"Upsetting experience at Early Pregnancy Unit"

In late August'16 I had to attend the EPU due to suspected missed miscarriage. I was 10 weeks pregnant however the embryo had stopped developing a few weeks earlier. My midwife booked me in, we attended early (8.15) for 9am as instructed, however we were totally ignored by nursing staff until the receptionist turned up at 9.30am. We were still ignored until a junior Dr spoke to us at 11.30am & we were told that we'd now missed the 10am scan time so that we were to come back in 2 days time. We returned 2 days later. We had a long wait for scan & then waited over 5 hours to see the nurse in the EPU for them to tell us more. The nurse practitioner in the EPU was bordering on rude, absolutely uncaring & totally unsympathetic in anyway. We were advised to come back in 2 weeks for a re-scan to confirm the missed miscarriage & we also agreed that we would have a medically induced miscarriage on that same morning on the EPU ward.

Well.....we returned, waited for the scan. I have to say the staff at the scanning clinic were amazing & very caring & kind. A total contrast to those staff we dealt with on the EPU! Following the scan we returned to the EPU at about 10.30am & waited until about 1.45pm before anyone spoke to us. We were put in a consultation room, not told anything, & then alarmed to find a consultant, a Dr, a Junior Dr, a med student & the nurse all pile into the room without explanation .

At this point we thought something far more serious must be wrong with me over & above missed miscarriage.

Consultant had wrong information & started relaying incorrect info. to me. The Dr had to put them right. We were asked to exit the room while they spoke. We then returned to the room to be told yes we'd had a missed miscarriage & to talk through options & to book me in for a D&C the following week. I explained that we had already booked in with the unit to have a medically managed miscarriage that day.....which they advised they didn't know if they had any room on the ward & that Id still probably have to come in for a D&C following that anyway. I insisted I didn't want a blind D&C as during previous fertility investigations it was found I had very thin uterus lining which a D&C would make worse.

Eventually they agreed & said they'd get me on the ward that afternoon & Id have to stay in for 2 hours following the medication.

4.30pm I was called through to the ward. 5.30pm I still hadn't been seen or given medication however despite being the bed furthest away from the nurses station we could clearly hear the nurses discussing my case & discussing keeping me in over night to give me the meds the following day. Bare in mind we'd been in the hospital since 8.30am! I naturally got upset at this, my partner, who is a Nurse practitioner at a different hospital, went to speak to the nurses & complained. I was eventually given the medication at 6.15pm. This experience & staff attitude at EPU was horrendous making a very upsetting experience 10 times worse.