We had babies after being told we’d miscarried

More than 400 women every year are wrongly told they have miscarried.

Recent research from Imperial College London found mistakes are often made in reading ultrasound scans.

Some women go on to have healthy babies. But others, fearing they’ve miscarried, opt for a surgical procedure when they might have gone on to have a healthy baby.

Here, three women tell us about their near misses.

Stacey Farmer

Stacey, 30, from Bestwood, Notts, suffered a miscarriage but later discovered she was 34 weeks pregnant with the twin of the baby she had lost. She says:

“When I started bleeding at 11 weeks I presumed the pregnancy was over.

“I was lying in bed and just felt a bit odd, then I started bleeding.

“I started panicking and my partner Matt phoned the ambulance. When I got to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham the doctor told me I was losing the baby and to let nature take its course.

“Back home, I stood in the garden for two hours before I could bring myself to walk back through the door because I was so upset.”

The miscarriage put such a strain on Stacey’s relationship with partner Matt, 30, that they broke up.

She says: “Matt was really supportive, but I was just too upset all the time. I just couldn’t get over what had happened and we drifted apart. Within a matter of weeks I’d lost both my baby and my boyfriend.

“I had never felt so low.”

A few weeks on, the couple decided to give their relationship another try, and three months later Stacey realised her periods had not returned to normal.

 She put it down to her body adjusting after the miscarriage but decided to take a pregnancy test just in case. Stacey was stunned when the test showed up positive. She says: “I had to take about six tests before I accepted the fact I was actually pregnant because I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Although I was worried that I might miscarry again, I was still delighted that I’d fallen pregnant so quickly.”

Stacey was thrilled when a scan at 12 weeks confirmed she was pregnant – but stunned to be told she was actually carrying the twin of the baby she had lost.

She says: “As I tried to make out the fuzzy image on the screen I couldn’t believe my eyes because there was the baby – and it was huge. It was a massive shock. I explained to the doctor that I’d had a miscarriage so when I saw how big the baby was I was gobsmacked.

“I’d expected to see a heartbeat, but this was a fully formed baby.

“I panicked because I hadn’t been eating the way a pregnant woman should, and I hadn’t bought a single thing for the baby.

“Matt had come with me and he was furious. How can they not have realised one of our babies was still alive?”

Thomas was born at Queen’s Medical Centre by Caesarean and has just turned six.

He also has a sister, Molly, now aged four.

Linda Aitchison

Company director Linda, 45, from Walsall, was told six weeks into her pregnancy that she’d lost a twin – and was almost certain to lose the other. She says:

“April 1, 1998, was one hell of a day for my partner Neil and me. I had been having tummy pains for a few weeks but my GP had assured me I’d just pulled a muscle in the gym.

“I wasn’t so sure, so I did a pregnancy test which showed I might be pregnant – we hadn’t been trying but were madly in love and were overjoyed with the news.

“My pains got worse and I was whisked into Shrewsbury Hospital to test for an ectopic pregnancy. They found the heartbeats of two babies.

“It was a dream come true, but then a week later I suffered terrible stomach pains and bleeding.

“Neil took me to Leicester Royal Infirmary where we were told bluntly that I’d ‘passed’ the pregnancy, and my other baby would have ‘passed’ by the morning. I sat sobbing – but only got given a leaflet.

“All they said was to come back in ten days for another scan. I cried almost constantly until the next scan and when I went in I was forewarned and expected to have the bad news confirmed, but miraculously they told me both babies were still alive. I collapsed on the floor in shock and had to be taken out in a wheelchair.

 “So many questions were going round my head. I felt like I was still in mourning for my babies and didn’t know who to trust – would the babies survive after all?

“The next few months were a nightmare. I’d panic at the slightest twinge, thinking I was about to miscarry. But at 34 weeks I gave birth naturally to Emily and Melissa, weighing 5lbs 10oz and 5lbs 3oz.

“Being so small they were in special care for two weeks and during the first years of their lives I always worried due to that false diagnosis during my pregnancy.

“Slowly I managed to put my feelings to one side. I did my best to a good mum – and we spoiled them rotten.”

In 2011 Linda and Neil learned the terrible news that he had terminal stage melanoma. They decided to get married, and in May last year he died.

Linda says: “I lost the love of my life and suddenly all those feelings of grief came back again.

“Thankfully I had counselling to cope with his death. I’m sure that would have helped with the miscarriage misdiagnosis all those years ago – not just a leaflet.”

Julia Murray

Admin assistant Julia, 27, lives with husband Graham, 29, who lays floors, in Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex. She was told she had miscarried when doctors failed to find a heartbeat during an ultrasound. She says:

“I started bleeding at eight weeks and thought I’d miscarried. I went to my GP in floods of tears but he reassured me the baby was fine and some bleeding was normal.

“My pregnancy with my daughter Ella-Mae, who is three, was normal so I did think the bleeding was unusual but I wanted to stay positive.

“Two weeks later, though, I suffered a massive bleed and Graham drove me to A&E at Broomfield Hospital in Essex. I was told there was no heartbeat and I had miscarried.”

But less than a day after being told they had lost her child, Julia demanded a second scan – which revealed the baby was still alive.

Julia now knows she had suffered a ruptured placenta. The blood loss was wrongly diagnosed as a miscarriage and she says: “Thankfully they had made a mistake. The sonographer jumped out of his skin when he found the heartbeat. I was shocked.

“I then suffered a number of complications. In bed one evening I felt my waters go – I was horrified as it was only 24 weeks and I knew the chances of a baby born that early surviving were small.

“When we got to the hospital they said I only had a leak. I was sceptical but there wasn’t much else I could do.”

Luckily, mother’s intuition kicked in and Julia put herself on bed-rest to try to protect the baby as much as possible.

Three weeks later she felt better and went food shopping. But when she got home she started bleeding heavily and her mum, Christine, called an ambulance.

Julia said: “When we finally got to Broomfield they found that my waters had indeed broken at 24 weeks but the baby was still OK.

“I felt like saying, ‘I told you so’ but not much could be done about it.

“They hooked me up to a monitor and told Graham to go home.

“The nurses wanted to turn it off for the night but I begged them to leave it on. I was sound asleep when I suddenly heard all the buzzers going off.

“The baby’s heartbeat had dropped to a dangerous level so doctors decided on a Caesarean section. I was rushed into theatre.

“Twenty-seven weeks is still very early so I was worried. But at that point I was just pleased something was being done to help the baby, who was born weighing just 3lbs.

“We called him Alfie and he is now 14 months old – and healthy.

“Alfie is a miracle. I can’t believe I thought I’d miscarried and now our baby is more than a year old.”

This article is courtesy of the Sun.