"Sad story, made worse by poor medical managment"

I was pregnant with my son last year. Having had my last child at 24 weeks, I expected a high level of surveillance in this pregnancy. Effectively what I got was poor management by some staff, and at times felt that they were biting off more than they could chew instead of signposting me to more experienced staff. I feel like I had to beg for every bit of intervention that I got, from getting cervical length scans started early, till advocating for a cerclage when I presented at A&E and they told me it was most likely a UTI when in fact it was not. Begged for a cervical length scan a week after Cerclage and was refused point blank. The staff member was just horrible and I feel had little to no respect for me, and seemed to be more worried about my husband.

I presented to MFAU one morning as I was sure I was in labour at 21 week, I was told no and sent on my way but felt I wasn't being listened to, I had returned a few hours later quite clearly in labour. The staff member that I saw earlier in my pregnancy was on duty that night and was asking for medication that’s not even used within the NHS to stop contractions, started telling me that they use them in USA, this was bizarre thing to do and was so upsetting as it gave me so much false hope in an already very heightened situation.

Ultimately I ended up losing my son a few days later, now the care I received from the midwives was second to none they are exceptional at their jobs, and it's clear to me that they carry the load in the maternity Unit alongside the HCA’s. Some of them helped me so much and supported myself and family so much and treated my son with the upmost respect & Dignity.

Then followed my “review”, the absolute cherry on top of the most horrendous ordeal of my life, firstly having to sit in the waiting room for nearly an hour that I last sat in a few weeks previous still pregnant, with no support from bereavement. I was then brought to a staff member who I’d never seen before and they started talking about another issue completely unrelated to the loss of my son, ignoring the massive green folder on the table. I had to ask if they know why I was there and told them to look at the folder, they were taken aback and completely not prepared for this, and asked if I would like the the staff member I saw throughout this to come in and talk to me, which I said obviously. In comes the same staff member I had seen a few times previously. They said they didn’t remember me when I started asking questions, and didn't answer the questions I asked. They weren't aware of things you would think they should be aware of - 1, Signposting to Pre-term clinic in RVH. 2, Up to date guidelines and studies in the management of women with my condition.

They of course again had mentioned my husband again numerous times, to which I said can you please talk to me about me, as my husband wasn't with me. This was a shambles of an appointment it really annoyed me so much, they said they would ring me the next day with updates, I'm still waiting on the call 8 months later.

They did send me to a consultant midwife as apparently they felt I I was better speaking to them. The consultant midwife was a great help to me and was very proactive in helping.