Have you had a miscarriage since September 2011? Please help with the next stage of our Better Miscarriage Care campaign. SURVEY NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

As you may know, Mumsnet has a long-running Miscarriage Care Campaign centred around our five-point Code of Care, which outlines how MNers think miscarrying women should be looked after. In September 2011 we carried out a big survey on the topic, and asked hospitals and healthcare providers to implement the Code of Care - something lots of them said they were adhering to when we did a Freedom of Information exercise in 2012.

So now we want to know what, if anything, has changed since our last survey. Are hospitals living up to our Code of Care, and to their own stated policies?

For that reason, in this survey we're asking for responses from women who have miscarried since our last survey (in September 2011).

If you have a friend who would also be eligible please feel free to pass the link to the survey on to them.

Obviously this is a potentially sensitive subject and we don't want to upset any of you, but we know many of you do feel it is important to campaign to improve services (where improvements are needed), so please do take a couple of minutes to complete the survey if you can do so without causing yourself great upset.

Everyone who completes this survey will not only have our grateful thanks but also - as a small token of appreciation - be entered into a prize draw to win a £50 voucher for the store of your choice.

Here's the link: www.surveymonkey.com/s/JM2FSFC
Many thanks
MNHQ

[Redbird12]

I had 2 m/c in 2012. Due to NHS not offering me a follow up scan for several days with the ERPC subsequently being over a week later, i decided to go private for op. I know this survey is about the NHS but there is also the question about why people feel the need to go private and is it past care or wait times on the NHS that have pushed them?

[RowanMumsnet]

Thanks to everyone who's completed it and for all the comments. It's an interesting point about people feeling pushed into private care - kicking ourselves slightly that we didn't include that.

Do please share the survey with anyone who you think might be able to complete it for us; the more responses we get, the better idea we'll have of the national picture.

[Monstamio]

Done - thanks Mumsnet.

Mine was a story of two halves - superb care in the EPU - sympathetic sonographer and midwife, private consulting room to wait in so no sitting surrounded by bumps etc. But a totally different story the day of the op. The only person to show any sympathy or even acknowledge what I was in for was the consultant, who looked me in the eye and said "I'm sorry" when he read my notes during the morning rounds. That made all the difference.

The nurses, however, didn't acknowledge it at all and the anaesthetist kept calling the op a D&C and saying it was just "a minor procedure". Well surgically it might be minor and I'm not claiming it was open heart surgery (though heart-breaking in a different way), but to me it was a pretty fucking big deal and should have been treated as such.

[barkingtreefrog]

Done, but I forgot to add - I didn't cope very well emotionally with the mc. After 19 months of trying and finally getting pg with clomid we thought we were there, and returning to work and social lives that contained pg women due around the same time was very hard to deal with. There was no counselling available at the epu, it had been stopped due to funding. I spoke to the gp about counselling and he just said it was normal to be upset and if he referred me for counselling I'd probably be ok by the time I got to the top of the waiting list anyway. I was given the number for the mc association but it was only open during office hours when I was at work. I didn't have too many issues with the nhs regarding the practical side of things, but there was a total lack of emotional support.

[CallingAllEngels]

I can't fill this in because both my mc have been outside the UK but thank you for this campaign HQ.

[squizita]

Thanks for organising this survey. I must say i was lucky (as lucky as you can be with several miscarriages in 2 years) - bar some idiot junior A&E staff, all of mine were dealt with 'textbook' which made my diagnosis and ability to 'hold' a pregnancy with medication possible.
But I hear so many shocking stories and ignorant GPs through MN and the Miscarriage Association, I am saddened that care is utterly shoddy in some hospitals.
My bugbear is women who are 6+ weeks pregnant being told they have had a 'chemical' pregnancy not a miscarriage: APS (a major cause of recurrent loss which also carries a thrombosis risk) often manifests itself at about 6 weeks: the GPs are just trying to save themselves money/hassle but lying to women in the process... and possibly risking future pregnancies.

[squizita]

Is there any space in the survey about A&E. They were the WORST for me, however the Gynie team and EPU were very good indeed.

Young 20-something men... needing help to understand pregnancy tests/blood, telling me I 'definitely' had ectopic (didn't and symptoms were nothing of the sort), patronisingly/slowly explaining what a chemical pregnancy was (WRONGLY I was 7 weeks gone) as if I was a little girl when I was a recurrent miscarrier and knew more than them...
I actually saw the gynie registrar tell one off through a crack in the hospital curtain so it's not just emotional memory - they are woefully badly trained, lack empathy (youth/lack of experience) and did actually place me at clinical risk at one point.

[somewherewest]

I had a surgical management of miscarriage in Watford in November 2013, with an overnight stay. I had turned up at the hospital that morning for a 12 week scan thinking I was going to see a healthy baby. The big issue for me was the nurses' total lack of compassion and empathy. I know the NHS doesn't have the resources to send someone to hold my hand all night, but just bloody eye contact, a smile, someone taking the trouble to say they're sorry for what happened to me. Its just a different attitude.

