"Emergency Department Experience After Stillbirth"

I recently presented to Rockingham Hospital’s Emergency Department, three days after having a stillbirth at another hospital after passing an alarming amount of blood and what appeared to be a large chunk of placenta. I had called ahead to the midwives at Rockingham and been advised to present to the Emergency Department.

Naturally, this was a distressing experience to begin with but it was made far worse by the series of events that proceeded once I arrived at the Emergency Department. Once admitted, I was immediately placed in the paediatric area with a six-month-old baby immediately to my right and another small child near me. My milk had just come in and listening to babies cry for three hours straight caused my breasts to leak profusely and broke me mentally because not only am I three days postpartum from a stillbirth but have previously suffered a neonatal loss and have no living children.

I can tell you that I believe without a doubt that every single staff member I interacted with this night knew of my circumstances and history but did nothing for the extreme distress I was experiencing. After being examined by an obstetrician late at night, I was told I’d need to stay overnight and have an ultrasound in the morning. I did not get onto a ward until around three hours later, this appeared to be due to the fact that the nurses were arguing over whether I should be sent to maternity or to another ward. No one asked me what I would be comfortable with and in hindsight, I would’ve preferred to be cared by midwives who knew what I was going to and I believe were understanding of what I was experiencing.

When I was finally sent to the surgical ward, I felt I was treated with absolutely zero empathy. I was so distressed at this point that I could hardly speak and was shaking like a leaf but the nurse leading my care did not seem concerned in the slightest.

I was placed in a shared room with what appeared to be other men and a shared bathroom. As someone who is experiencing heavy bleeding postpartum, lactating profusely into my bra after not being able to express for 4 hours and highly distressed at this point, I believe I should have been offered some kind of privacy. Even if a bed wasn’t available, I would have been happy to go into a seated area to express and clean myself.

This was breaking point for me, I had felt so absolutely uncared for and treated with no compassion for the entire experience bar when I had dealt with the midwives, I made my way up to the office - bawling my eyes out and shaking. I informed them that the shared room wasn’t appropriate and after everything I’d experienced tonight, I couldn’t stay here. I felt the response I received from the nurse came across as that they were exasperated with me, nothing more than an issue to be dealt with. I overheard them make a call about me and they sounded annoyed the entire time.

I did not have a check over prior to leaving and subsequently left with a IV needle still in my arm without realising. I was given zero information about how to follow up on getting the ultrasound or what to watch out for. I signed a blank piece of paper to authorise me leaving.

I left and sat in the cafeteria, deciding to call the midwife I’d spoken to earlier to tell her what had gone on and that I’d realised the needle was still stuck in my arm. She came down to the cafeteria, removed my needle and brought me supplies. She apologised profusely for the experience and said she would follow up about how badly I’d been treated during this visit. Dani, the midwife, was the saving grace of this entire visit and was the only person who seemed to actually care about my wellbeing. She truly went above and beyond to ensure I was cared for and did everything she could within her power to comfort me and make sure I would be followed up on which I can confirm, thanks to her, this has now happened.

I’m writing this in hope that the staff in ED and on the wards never, as I felt they did, treat a patient who has experienced loss like they are just a number, like they couldn’t care less and they are nothing more than a nuisance. This experience has absolutely shattered whatever ounce of resilience I had left after losing another child and I am feeling absolutely mentally shattered, not worth even the slightest bit of compassion or empathy from the staff who handled my care except for Dani. This needs to be addressed and I’d appreciate some communication from the hospital regarding this matter.