NHS failures may have led to hundreds of women aborting healthy babies after being wrongly told they had miscarried, a new report has warned.
‘Silent miscarriage’
The mistakes came to light after Emily Wheatley (31) was told that she had miscarried following a scan at the University Hospital of Wales (UHW), despite the fact she was carrying a healthy baby.
UHW doctors told Ms Wheatley she had suffered a "silent miscarriage", where patients experience no symptoms.
But she discovered that she was still nine weeks pregnant after later visiting Nevill Hall hospital in Abergavenny for a uterine evacuation – a procedure used after a miscarriage to lower the risk of infection.
An investigation by the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales, Peter Tyndall, found that flawed practices had been adopted by the UHW since 2006, and may have affected hundreds of other pregnant women and their unborn children.
‘Shock’
“To be told that I'd miscarried was a real shock,” explained Ms Wheatley, who is referred to as Ms D in the report.
She added: “It took a lot to adjust to that after adjusting to the fact that I was pregnant in the first place.
“It's just unbelievable actually that there are potentially other women out there who have been diagnosed with having a silent miscarriage ... and they potentially have got rid of healthy babies. That frightens me.
“Maybe hundreds of babies have been lost because of their decision making, which is unthinkable."
Failure
Mr Tyndall said that staff at UHW had “failed to implement guidelines issued by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) that were designed to prevent the misdiagnosis of early pregnancy loss.”
He added: “Staff had been following old guidance for at least two years. You'll have to ask the health board but clearly there will have been others.”
Distress
Ruth Walker, executive director of nursing at the health board, said:
“We do not underestimate the distress we have caused to Ms D and her family and are genuinely sorry that it has taken an Ombudsman’s report for her to receive the answers she deserved.
“We are delighted that Ms D has given birth to a healthy baby, but completely accept that her enjoyment of what should have been a special time in Ms D’s life has been marred by her poor experience while in our care. What happened to Ms D is absolutely unacceptable.”
Since news of the report emerged at least 28 calls have been made to a helpline for concerned patients. The health board helpline number is 0800 952 0244.
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