A young mum says a midwife told her to ‘calm down and go home’ moments before she gave birth on a hospital toilet FLOOR.
Leanne Spencer, 19, says the midwife made the uncaring comment just after she expressed that she was at the pushing stage of labour.
The first-time mum left the antenatal suite, but only made it as far as the ladies’ toilets at the hospital’s entrance before giving birth to her daughter, Athena.
She had attended Hull Women and Children’s Hospital, East Yorks., with her partner and her mum, who luckily were more helpful than the midwife.
She said: “I went into hospital after contractions and after being monitored I was told to go home. Once outside the ward the pain got so bad.
“A midwife came out and I explained to her that the pain had got so much worse, instantly.
“I then collapsed on my partner. I started to scream at the midwife telling her I needed to push and she said to me ‘calm down, go home, you are not in active labour’.
“I managed to stumble my way to the lift to go down to the ground floor. I went to the toilets and once I sat down I couldn’t move. The pain was that unreal.
“The only thing I could do was push.
“There was blood everywhere, so my mum ran for help. Suddenly, the toilets where full of people and the senior midwife there examined me and she could feel my baby’s head.
“I was lifted off the toilet onto the floor and I gave birth on the toilet floor in one of the cubicles. There was a midwife behind me and my head was on her lap. There was also a midwife delivering Athena and a woman checking Athena’s heartbeat. I was so scared.”
Miss Spencer said she is “traumatised” by what happened to her and said it’s ruined the memory of Athena’s birth.
She said: “That is not how I wanted to bring my baby into the world. If I have any more children, I have I will be having a home birth.
“It was a horrific and traumatic experience when it should have been an amazing experience bringing Athena into the world.”
Miss Spencer, of Hull, said she has since made a complaint via the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (Pals) listing her concerns over the way she says she was treated, but the hospital deny receiving it.
She said: “I should have been let into the labour ward when I told the midwife I was pushing.
“The senior midwife that delivered my little girl was amazing, she even came to check on me and my little girl.
“Anything could have happened to my little girl that day, she could have been born anywhere, especially if my mum had taken me home like they told me to.”
Athena is now six months old.
A spokesman for Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust apologised to Miss Spencer.
A spokesman said: “The Midwifery Service always aim to provide the best possible care, so we are sorry if Ms Spencer feels dissatisfied with any aspect of the advice or care she received.
“By their very nature, pregnancy and childbirth are unique to each woman; they can be unpredictable, even for highly experienced staff, and situations can change quickly.
“In this particular instance, a team of experienced staff ensured Ms Spencer was made as comfortable as possible and was able to birth her baby safely.
“No contact has yet been received by the hospital from Ms Spencer, therefore we would encourage her to speak directly with our Patient Advice and Liaison Team in the first instance so that we may discuss her concerns further.”
