That call to Tommy’s saved Harri from being very poorly and possibly saved his life.

A challenging pregnancy

We weren’t trying really, just leaving it to chance, so when I got a positive pregnancy test in March it felt surreal, but we were really excited.

I have polycystic ovaries so it was difficult to know how far along I was, but a private scan put me at 7 weeks. I then had NHS scans at weeks 9 and 12 and it was around that time when I started feeling unwell, sickness, headaches and struggling with exhaustion. The migraines were so bad they sent me for a brain scan at 14 weeks to check for a blood clot but it was, thankfully, clear.

After a little respite between 16 and 20 weeks, I ended up in triage with stomach and round ligament pains where after a cervical exam and swab, they sent me home but the pain continued and the next day I found blood on my pad so went back.

The doctor checked and said my cervix might be open which was really worrying and upsetting. I do find cervical exams really painful so they decided to keep me in overnight and get a vaginal scan the next morning.

When the consultant came he said it was a threatened miscarriage and, at 21+5 weeks, baby would not be resuscitated which left me feeling so helpless, frightened and overwhelmed. 

But the scan came back fine, they said the blood was probably from the cervical exam and sent me home again.

Further complications

Several weeks later I started with really bad pelvic girdle pain which left me unable to walk, with palpitations and really breathless.

I also had anaemia so needed 2 iron transfusions and, around that time, my teeth and gums got infected but, because I’d had a threatened miscarriage, the dentist could only give me antibiotics.

In August, at 28 weeks, I started to feel really sick and suffered cramps and diarrhoea. The pain was so bad I don’t remember getting to hospital. At first, they feared my placenta had ruptured, then they thought it was a vomiting bug before finally diagnosing a urinary tract infection and putting me on the sepsis pathway.

On Monday I was on a birthing suite with two lovely midwives who didn’t leave my side, Tuesday I was back on the ward and Thursday I went home. They could hear how breathless I was so sent me for X-ray to check for a blood clot on the lung but it was clear, and an ECG showed my heart was fine but I was on daily Clexane injections for the rest of my pregnancy.

From around 30 weeks mobility became an issue. I’m only 5’2 but my partner is tall and, as it turned out, so was baby. He was engaged and putting a lot of pressure on my pelvis which was excruciating.

I couldn’t walk by my next hospital appointment so a porter got a wheelchair and took me, crying, for my scan. The consultant took one look at me and sent me straight to triage who diagnosed pelvic girdle pain and told me to buy a girdle which helped but I needed a Zimmer frame to walk and couldn’t get upstairs.

I had a period-like pain from 34 weeks and went to triage but my waters hadn’t gone. The pain was so bad it made me cry. We now know I was having contractions.

Cervix exams had been a struggle since the threatened miscarriage, triggering tension and anxiety, and I just couldn’t go through with it so, with no bleeding or water loss, they sent me home with the caveat that, any change, I should come back.

That night the pain continued and I’d leaked water but thought it might just be wee. I wrestled with the idea of going back because I knew I was too broken for another cervix exam and didn’t want to waste everyone’s time.

Reaching out to Tommy's

I’d signed up for Tommy’s emails when I got pregnant and remember they had a midwife support line so I called and spoke to a lovely lady. She explained the risks of giving birth prematurely at home. She also told me I could have gas and air to help with the cervix exam.

The Tommy's midwife I spoke to understood why I didn’t want to go to hospital but, with great empathy, impressed the need to do so. I listened, and went. 

By the time we arrived I was in agony with contractions. The doctor wanted to keep me in for 24-hours monitoring and, thanks to the advice from that Tommy’s midwife, I had gas and air and managed a cervix exam.

The Tommy’s midwife had also told me to take a picture of that slight loss of water and, after seeing the picture, doctors checked my waters and tests showed a pre-term membrane rupture.

Giving birth to Harri

They also found I was positive for Group B strep so put me on antibiotics around 1am. The next thing I remember is being woken by 2 midwives from the birthing suite at 7am who said they were there to deliver baby. I just wept.

I was induced and spent 10 hours on a drip before we mutually agreed on a c-section and Harri arrived, weighing 6lb3 and screaming.

They took him to neonatal and me to recovery so I wasn’t able to see him until the next day and it was horrendous, he was in an incubator, on oxygen, IV antibiotics, a heart monitor and a cannula. 
 

He’d needed a procedure on his lungs so, as it happened, the Tommy’s midwife was right. If I hadn’t gone to hospital he may not have had that immediate neonatal care.

If we’d stayed at home I dread to think what could have happened. That call to Tommy’s saved Harri from being very poorly and possibly saved his life.

He was in high dependency for four days, then NICU establishing feeding and then we brought him home which was such a relief. The community midwife has now discharged us both.

That Tommy’s support line meant I could ask questions with pressure or embarrassment. It meant I got professional, compassionate advice. 

If I hadn’t known to ask for gas and air so they could check my cervix or if I hadn’t taken that picture which showed my waters had gone, I just don’t know what would have happened. Whist the care from the hospital was great, if I hadn’t called Tommy’s I wouldn’t have gone back to hospital that Tuesday. It’s such a valuable service and I’m so very grateful I made that phone call.