[Wineandchoccy]

Done - thank you

I am having a miscarriage now, I found out at my 12 week scan last Thursday and decided I would have medical management but nature decided otherwise and I started bleeding on Friday.

My care has been excellent though the sonographer, midwife, consultant were lovely and my GP rang and left me her mobile number in case I needed her over the bank holiday.

I think help/support could be better for husbands/partners though.

[FatalCabbage]

wineandchoccy Sorry you're going through that.

[Cuppachaplz]

Filled in for most recent, which awful, and I found the hospital very upsetting, and very drawn out.
I have had several before which managed far better. It may be down to location, but for me things have not improved.

[nickdrakeslovechild]

Done, I started bleeding just before 12 weeks over the weekend. Phoned the community midwife who said as it was under 12 weeks I would have to just wait and see what happens as it wasn't an emergency. Carried on spotting over the weekend so got hospital referral on the Monday at the early pregnancy clinic who did the scan and found I had had a missed mc at about 7 weeks. Saw the nurse who said to go home see how it progressed and would have an erpc the following week.
Those days in between bleeding and in pain were awful. Once I got admitted to the hospital for the erpc things were better. As we were leaving they said as soon as we got a positive pregnancy test to go back for a reassurance scan which we did and was great.
When I started bleeding again a few weeks later we rang the hospital rather than the midwife and they said pack your bag and come straight in. Luckily the scan showed a heartbeat and I went on to have a healthy baby. The problem for me was the community midwife and their attitude that as it was under 12 weeks it didn't matter. When you are losing a child, emotional and in pain it does bloody matter!

[Monstamio]

Ironic timing but I had to add to my comments above. Today I have been contacted by a health visitor to arrange a visit ahead of "the birth"... of the baby I miscarried in November. Unbelievable.

[Monstamio]

Ironic timing but I had to add to my comments above. Today I have been contacted by a health visitor to arrange a visit ahead of "the birth"... of the baby I miscarried in November. Unbelievable.

[Monstamio]

Ironic timing but I had to add to my comments above. Today I have been contacted by a health visitor to arrange a visit ahead of "the birth"... of the baby I miscarried in November. Unbelievable.

[Monstamio]

whoops sorry... damn phone!

[StampyIsMyBoyfriend]

monstamio :(

Complain. Channel that anger.

I had similar when I had to have miscarriage bloods repeated, despite having the referral letter on screen right in front of her, the nurse asked how many weeks pregnant I was... My face said it all.

[squizita]

Nickdrakes Not only emotionally painful, but actually quite dangerous. Some 'normal' losses can actually be ectopics or molar pregnancies (very rare but also dangerous) so any woman under 12 weeks presenting with pain/bleeding should be scanned and seen. That is policy: for good reason. As a nation we have incredibly low death/infertility rates from ectopics and molars precisely because hospitals are cautious.

[TheRainDrops]

Despite my hospital having a reasonably good EPU set up I was left with precious little practical info when my MMC was discovered last November, I literally left the hospital with no info on what to expect at all, no info on who to call, what to do etc. It was rubbish.

I also echo what barking says about emotional support, especially for women dealing with infertility issues on top of the trauma that miscarriage brings to every woman. Counselling was not mentioned or offered by a single professional I spoke to.

[thatwhichwecallarose]

Completed.

One thing I didn't add was how alone I felt before my procedure. As it was on a female ward, there was no where my husband could wait with me. And we weren't told how long it would take so he was sat outside for about 10 hours.

[number27]

done, thank you mn for this. Miscarriage is just not thought of as anything significant sometimes, especially before 6 weeks.

[elliejjtiny]

I filled it in for my December 2011 miscarriage. It was handled so much better than my miscarriage in 2005.

[ClaireStA]

Done. I've had two miscarriages in the last year...and both so different physically and emotionally. As told, I referred to the last one but it all really brought home EVERY experience is different

[Coumarin]

Done. Although just realised I forgot to add to fairly important things. One was that they allowed my DH to stay long past the visiting times and let him stay by my ward bed whilst I was having 'the op'. They even brought him a cup of tea and some biscuits. That was the one good thing they did tbh.

Also forgot to say that I was kept in as my blood pressure was high and the next morning the Doctor brought a group of students with him on his rounds who stood there staring at me and taking notes whilst he asked me about my miscarriage. That was horrible.

Thank you for doing this.

[GoooRooo]

Done. I thought the care I had was excellent. I do think there is a lack of info on what to physically expect during a miscarriage though. The sonographer answered all my questions, e.g "will I see the fetus?", "how much will I bleed?", "how will I know if it's over", etc but I felt sorry for her with me grilling her through tears!