Made to feel bad by NHS

[GlassHearts]

I am 27 weeks pregnant and in the last few hours I've been feeling really off, to the point where I almost lost consciousness (maybe I did no idea) my partner called 111 for advice as I was on the sofa unable to keep my eyes open, unable to move limbs and head, pale and clammy, blurry/sparkly vision, couldn't hear what was going on around me. 111 said they would send a paramedic. My partner said ok as he was really concerned. I came round and felt almost instantly better. The paramedic called to say they were 17 minutes out and wanted to speak to me, I told them my symptoms and that there had been 3/4 occurrences in the last hour. I said do I need a paramedic or can my partner just take me to out of hours etc. The paramedic said they wanted to come to me as if I had an episode in the car or it got worse in transit then that would be worse (nearest hospital is 34 minutes away, mostly motorway driving. I agreed to the paramedic attending. I could not get hold of my midwife at all and no facility to leave her a message. The paramedic checked me over and said I was fine and asked if I wanted to see a midwife. I agreed and said that would be a good idea. The paramedic then calls the day assessment unit at my hospital. I could hear every word of their conversation and they asked why on earth we called 999 for nothing, do I really need to be seen etc. I got a bit emotional at this point as i felt like a burden. This is my first pregnancy and I have never felt like this before. I'm probably just hormonal but I feel like a burden and has felt like I wasted everyone's time. Anyone out there experienced fainting episodes?

Why didn't you call mat triage. No is on front of your notes. They would always say come in

This happened to me. Just ignore them.

I agree, there should be a number on your notes. You need to get checked out.

Sounds like the day assessment ward are trying to keep their workload light today. You did the right thing. Just ignore. They should be more caring but many are not.

Why didn't 111 advise the op to check her notes and call mat triage.

You did the right thing op and need to be checked out. Ask to see a doctor when you get there.

Partner didn't know about the number on my notes and I wasn't really in a state of mind to tell him.

You definitely did the right thing. Fwiw in my first pregnancy I would probably have called 111 too, not mat triage. My notes didn't make clear what mat triage was or what the number was.
Hope things improve for you soon OP.

You can complain if you feel that you were mistreated. I did when I had a similar experience a few weeks ago. 28 weeks pregnant, under consultant care due to pre-eclampsia in my last pregnancy that was missed until I went into labour. I'd been given a list by the consultant of symptoms that I needed to seek immediate emergency help for should I get them, one of which was pain under the ribs. One night, I woke up to pain under the ribs, comming in waves. I tried to ignore it but couldnt sleep at all. In the end, I went downstairs, had a cup of tea and changed my position to see if it helped. After an hour of the pain getting worse I phoned the MAU as advised on the front of my notes. They told me to take an antacid and two paracetamol, but if it was still painful in an hour I needed to call back because i'd need to be seen. I did because it got worse. I called back - the midwife this time didnt take so much as my name, just told me that it was likely to be nothing. I told her the other midwife had said i'd need to be seen if it didn't go away and she told me to 'come in if I wanted' but the MAU wasnt going to be open for an hour and it was probably just trapped wind. I had previously described the pain as similar to the type of pain you get when you have trapped wind because I didnt know how else to describe the wave like pattern of the pain, but I made it clear that it was under my ribs, not in my tummy. I decided to go in because the pains were getting really bad. As I approached the desk, the midwife who i'd spoken to on the phonne walked up to another midwife and said 'Name, can you go and open the MAU, little miss precious over there has trapped wind' in a really sarcastic, unkind way. They exchanged smirks before the other midwife came over to escort me to MAU. She patronisingly asked if it was my first baby and 'now tell me about this trapped wind'. I told her it wasnt my first baby and I didnt have trapped wind.I was very curt, because I was in so much pain and I advised that she read my notes because she would find information about how I nearly died in my first pregnancy due to the pre-eclampsia being missed, that I'd had a nasty miscarriage at 13 weeks, and that the consultant had written in bold letters on my notes that I must seek help if I experienced certain symptoms - one of which was severe pain under the ribs. She did and then, suddenly, everyone was very apologetic. Long story short - I was admitted to hospital once I started throwing up all over the exam room and couldnt stop. The pain was agonising but the baby was okay and that was the most important thing, I saw my consultant a few days later and she insisted on putting in a formal complaint. Sometimes, people just need to be kind. There is never an excuse for being rude to people who are vulnerable and scared.

