Writings by me

A damning report about maternity services at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust has been published. The report found that a devastating 201 babies and 9 mothers could have been saved if their care had been of a better quality. The devastation of some of the things that have happened to women and their babies at these trusts are quite simply unbelievable.

“Not all trusts,” I wish we could say. I wish we could think of the tragedies at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust as a one-off; a bad apple in an otherwise excellent maternity healthcare service. However, statistics have shown that only approximately 1% (!!!) of maternity services in the UK have been rated outstanding. Following the release of the report, other families continue to come forward with their own experiences and there is a current ongoing campaign to lobby Ockenden to perform a review of other trusts including Nottinghamshire University Hospitals Healthcare Trust.

When I think back on my own experience, I feel flickers of uneasiness. The things I’m talking about pale in significance compared to the experiences of women that are coming to light. Both me and my baby came home; many didn’t.

However the care was…questionable at times:

1. During early pregnancy with my second, I suffered an ectopic pregnancy at the same time (as I think I’ve shared here before). Despite displaying symptoms corresponding with an ectopic pregnancy, the fact I was also pregnant in the womb, meant diagnosis of this didn’t happen until I could hardly walk and my temperature was fluctuating. The diagnosis in fact was not even considered at early scan appointments despite the fact that I’d ovulated on both sides, experienced extreme cramping and pain on one side, bleeding and there was clearly an embryo growing in my womb.

• Later on in the same pregnancy, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, which dashed my hopes of a home birth. I was assured the best thing for me would be a consultant-led birth to ensure postnatal monitoring. Fast forward to this time period and I don’t think I saw a consultant during my entire stay at hospital; despite them insisting on me giving birth at a hospital.

• Because of my GD, I was told I needed to be induced. During this process, there was very little support. When things eventually started happening (what a snooze fest labour can be!), I frequently felt like an inconvenience, was left alone to get along with things, was not listened to about the change in pain and was not given much pain relief to cope with the developing labour. My contractions were overlooked because they were irregular. When I eventually insisted on an examination, it was found I was already 7cm and should have been at the central delivery suite about 3cm ago. When confirming my details at central delivery, it was clear the midwife had been given incorrect information about how far along I was. Within an hour of arriving at the central delivery suite Harry arrived safe and sound, after nearly hitting his head coming out all in one go while the midwife was across the room completing paperwork. Thank God she was speedy and good at catching.

These experiences could easily have led to tragedy like what happened in Shrewsbury. You can see how mistakes are made when consultants aren’t available, women aren’t listened to and diagnosis is missed. I don’t like to think of myself as lucky; surely a well-equipped, well-staffed maternity service shouldn’t be a case of luck? If coming home from hospital with your baby after labour is ‘lucky,’ there is a dire problem in need of addressing. I don’t blame the midwives in my experience (well apart from maybe the one who Jon caught telling jokes instead of finding precious pain relief); the majority I’ve come across are real-life superheroes under extreme strain.

We need them to work under conditions which ensure they can listen to us and are not rushed into making errors in our care. We also need them to be working in places where they are empowered to speak out if they see negligent behaviour; babies and mums deserve far more than what they are getting.