A mother, who had already lost a child, has described how Bedford Hospital left her feeling “bottom of the barrel” and “insignificant” when suffering a miscarriage.
The mother of one, who wishes to remain anonymous, started to miscarry just eight days after discovering she was pregnant.
She told the Bedford Independent the hospital would not scan her for another 13 days, due to a procedure regarding early pregnancy scans.
She says they told her, “we’ve [Bedford Hospital] got a procedure where we don’t actually do scans or see ladies until three weeks after their positive pregnancy test.”
She said: “I know how it made me feel – bottom of the barrel and insignificant. If that’s their procedure, that’s how they make lots and lots of women feel. And, actually, when you’re going through that, it doesn’t matter how early you are, its devastating.
Previous complaint
“They don’t know each woman’s story and mine is obviously I’ve had infant loss and now I’ve experienced very early pregnancy loss and they’re both hurtful. It doesn’t matter. Any loss is still hurtful.”
She previously put in a complaint about Bedford Maternity Unit after her second son passed away in 2019 at just six-weeks old.
She described issues around the fact that she wasn’t scanned when she was referred to a consultant for a scan. Although a scan wouldn’t have changed the outcome, she said they may have had “some level of warning” that something was wrong.
There were also issues around the way she found out about complications with her baby.
Risk of miscarriage
Following this loss, she was diagnosed with a health condition, which put a stop on trying to get pregnant for a while.
Then, in March this year, her consultant gave her the go ahead to try again.
But, five months later, on 3 August, the consultant called to say she had been monitoring her health and it was no longer a good time to get pregnant.
Consequently, the couple decided to put a hold on trying for a while.
However, the next day 4 August, she discovered she was already pregnant (2 days before her deceased second sons 2nd birthday).
She said:” It was really crazy, and it just felt completely meant to be.”
She notified her consultant of the pregnancy and was immediately put back on medication.
“The fact that I was pregnant, in the position I was in, did make me higher risk. So, I had in my mind potentially I could have a miscarriage. I knew that,” she said.
Made to wait
Due to her previous negative experience with Bedford maternity unit, she planned to give birth at Milton Keynes hospital. She had a “lovely” bereavement midwife in place at Milton Keynes who works with Mums that have lost babies.
Then on 12 August, just eight days after discovering she was pregnant, she started to bleed.
She called Milton Keynes early pregnancy unit and was told they could see her five days later on Tuesday 17 August and that, if the bleeding got worse, to go to A&E.
They told her they didn’t want her bleeding heavily at home. They also said they’d call if there was a cancellation.
At that point, the 17 August felt like a long way away, but she said thought “ok, fair enough, they’ve got people that they need to see.”
She acknowledged that, “obviously any wait in itself isn’t nice but there’s always going to be some level of wait.”
Later that day the bleeding worsened so she tried to get a scan at Bedford Hospital.
She went to A&E, who sent her to Urgent Treatment Care (UTC). The UTC said they wouldn’t scan her but would refer her to the early pregnancy unit who would call her.
She came away feeling like all of this could have been done over the phone.
The early pregnancy unit didn’t call until the next day, 13 August. They asked the date of her positive pregnancy test. When she told them it was 4 August, they reportedly said: “you’re really early. So, we won’t be able to see you until 26th.”
She said: “They probably had earlier slots but, because of their procedure, didn’t book me in until the 26th, Which is disgusting to me. I just can’t actually believe that they would offer that as an appointment. That’s actually your procedure – You are going to make me wait even if you’ve got 10 slots free!”
Dealing with miscarriage alone
When we spoke on 18 August, she told the Bedford Independent her bleeding had more or less stopped and questioned what they would actually be seeing her for by the 26th. “What do you even expect to be there? There’s going to be nothing there [on the scan by the 26th]. You’ve just left the woman at home to deal with that entire situation on her own,” she said.
“If you’re not three weeks after your positive pregnancy test, it just doesn’t matter.”
In the end, she was seen on Friday 13 August, at Luton hospital as they are a self-referral unit. She said staff at Luton told her: “if you are ever in this position again, just call us because we’re self-referral and we always aim to see women within 48 hours.”
The only benefit she could give Bedford Hospital was that, she didn’t tell them over the phone about her previous loss. She didn’t want to feel she had to use that to be seen quicker than other women.
She said it shouldn’t be like, “Oh, I’ve lost a baby before, see me quicker.” She also felt it wouldn’t have made a difference, “because, if that’s their procedure, that’s their procedure.” She added: “It shouldn’t be like that. Every woman shouldn’t have to wait that long, it’s not fair.”
