"Accident & Emergency Early Pregnancy Loss"

We were asked by the local maternity triage team to attend A&E to confirm an early pregnancy loss. 

After being passed through a number of people, and being told we were waiting to see a doctor who had all the notes, the doctor opened the interaction by congratulating us. We then had to explain we were there to confirm an early miscarriage. 

During the time we were there, I had to get bloods taken twice as the lab refused the first set. This happened to almost every patient on the ward and the nurses were continuously apologising to patients. They also misplaced the results of my first urine sample, as the doctor said they couldn’t find it (the nurse advised they had given it to the doctor), so I had to do this again as well.

When the doctor eventually came back with results of the second blood test, they told me my results were normal and they were discharging me as I wasn’t pregnant. I tried to explain that I had been bleeding following getting positive pregnancy tests for almost a week (6 tests, 3 different brands - all positive), and they just dismissed me.

The doctor told me to get in touch with the Early Pregnancy Unit (who had initially told me to go to A&E). In my experience,  this system does not work and frankly having that experience while confirming a miscarriage was horrendous and traumatising. 

You could see the corridors lined with beds, and the staff didn’t know whether they were coming or going. I had to travel 1.5 hours to attend an A&E where all they did was take a blood and urine sample which I did not need to attend A&E for. This being a result of maternity triage system is particularly ineffective and is just another example of poor health care for women.