"Ectopic pregnancy - It really felt like I wasn't believed"

I had an ectopic pregnancy when I was approx 7 weeks pregnant. I experienced worsening pain and bleeding throughout the day resulting in me calling the maternity hospital (Rubislaw ward) on 5 separate occasions. On each phone call; I was felt to be a nuisance and not reassured. As the pain worsened, I was describing sharp pain in one side and pain radiating down my leg. I was advised to either wait 2 days for a scan appointment, or eventually on the fifth call, if I wasn’t managing the pain, to make my way to hospital.

On attendance at hospital, a doctor advised the pain was symptomatic of an ectopic pregnancy, yet I wasn’t provided an ultrasound until 10h after my admission. All of my symptoms were symptomatic of a ectopic pregnancy yet I felt no one even considered this to be an option. The scan confirmed I had a ruptured fallopian tube and required emergency surgery.

Of course everything happened quite quickly from then however; in the period of initial symptoms to diagnosis; I was left with little observations or support for what could have been a life threatening condition. Only after confirming it was ectopic they said I needed to be seen and observed every 15 minutes. It really felt like I wasn’t believed and that alone makes the prospect of a future pregnancy terrifying.