Hospital response
Bedford Hospital cannot comment on individual cases to preserve confidentiality.
However, Chief Nurse at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Liz Lees, said: “We are incredibly sorry to hear of this patient’s loss at such a distressing time, which we know is extremely difficult for any person to go through.
”I can confirm there is no policy that restricts us seeing pregnant women in their first weeks of pregnancy. We do every day when required as part of normal practice.
“We make a clinical decision based on the symptoms described on the referral or by the patient. We also try to balance the clinical and psychological needs of the patient. Ensuring the scan is done at the correct time in the early pregnancy is very important to not cause further stress”.
Liz said the hospital were “concerned” to hear of the experience described in this case, as it is not congruent to their policy.
She urged the patient to contact the Trust so they can thoroughly investigate the matter.
She said they were however, “pleased to learn that this patient was seen at the EPAU at our Luton and Dunstable Hospital site.”
CQC report
This comes after a June inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) deemed Bedford Maternity Unit as ‘improving’.
The CQC initially conducted a surprise inspection in November 2020, after 14 whistle-blowers raised concerns. The unit was subsequently rated ‘inadequate’.
The November report said it had not improved since 2018 when improvement notices were first issued.
In April 2019, the top maternity team from Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust were brought before Bedford Borough Council’s health overview and scrutiny committee to explain what was happening.
Since then, changes have been made, leading to the ‘improving’ rating. A new top team were brought in, including Emma Hardwick, as trust director of midwifery, Tara Pauley, as Bedford’s head of midwifery, and chief nurse Liz Lees.
Reading about the improvements is what prompted the mother, featured in this article, to contact the Bedford Independent. She said: “I don’t know what improvements they’re able to show to an inspector that goes round. I just felt angry and felt people should know what really goes on.”
Tommy’s Baby Charity
During our investigation, the Bedford Independent also spoke to Tommy’s the baby charity.
They also cannot comment on individual hospitals or cases, but they gave us a wider understanding of how this kind of experience can affect women.
Tommy’s Midwifery Manager said: “It is not common for a woman to have to wait for three weeks before having a scan, many units do aim to see a woman within about 72 hours.
“Each hospital does have a different policy as to what gestation they can scan, however the earliest is usually six weeks.
Therefore, before this time, if a woman is clinically stable (i.e., bleeding is not heavy, and they are not in pain) then a scan would normally be offered after 6 weeks.
“There is disparity between different Early Pregnancy Units as to the service that is offered, for example how early they see women, how accessible their service is etc.”
She said that for anyone bleeding in pregnancy, it is a time of high anxiety. The uncertainty is often very emotional. Waiting a long time for an answer and the outcome of the pregnancy is extremely difficult and distressing.
However, she pointed out that, if a scan is performed earlier than six weeks, the outcome can be uncertain. This, in turn can increase anxiety and stress and there may be additional waiting for further investigations.
Change for other women
Tommy’s were unable to say what they would expect a wait time to be in this kind of instance.
However, they said: “Pregnant people should be assessed on an individual basis considering both their physical and emotional needs. If it is not clinically appropriate to offer a scan at that time, the woman should still feel listened to and offered emotional support, plus given information about the next steps.”
They also said: “Grief is complex and personal, and there is not one way or approach which is right, so we advocate healthcare professionals taking a personal approach to giving support to families going through loss.”
Tommy’s said that for some women suffering miscarriage in early pregnancy, “seeing the baby on the scan is validation by a professional that they were pregnant in the first place and gives an identity to the baby that they are losing, and this helps to grieve.”
However, for other people, seeing the baby can be traumatic and they prefer not to do this.
Miscarriage can have a huge impact on people. Tommy’s previously published a study showing that, one month after miscarrying, approximately one in four women met the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The Midwife Manager said: “Women and their partners should be offered comprehensive emotional support following a loss, no matter when it occurs.”
Sadly, the mother featured in this article has said she will not be proceeding with another pregnancy. However, she hopes there is “some level of change for women in the future.”
Further reading:
- Maternity Services improve at Bedford Hospital since last inspection was ‘inadequate’
- Maternity chiefs set for grilling following Bedford Hospital ‘inadequate’ rating
- After damning CQC report, Bedford Hospital appoints new Director and Head of Midwifery
- National midwife shortage is major factor in ‘inadequate’ maternity dept at Bedford Hospital
