Miscarriage

[Sanpellegrino86]

Hi all,

This post is a bit of a rant and does contain sensitive information so please excuse me.
After 2 years being under the fertility clinic we got pregnant last year to sadly lose our baby at 18 weeks in December.

We waited for 6 months to try again as we were waiting lots of test results and amazingly got pregnant first try. On Saturday at 7 weeks I started bleeding heavily and immediately called EPU/ gynae our of hours as they have joined up where I live. I spoke to a consultant who advised me to go to a and e and ask for a referral up to gynae.

Myself and my partner went to a and e immediately which was traumatic in itself as I'd been our shopping when I started bleeding and by the time I got there my jeans were absolutely covered on blood which was visible for everyone to see whilst I queued to be booked in.

A and E called gynae who requested some tests to rule out the issue being surgical which were done over 3 hours. By this point I was in a hospital gown , with a wrist band and a porter had arrived to take me up to the ward. The A and e nurse advised she would quickly call up to gynae to say I was in the way. We stood in the corridor waiting and heard her having a huge argument with them over the phone. I could hear her saying this lady really needs to be seen today she has lost alot of blood and I am really concerned about her. Anyway the long and short of it was they refused to se me and said I would need to go home and await a scan on Monday. The nurse apologised to us profusely about the standard of care we had received. I walked back to the car in my hospital gown having no idea whether I'd miscarried or not and why I was bleeding.

On the way home I called gynae and spoke to the same Dr. He basically said that there was nothing he could do for me and couldnt tell me if I'd had a miscarriage or not because there were no sonographers working- they finish at 12 on a Saturday. I explained that I just didn't think this was good to enough - they are supposed to be a 24/7 service. How can it be that if you have bleeding on a Wednesday afternoon you can be scanned the same day but on a Saturday you need to wait until Monday. He replied that he has ' no idea why the society of gynaecologistsand obstetrics don't make provision for scanning 24 hours a day and that he was 'sorry he didn't take early scanning in pregnancy as an elective module as university but not many consultants do.' considering I was traumatised and absolutely terrified at the time I just think comments like these are inappropriate, lack compassion and are unhelpful.

We went home and somehow survived the weekend until the scan yesterday at which there was no heartbeat 😢

I understand the NHS is under immense pressure. I am a senior clinician in the NHS myself and I work for an incredibly busy service.

Having said that I just can't believe that A&E is the appropriate place for a woman experiencing heavy bleeding in pregnancy. I feel like out of hours we should be able to self refer to th EPU. Also whilst I understand there was no one available to scan me at at that time, I feel I could have been examined or they could have at least had a discussion with me and offered some advice rather than arrogant unnecessary comments.

I just cannot imagine a situation where someone bleeding heavily from any other body part with an unknown cause would just be sent home and expected to just get on with it. Ive read about lots of experiences women have had similar to mine. I just don't think this level of care is good enough and could and I'm sure has had a huge impact on peoples mental health. Would love to know what you guys think.

Thank you ❤️

Hugest sympathies OP, I haemorrhaged with my last miscarriage and had to go to A&E too. Fortunately I was at my parents’ so I got to put in a new pad and my dad drove me in (sitting on an empty compost bag so I didn’t ruin his car seats - I’d already bled on their cream sofa). The nurses got me though very quickly once I’d asked them for something to sit on as I was bleeding through my jeans, and I ended up being in for two nights on a drip. They did get an on-call gynae to me about 4hrs after I was admitted (1am Monday by that point) but it was a slightly different situation for me as this was a week after I’d had a scan that showed no heartbeat, so I didn’t have that awful uncertainty that you did. I’m sorry you had that experience, and agree that it should be possible to get an ultrasound in those circumstances rather than leaving you to wait with the fear.

@Sanpellegrino86. I am so sorry that you had to go through this and terribly sorry for your loss 😔 there is no excuse to be treated like that, miscarriages are hard enough without the rudeness and unsympathetic bedside manner some of these professionals have.
I know what you mean sometime ranting about it helps to process things. So rant away!
I miscarried two weeks ago, I was 11.5 weeks, my experience and treatment in A and E was also awful.
I was staying away from home and began bleeding on the Wednesday, phoned the hospital and was told they would not see me until I bled through 3 pads. I then phoned my midwife who told me to phone them back and tell them I have to be seen today- was sent to A and E, waited for two hours. Taken to the early pregnancy unit (without being told where I was going or what was happening due to the assistant taking me not speaking English) when I got there a midwife told me that there had been some confusion I would not be scanned but could not go home until I see a dr as it’s their policy. Waited 5 hours to see a dr, he examined me, found my cervix was closed and I had a UTI - he told me the bleeding was down to that and my baby was fine. Sent me home to be scanned on Monday which was 5 days later.
The bleeding at cramping got worse and I just knew 😔 on Sunday my Husband saw the amount of blood I was losing and called 111, I was told to go to A and E again, was there 6 hours- after two hours a gyno at a hospital down the road agreed to see me I then waited 4 hours for a ambulance as their policy wouldn’t allow me to make my own way there- it was the longest wait on my life. I finally got the maternity hospital, was seen by the gyno and admitted overnight to be scanned in the morning. Unfortunately they found no heartbeat 😔my baby died at 7weeks. I was given options and had a surgical procedure the same day. The staff at this hospital were amazing and made a very difficult time a little easier. I was sent home but needed to be re-scanned two days later due to pain, I was put into a room with lots of smiling couples on awe of their healthy scan pictures, my husband spoke to the receptionist and explained our upsetting situation and how difficult it was for us being around all of these pregnant women. He then moved us to a seat outside the ultrasound room where we could hear a healthy babies heartbeat and I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. My husband spoke to someone else who then moved us to another room where we waited for the scan.
I feel that the first Dr should have never given me false hope, I now know that despite my cervix being closed it was still possible that I was having a threatened miscarriage or a missed miscarriage- to tell me my baby was ok was cruel.

I hope your doing ok 💐 be kind to yourself x

@Ter2021

I'm so sorry for you loss and the horrendous experience you've had. Like you say losing a baby is hard enough and the the management just seems to make it all the more traumatic. I just find it so frustrating when people hide behind policy - like no further justification is required and no common sense or compassion can be applied because 'that is the policy'. None of it is good enough/
I hope you and your husband are doing as well as can be expected.