"Disappointing Maternity care"

I was 29 weeks and 4 days pregnant and went into premature labour which was misdiagnosed by the midwife that took my call. I would like to say that the three calls I made to the assessment unit were answered, as far as I am concerned, by midwives who did not do their job properly. And also the midwives that made me wait over two hours in the waiting room after I told them I was just under 30 weeks pregnant and felt like I was in labour need to be addressed and why they thought it was okay to make me wait that long before my baby’s heart beat was checked. The midwives in the labour ward after my daughter was born sleeping were amazing especially one midwife in particular she was very kind.

It began when I felt my baby girl move as usual in the morning and then started getting ready for work. I noticed a brown show and had slight period like cramps around 11. 30am so I phoned the maternity assessment unit straight away and they told me that everything seemed fine and if symptoms were to change I should call them back. I then called them around 7. 30pm told them that I felt like I was having contractions since 6. 50pm but I was unsure if they were Braxton Hicks. I was asked if my baby moved and I had felt her move as the contractions that I was having were not very painful at that time and I was told to take two paracetamols and a hot water bottle and lie in bed and call back in an hour and a half. I then called them after an hour as the pain got worse and was asked again if the baby was moving and I kept saying that I’m not sure anymore as the pain is too extreme. I was made to feel stupid on the phone for saying that I thought I was in labour. I had to say to the nurse on the phone that it was a school night and I didn’t want both my other children to be out of house or for myself to go to hospital if I didn’t need to. Only then they said to come in to get checked over. I got there at 10. 30ish pm and was made to wait for another two hours in the waiting room. There were no preliminary checks and the ward, to me, did not appear to be busy. There were nurses on their tea break which upset my husband as I was in pain waiting to be seen. I was then put on a bed at 12. 45am the following morning and still had to wait to be checked. At 1. 15am a midwife came over to check the baby’s heart beat and my contractions. When she did try to look for the heartbeat there was none. They scanned me and no heartbeat and then two doctors scanned and confirmed there was no heartbeat. I was 4cm dilated and then that’s when everything happened so fast and my baby was delivered at 2. 43am. Whether my baby would have survived if I had been told to come in after the 11. 30am call we will never know. I was in labour and had clear signs of it and being just under 30 weeks pregnant and already a mother of two I should have been taken seriously instead of being told to take two paracetamol and a hot water bottle.

The midwives that took care of me after my baby was born were amazing. They were very kind and one even cried with me. However, I really feel that the hospital needs to pay more attention and have enough staff and enough beds for patients in need. For the QEUH being a super hospital I think it is very poorly managed. I walked away from the hospital feeling that the medical staff I was treated by did not do their best. The midwives that took my calls on Tuesday  need to know they made a mistake diagnosing me. In my opinion they should have called me in to the hospital to get my baby checked over. And when I told the doctor at QEUH afterwards on Wednesday evening they said they couldn’t comment on another staff's advice and they also went and said that the movements I felt could have been passive movements and to add more pain to my already broken heart they claimed that my baby had died before labour. How could that be for certain? The doctor doesn’t know that and neither do I for certain when my baby passed away. I was in labour from 11. 30am and then the rest of Tuesday. I really need to know what made the midwives that took my call think I was not someone that needed to be seen straight away. And also when I got to the hospital why did they wait over 2 hours to check for my baby’s heartbeat. I’m so disappointed and appalled with the service.