11 weeks prg heavy bleeding EPU cannot scan me for another 8 days!

[jeeez]

Can't believe it. Spent 3 hrs in A&E this morning, was told EPU will call me with scan appt (stupidly assumed today or tomorrow latest). Just got a phone call from Dr at EPU who said no slots available until 11/8/09.

Bleeding started on Sat eve, bright red blood and heavy, eased yesterday and blood was darker, this morning its just spotting which is good. When i called midwife this morning was told to go straight to A&E.

Has anyone ever had to wait this long for scan with heavy bleeding??

sorry i haven't, but wondered if you could go privately?

No, and that is completely unacceptable - if they can't scan you in that timescale, then they should refer you to another hospital who can /or pay for a private scan. Get your GP and mw to kick up a fuss and pressure them to scan you earlier, and if they still say they can't, then complain via PALS.

Which hospital was this ?

Try to go privately to put your mind at ease. I had 2 early scans because of bleeding and all was fine. Everyone's situation is different, of course, though. I would bleed (quite a bit and bright red) after running/vigorous exercise or after intercourse. Did you do either of those things by any chance?

Had the same when I bled with dd2 at 9 weeks (and had 2 m/c before her) no scan for 9 days I ended up paying privately (£50 but peace of mind) whereabouts are you?

Jeez I was the same, have had previous MC, started bleeding heavily with clots at 7 weeks, they weren't going to scan me at EPU at 4 different hospitals for a week. I ended up going to A&E and was scanned in the Gynae department (had to also have a load of tests for STI's and god knows what else while there, but they did eventually scan me)

Everything was fine BTW. Hope you manage to get something sorted.

Cant afford to go private. I remember having a lighter bleed in my last pregnancy it was a Friday afternoon and my midwife got me an appt for a scan the following monday morning. Im in the west midlands and booked into Sandwell General. While I was waiting to be seen a pregnant lady was brought in via ambulance and she had to wait with everyone else . It is a truly awful place.

The bleeding has eased so for that I am grateful but the Dr at A&E recorded the diagnosis as threatned miscarriage. I will see how I go, if bleeding returns I will demand scan in A&E.

so sorry to hear that jeez. But good that bleeding has eased.
I would still demand a scan in the A&E sooner just to put your mind at ease.

Thats unbelievable, I would get your gp/mw onto them! Also a private scan might not cost as much as you think. Our local clinic does reassurance scans up to 12 weeks for £50.

Oh Jeeez that's awful.
No I haven't had to wait that long. I called EPAU directly in tears and they got me in within 48 hours both times.
Good luck to you

Jeez thats bloody terrible.

Could you ask to be refered to Russells Hall ?

I went to my Dr this morning and she arranged a scan for tomorrow because of a bit of spotting, i'm 6w.

RHH have been wonderful when i have needed them, if Sandwell and as uselsss as they sound maybe your etter off not using them anyway.

8 days is completly and utterly unacceptable.

I am 15 weeks +2 and had a bleed over the weekend. I phoned midwife this morning and got an appointment at lunchtime which is how it should be. I really feel for you having to wait so long.

Your bleed sounds similar to mine and lukily everything is OK. Take it nice and easy and good luck.

Poor you, I had bleeding this time at 16+ weeks and was upset I had to wait till the next day for a scan! Their reasoning was that nothing could be done to "save" the baby if I was miscarrying, but all the same I spent a night not knowing one way or the other.

The one thing I insisted on was a physical exam to see if my cervix was open - it wasn't, so at least I knew a mc wasn't inevitable. But I know from previous experience that if I'd gone on to mc at 16 weeks I would've needed hospital treatment, so I couldn't understand why not just sort things out now?

Also shocked that you are dealing with an EPU - at least my hospital had the excuse of not having an EPU.

My bleeding was very heavy and bright red but due to some ruptured blood vessels, so nothing to do with the baby. Have you had any pain?

I hope you get positive news.

My experience was the same as the OP's. Had a huge bleed over the weekend and could not get to talk to anybody, phoned midwife on the Monday and she sent me to A&E, I was there for hours they took blood and did a pg test but refused to scan me.
My Hospital (Birmingham Heartlands) does not have an EPU at all. And they would not book me in for a scan as I was due my 12 week one the next week and that would be sooner than they could fit me in anyway.

Just so you know I went on to have 3 more bleeds, they were just as helpful with those but I am now 20 weeks and everything is fine and bubs is a big wiggler which reasures me everytime.

Thanks everyone, will call GP tomorow and see if he can help. Won't bother with midwife as I never even got to speak to her this morning couldn't get past the receptionist who insisted i go straight to A&E.

Worzselmummage, I'm seriously thinking of changing to Russells Hall it's much further away but I drive (not very well crashed the car last week) and if the care is better it will be worth it. I have 3 DC and i had them all at Sandwell, luckly all the pregnancies were straightforward so did not experience any need for emergency treatment.

Im still spotting dark brown blood and have mild back pain with occassional abdominal cramps, kids are being great and DH should be home soon.

Thanks again.

Hi Jeeez - just wondering how you got on?

quick update, spoke to my best friend about what was happening and she got straight on to the phone to her sis who is a sonographer (i had forgotten), her sis was fantastic managed to fit me in for a scan today, everything was fine strong heartbeat and saw the baby making lots of movements. She showed me a small pool of blood in placenta and said bleed could have come from that everything else looked as it should be. Im very relieved to say the least.

Thanks for your support everyone.

Thank goodness for that jeeez - would still put in a comment via PALS as that was a totally ridiculous length of time to expect you to wait (stressing all the while) to find out if your baby was ok. Lunacy!

I was 18 weeks pg last year when my mum died and hadn't felt the baby move or anything for 5 days, so went to my maternity unit on the off-chance and they just used the sonicator heart beat checker thing so that I knew the baby was still alive - that was all I needed to be reassured and they were happy to do it, I only waited about 20 minutes. THAT'S the sort of service one should expect - your treatment barely qualifies. for you. but glad you are ok now.

jeeez that's fantastic news what a relief!

Great news Jeeez - really pleased for you

jeeez - where abouts are you?

I had a threatened miscarriage 1 week ago - heavy bleeding and very large clots. I had a scan the following day and all was fine - baby was the right size with a strong heartbeat. They couldn’t find the reason for the bleed but they could still see a tiny amount of blood up there which was quite a way away from the baby. I’m still spotting 7 days on with a little bit of cramping. The spotting goes from red to brown and back to red again. Has anyone else had an experience like this? How long is the bleeding supposed to last?