A devastated pregnant mother has hit out at a hospital after she waited 12 hours in A&E to find out she had lost her baby.
Amy Rennie was told by Derriford Hospital in Plymouth her baby had died at ten and a half weeks.
The 18-year-old, who is from the port city in Devon, said she was waiting in A&E despite people who were ‘drunk or on drugs’ being treated.
Amy Rennie (pictured) was told by Derriford Hospital in Plymouth her baby had died at ten and a half weeks
The 18-year-old (pictured with her baby scan), who is from the port city in Devon, said she was waiting in A&E despite people who were ‘drunk or on drugs’ being treated
Ms Rennie told PlymouthLive: ‘I don’t want anyone else to go through what I went through that day.
‘Staff were dealing with people who were drunk or on drugs first and it was just horrible.
‘I know it can’t have been just me that’s gone through something like this. So many people that night were moaning because it took hours to be seen.’
Ms Rennie, who has a one-year-old son called Oscar, rushed to the hospital at around 8pm on September 2 after spotting she was bleeding and had shoulder pains earlier in the day.
Ms Rennie, who has a one-year-old son called Oscar (pictured together), rushed to the hospital at around 8pm on September 2 after spotting she was bleeding and had shoulder pains earlier in the day
But despite waiting for a number of hours, she said a doctor told her there would be a further seven-hour delay.
Ms Rennie said: ‘At the time I questioned it. I asked the receptionist whether it was still a seven-hour wait for me given the circumstances, and she then advised me that there were only two people in front of me, and then I could be seen.’
She gave blood and urine samples but her blood came back normal after another few hours.
The young mother had to wait until 11am on September 3 to see a doctor on the Meavy Ward despite being told she would be seen at 8.30am.
She gave blood and urine samples but her blood came back normal after another few hours
Yet, despite having bled heavily, Ms Rennie did not get a scan until 4pm.
She said: ‘By this point, I hadn’t slept all night, I hadn’t eaten, and up until now I’d kept being shoved into the waiting room, so I was just fed up.
‘By this point I’d been there for so long, I just felt like crying. I was hungry, frustrated, stressed, and still didn’t know why I was experiencing this bleeding.
‘When I got to the scan room they asked me another batch of questions, and then I was scanned by a midwife called Pam, who I can’t thank enough, she was very supportive.’
She added: ‘[Pam] scanned me, and even used a camera, before telling me that my baby was there, but with no heartbeat.’
It is not known what caused her misscarriage, but there is no suggestion the 12-hour wait in Derriford Hospital (pictured) played a part
Ms Rennie refers to her lost child as ‘angel baby’ and struggled to look after Oscar following her miscarriage.
She went home with just a scan picture of her baby and said the loss was worse due to the long wait.
It is not known what caused her misscarriage, but there is no suggestion the 12-hour wait in Derriford Hospital played a part.
The hospital’s A&E is set for a £30million boost to help cope with 300 patients a day.
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, which runs Derriford, said in a statement: ‘We’re incredibly sorry to hear of Amy’s loss and that a long wait impacted further on an already difficult and upsetting situation.
‘Unfortunately, there isn’t anything that can be done to prevent miscarriage at such an early gestation.
‘When patients leave our care with unanswered questions, it’s important we talk to them and try and address their questions and any concerns they may have direct.
‘We have a specialist team at the Trust who are here to do just this. They are called our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS). In the first instance, we would really encourage patients/family members to use our PALS service.’