Urgent advice needed-also medical info

[horseshoe]

Hi ladies.

I haven't posted for a while and so sorry for the long one here.

Im now 23 weeks pregnant. At 12+4 I had a scan....all was well but that afternoon I had a rupture of membranes and bleeding. I went to the hospital and was told possible m/c or maybe a UTI and they took swabs telling me the results would be faxed to my GP in 3 days. 4 days later, no response so i called the hospital and they said they had no record of my meeting and swabs etc. I was in pain and scared so called my GP and discussed situation with receptionist who said to go straight in. When I got to the GP's, the receptionsist was waiting for me with a prescription for Trimethoprim-Sulfa 5mg. She said she had spoken to doctor, explained situation and there you go.

Anyway I always read the label and it said studies had not been done in pregnant omen but rats had been shown to have birth defects. I was worried and didn't take the antibiotics for 2 days but then the fear of m/c because of a UTI became too strong and I took them. 4 days later the bleeding was still heavy and I went back to the hospital where they found my results that should have been sent to the GP's in my file. They were all clear. I saw a consultant and showed the antiobiotic and he said my gp should not have given me anything unless he was 100% sure of the UTI being present. Anyway another scan showed all was well and I went on my merry way!!!

any way carried on bleeding until week 17 when it all stopped. Baby was kicking like mad etc.
Yesterday I had my scan to revel the babys right arm had amputated in the womb. Now I know this can happen if the baby was to punch outside the uterus wall which then heals and cuts off blood supply...which kind of would fit in with the bleeding but surely someone would have seen something on the scan???

My other theory is the antibiotics are to blame.

Now I know nothing can change this and my baby is very much loved whether she has 6 arms or 1. but I cant help thinking i should try and pursue the risk that these antibiotics could be to blame and i should try and get them stopped if they are.

oh horseshoe - what a trial you have been through - no advice, but bump for you

OMG, I don't know what to say. Have no experience of medical negligence cases, but I can only offer huge sympathy for what must have been a shock. Personally, yes, I would try to pursue a case against your GP. It sounds as if you have been a victim of a great deal of negligence, whether or not that has anything to do with your baby's arm.

Horseshoe, I'm so sorry to hear that you have gone through all of this. It does sound like you may have a point but I am afraid I don't know how you would take this up. Really wish you well though.

Oh Horseshoe - That must have been quite a shock!

I'm afraid No drugs are tested on pregnant women!! I mean, who would volunteer to be a guinea pig whilst pregnant????

I was given at least 6 courses of Ant-B's to take during pregnany whilst the results to confirm UTI's were pending. My dd now has discolouration of her teeth which I am putting down to that. 4 out of the 6 times the urine samples came back clear!

This is so trivial though compared to your baby's arm.

However, its all about weighing up risks. I was told to take these antibiotics as UTI's can trigger premature labour. So it was the tiny risk of taking the drugs compared with the much greater risk of giving birth at 23 wks.

Yes you should ut in a complaint, your gp should not have prscirbed anti biotics without test results. You have been messed about by the hospital and gp. if you dont complain this could happen again to someone else. Even if it was not the antibiotics that caused your babys arm to amputate you were still kept waiting for test result and so on. Sorry to here of all this.

Jane - I was given drugs 6 times without test results! At least one of the times I would have gone into labour (at 23wks) had I waited the 3 days for the results before starting the Ant'Bs though!

Surely its all about weighing up the risks?

I don't know if this helps but it sounds like an amniotic band may have caused the amputation- here's a link www.womens-health.co.uk/amniotic.asp
It's where a little bit of the membrane that surrounds the baby (the amnion) wraps itself around the baby's limb and can cause amputation.

My thoughts are with you. It sounds like you have been really messed around by the Docs.

With the greatest respect I think you should go and discuss this with your own doctor.

This is a terribly terribly upsetting thing to have happened, but FWIW I do not think it has been caused by a prescription of antibiotics. I am a GP and there are many circumstances when it is entirely appropriate to prescribe medication whilst awaiting test results. One poster mentioned an example in a thread above.

I hope everything goes well for you in the rest of your pregnancy

Best wishes

hi horseshoe im not sure what to say that will help you as i dont think that the a'b's would have caused your babys arm to amputate
however the a'b's that you were prescribed are NOT safe to take during pregnancy and you should defo put a complaint in about that. the reason i know this is im 26weeks pg and i was prescibed trimethoprim for a uti early on in this pg. i asked my pharmacist if they were safe and he very forcefully said 'NO'. i was then given CEFALEXIN for the uti which are safe to take by another more qualified doctor. i would contact your local womens hospital/ antenatal hospital suite and have these a'b's changed-are you taking them at the mo??
im really sorry that you are having to go through this awful experience and i would defo get a second opinion re your baby's arm.

Thank you everyone for your kind words of support. Well, I looked up the ABS as recomended. Amniotic bound Syndrome which I think will probably be the explanation. It affects 1:1200 pregnancys and is basically where the outer membranes rupture leaving the inner ones intact. But little string like things end up floating in the amniotic fluid and can wrap around limbs causing webbing, amputation etc.
This would explain the sudden water loss I had but showing all intact on scan.

I'm hoping that is it and my little one will remain safe for the rest of her time in the womb.