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Miscarriage/pregnancy loss

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To think that this nurse needs sensitivity training.

10 replies

Pregnancyquestion · 20/09/2025 22:27

Found out I had had a missed miscarriage a few weeks ago at a private scan. Needed to go to the hospital and was offered an appointment at the Early Pregnancy Unit a few days later where they scheduled a surgical miscarriage.

The day the NHS confirmed the miscarriage the nurse, who was very lovely for the most part, was leaving the room and then acted like she’d thought better of it and came to sit with me and my DW. She said honestly feel free to cry - we were upset but had found out days earlier at the private scan so weren’t in floods of tears any more.

She then started to try and console us but honestly the things she was saying felt like a list of what not to say. She said let me tell you a story, I was a midwife and I was in the room when a woman had a still birth, now that was sad. At least that’s not happened to you. I was a bit bewildered but agreed yes that would be sad.

Then she said you know this is just natures way, the baby would have been really disabled, like have an extra chromosome or something. In 18 years you’ll look back and be glad that this happened.

She then joked about how at least I can have coffee now and offered to make me one. I declined and she again insisted I should cry. Then gave me some leaflets to help me decide how best to remove my dead baby.

I don’t know if it’s me being sensitive or if the nurse was a bit bonkers. Is that appropriate to say? She’s not wrong I guess, they say that most miscarriages are when the fetus isn’t viable but I wish she had just kept her opinions to herself. We were really upset as it was our first pregnancy and we thought we’d got over the 8 week mark and we were starting to think that it was really happening.

Anyway, I’m not planning to complain or anything just interested if I’m being too sensitive or not?

OP posts:
Decca45 · 20/09/2025 22:38

Sorry for the loss of your baby 😞 she sounds like she was well meaning but can understand what she said would have been hurtful, I wonder if she was very new in the role, a student or just covering the clinic as yes any professional who has read up/ had training on the topic would know those are absolutely not the things to say

Pregnancyquestion · 20/09/2025 22:44

Decca45 · 20/09/2025 22:38

Sorry for the loss of your baby 😞 she sounds like she was well meaning but can understand what she said would have been hurtful, I wonder if she was very new in the role, a student or just covering the clinic as yes any professional who has read up/ had training on the topic would know those are absolutely not the things to say

Thank you. I think she was well meaning. It would also make sense that she was covering as she said she was a midwife, wasn’t sure if she meant it past tense or not

OP posts:
DiscoBob · 20/09/2025 22:54

That does sound very foot in mouth! With good intentions but clearly not the right words at all.

I'm so sorry for your loss x

MajesticWhine · 21/09/2025 05:27

Sorry for your loss. I don’t know how much training nurses have for this situation. It sounds like she tried to be helpful but it clearly wasn’t. There is no harm in sending feedback or making an informal complaint. It’s better that the department learns from your experience.

WatchingTheDetective · 21/09/2025 08:53

I think you should get feedback about that. I would've been very very upset if she spoke to me like that. I'm so sorry you lost your baby.

SomeMonstersEatTelly · 21/09/2025 14:24

I am very sorry for your loss. I would absolutely give that feedback, when you feel able to. PALS usually take this sort of feedback pretty seriously and you are absolutely not being too sensitive. I’d have been devastated to have heard this.

Decca45 · 21/09/2025 16:18

Pregnancyquestion · 20/09/2025 22:44

Thank you. I think she was well meaning. It would also make sense that she was covering as she said she was a midwife, wasn’t sure if she meant it past tense or not

Most nurses who had been midwives in particular would know how to be more sensitive but it could be that she trained many years ago. No harm in sending general feedback saying you appreciate staff member meant well but you did find what they said hurtful x

bk1981 · 22/09/2025 07:04

I would definitely send some feedback. I am currently working up the strength to do the same for my own experience of early miscarriage. I find when you've had a late miscarriage the staff are really well trained and sensitive but on EPU they just say anything!

Peteryourhorseisheree · 22/09/2025 07:22

I had one say something so offensive after
mine that I don’t think I could post it on here without (rightly) upsetting someone.

Some of them are either just awful people and get pleasure from upsetting other or have no filter, or a just a bit thick.

Montereyjaaack · 22/09/2025 08:16

I would send feedback- the implication of saying the baby would have been born disabled and its nature’s way etc is that disabled babies are “unnatural”. Not just disabled but unnatural.. she didn’t know that you didn’t have a disabled child already, or even if she did, that you would not be quite rightly horrified at that.
I am - but I have a disabled daughter that many medical staff tried to persuade me to terminate (at 23 weeks when we only knew that she had “clubfoot” and weren’t sure what else (if anything) she’d have). She went on to be profoundly disabled but there was never an antenatal scan that could illustrate how she would be.
I digress ..
But for someone to say things like that, however well meaning would have me crying .. in anger! I have also had a medically managed miscarriage and a stillborn baby so I think if medical staff can’t genuinely emotionally connect to an issue they should just say “I’m sorry” then shut the F up!

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