I had this in at least two pregnancies, possibly all three. In my case it was caused by low blood pressure. You feel better when feeling so bloody ill causes you to sit or lie still long enough that your bp stabilises. First time it happened to me in my first pregnancy was at about 25 weeks.
What was your bp when the paramedics took it?

You did the right thing OP.

I was made to feel awful more than once by the EPU at my local hospital. I was so upset.

Your husband and you both made the right call.

I got norovirus back in November and both my husband, 111, the doctor that called me and my nurse sister said I needed to go to urgent care as I was badly dehydrated. Firstly I will say that once I saw a consultant absolutely everyone was amazing and caring but the admittance nurse was not so great, he said 'oh they always tell you to come in' and I explained that I only came as I was 17 weeks pregnant and if it was just me I would have stayed at home but it's not just me. His comment really pissed me off but otherwise had amazing care!

I can't believe how many of you have had bad treatment by epu or NHS :(

My mat triage is open 24/7 and they take all issues seriously

When I rang saying I couldn't feel baby kick and hadn't for a while. She asked gently why I hadn't called them earlier and said to go in asap to them

And when I have my HOSP no it obv flagged on their System that I'm high risk and another reason to come in asap and be checked

I'm glad Blondes. I'll never forget the first community midwife who visited me after the birth. I said "ahem, I'll dis uss pelvic floor exercises in a day or two thank you". And she held her right elbow in her left hand and waggled her rigt hand and arm vigorously backwards and forwards saying "if you don't do da excercises yer man will say dat sex feels like dis". Can't quite do the creolean accent on writing.

It stayed with me for years and if it hadn't been my first baby she'd have been invited to get out.

I wouldn't feel awful if I was you, I'm sure they have had people call them out for less. Today's news, tomorrow's chip paper and all that!

Sorry op. I had a very similar experience. Then towards the end of my pregnancy I felt ds was very "wedged in", like he was stuck. Concerns dismissed. Went into labour at 40+4. Contractions every 2 mins and agony. Went into hospital to be told wasn't dilating and sent home. Contractions continued for 4 days before anyone would take me seriously. At which point they went "oops yes, he is stuck". He'd got extremely distressed by that point and had to have an EMCS. Patronising wankers thought I was just a hysterical first time mother complaining about nothing.

Arseholes.

I just went into hospital this evening for a late term scan (I am 40+6) because I was afraid baby had suddenly flipped around to breech or transverse or something (my older dc ended up an emcs because nobody caught him flipping sideways until it was too late). I got paranoid, and the midwife wasn't able to 100% guarantee his position, so she sent me in for a scan.

Everyone treated me with kindness and respect. Although I felt a bit silly/paranoid, nobody told me off for wasting resources or anything like that. It was important for them to (a) confirm baby's position at this late stage and (b) calm my fears.

I'm sorry you were mistreated. Being pregnant can be a scary time, and HCPs need to remember that.

Hey glasshearts first of all I'm really glad to hear you're ok. Secondly I'm embarrassed on behalf of the Nhs. I don't work in maternity or obstetrics but it all boils down to the same thing; poor communication. It's not difficult to be empathetic or simply be nice. You may have been the 100 person they had seen with that problem, but to you it was the first time, it was scary and that's what matters. I would contact the PALS team because only when poor care is flagged up can it be addressed. I wish you smooth sailing from here on out hunni xxx

I had an awful experience, I had severe HG in my first pregnancy - I couldn't even swallow my spit without immediately throwing it back up. I ended up in hospital for 4 days on drips, and eventually culminated in losing my baby at 14 weeks. The nurse that booked me in was so nasty and disrespectful, making snide comments about how I was just being sick and my GP could have given me an injection. I couldn't walk, my mum and sister were carrying me through to A&E at this point. I wish I'd done something about it at the time, and really regret not making a formal complaint, but I was just too ill to care. You should definitely make a complaint, no one should be made to feel awful for wanting to be well.