t a second baby. The doctor explained to me that I needed to sign some papers to confirm what I want doing with the foetus, however the paperwork was in a different building so I would again have to go back to waiting in the busy waiting room.
Having waited for another what I think was 45 minute after finding out I had in fact miscarried, just to sign some paper work I went back to the nurses station to say I wasn’t waiting any longer and was going home. I was persuaded to wait and eventually a nurse came with the paperwork for me to sign and explained to me what would happen to the tissue/baby/foetus. It’s 9pm now and we finally get to go home.
I think there’s a lot of learning to be taken from this....
- Miscarriages don’t just happen Monday to Friday
- Expectant mothers should have access to an early pregnancy unit or antenatal ward 7 days a week
- Privacy! Miscarrying in a busy waiting room for 8 hours is degrading
- Information! We needed to know what was happening earlier.
- I would have been more comfortable at home but 111, OOH’s and a&e all told me to be in a&e. I feel like this experience would have been less traumatic at home.
I feel for all the women that will go through this same experience and worse. For women that have gone through many miscarriages, for women that have been trying for a long time and go through a miscarriage, for women that don’t have the emotional support of a loved one with them to help them through.