"Antenatal care poor so far"

I am currently 16 weeks pregnant and have had just 4 encounters with the various antenatal services. Sadly, I am already inclined to leave poor feedback.

The midwife who conducted my booking didn’t pick up on a very important gynae risk factor which could lead to late miscarriage or spontaneous preterm labour. When I questioned the midwife about the protocol for scans, the midwife clearly didn’t know and told me I’d have to self refer after 20 weeks. I know this to be innacruate and potentially, for some women, too late. The midwife also couldn’t differentiate between a medical and a surgical termination which I found staggering.

My Nuchal scan at QE2 was great and most staff friendly and polite, aside from a grumpy receptionist.

When I self referred to see a consultant at 14 weeks to discuss my gynae issues, I was given a quick appointment. However, the wait to see the consultant was long and I ended up seeing a Reg. I understand wait times are long but the Reg didn’t introduce themself and I was forced to ask their position. The Reg only offered me serial scans because I insisted I wanted them for reassurance, having spoken to at least 5 other obstetric registrars regarding my issues who all agreed that I should have these scans performed.

Booking the scans became another issue, the ultrasound admin staff at Hertford County are disorganised and won’t let you have input into which days/times are suitable for you. You have to tell the desk clerk what you need, they then relays to a colleague in a back office who books the appointments. My anomaly scan was changed without my consent and I was provided with 3 serial scan appointments, all of which I told the clerk immediately I couldn’t attend due to other commitments. When I called to change a few days later, the clerk was incredibly rude and patronising and insinuated that I wasn’t taking the situation seriously enough if I didn’t attend appointments they had made for me without any discussion around suitability.

I have since received a letter telling me that two very important virology bloods were not taken during my booking appointment and it’s now my responsibility to get these bloods retaken.

I am disgusted by the lack of care and attention at such an early stage of my pregnancy. Were I not in the profession myself, perhaps I would accept much of the information given to me as gospel, despite it being incorrect and potentially of very serious consequence. I am saddened, as a midwife who makes it her every effort to ensure mistakes do not happen for her own clients, that I have had so far such a poor experience of the antenatal services on offer by Lister’s maternity services.

If the rest of my care continues to be this poor I will be forced to transfer my care out of area and will actively dissuade friends, family and colleagues from seeking their care within East & North Herts.