"Disappointing experience in maternity scanning"

I attended the maternity scanning department at Wishaw General Hospital for my 12-week early pregnancy scan. At this appointment there were a number of disappointing elements, which left me feeling let down by the service. 

On arrival I checked in at the reception desk and was asked to wait. I was attending with my husband and son, as my son had been unexpectedly sent home from nursery ill and we had no alternative childcare. 

After 25-30 minutes of waiting in the reception area, I enquired about when I would be seen as several other people had been taken before me. I was asked to wait and I would be seen "soon". A few minutes later a sonographer called me through to the appointment. From the outset I was disappointed by the attitude of the sonographer, who announced loudly to the whole waiting room that "he" referring to my son would not be allowed into the scan room and therefore my husband would be unable to be present for my scan. None of this information had been conveyed in advance of the appointment, and therefore I was unprepared for this eventuality. I was then made to feel like a burden, with the sonographer stating I was not checked in at reception and we only have 10 minutes to get the measurements, he will be a distraction for us both. This was contrary to many of my appointments during my previous pregnancy where if measurements proved difficult or needed to be repeated the appropriate time and care was taken to achieve this. Also placing the blame for not being appropriately checked in by the receptionist at my feet with no recognition of how this might have affected me. 

When in the room, the scan was performed adequately, although I would not feel that the communication I experienced with the sonographer was friendly or reassuring. At the end of the scan, the sonographer did allow my husband and son to come in to the room for a short time, but seemed to be keen for us to be away. 

We then began to discuss the arrangements for my next scan (the 20-week fetal anomaly scan). At this point I found that the appointment became very distressing. I shared with the sonographer that my sister had recently suffered a still birth due to Edwards syndrome which had not been picked up until the 20-week scan, therefore I was under the understanding that my midwife had placed a request for my 20-week scan to be considered a high risk scan. At that point the response I received shocked me with the lack of empathy and frankly unprofessional comments made, these included:

Midwives don't know anything about scans, I didn't qualify for a high risk scan, and this staff member wished they wouldn't tell patients that they are requesting it. Edwards syndrome is fairly obvious and this sonographer could pick it up at 12 weeks, if it wasn't picked up till 20 weeks in my sister there must have been some poor practice on their part. My baby looked fine, I don't need to worry, they would tell me if there was something wrong.

I feel that these comments, along with others made were very poor. Especially giving me reassurance that everything was fine, there is clearly a reason why 20-weeks is chosen as the time point for fetal anomaly scanning, as many anomalies cannot be adequately and reliably detected prior to that point. Also criticising another professional group so blatantly was really disappointing to hear. This was made even worse by the clear lack of empathy and understanding of the information I was sharing with the sonographer. Baby loss is a very difficult and emotive subject, and indeed I had been experiencing significant anxiety around my pregnancy due to the recent experiences in my family, all of which I felt were disregarded which was very upsetting. 

I feel some small improvements could make the service much better including; improving pre-appointment information to let patient know that children are not welcome in the scanning room, considered some training in empathy, especially when discussing baby loss and other emotive subjects and recognising the importance of saying sorry at the time something goes wrong, and not transferring the blame to the patient.