"I felt respected, heard and safe at all times"

I was experiencing bleeding at 12 weeks and spoke a few times with the maternity triage team who were all patient and helpful, giving me advice and phoning me back with more information. Sadly, during the night, I had a miscarriage and came into the labour ward at the RAH.

During the whole process I was reassured but kept fully informed of my options. All nurses, midwives, doctors and consultants I met with were the perfect blend of empathetic and realistic about what was happening. I made my own choices on my care at all times, feeling supported in my decisions.

As I had a partially retained placenta, initially I had misoprostol, but this didn’t have much of an effect. I had a scan to determine if I could have an MVA under local anesthesia or a D&C under general anesthesia. I decided to have the MVA, with no anesthetic but with oral pain relief and gas and air. It was very manageable with this and I have had no discomfort since.

Again, this was my choice after hearing all options and asking lots of questions. Pauline also reminded me that I could say stop at anytime during any procedure and she would stop immediately. This provided so much comfort to me.

I would especially like to thank Pauline and Debbie. Thank you, you made it as easy as it could be, and I felt respected, heard and safe at all times.