A Tillydrone mum who faced a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy has said her excruciating pain was dismissed by NHS Grampian staff.
Bobbie Jackson, 25, was screaming in pain as she waited 45 minutes for an ambulance to arrive and says she was ignored when she and her husband Cameron told doctors she was bleeding internally.
She was then eventually given a life-saving operation where medical staff in fact discovered 500ml of blood in her stomach.
Her left fallopian tube was ruptured, and now she’s currently waiting for it to be removed.
Bobbie has put in an official complaint to NHS Grampian over her experience.
What is an ectopic pregnancy?
An ectopic pregnancy is when a fertilised egg is implanted outside of the womb, often in the fallopian tube. If an egg is stuck in a fallopian tube, the tube could eventually burst, putting the mother’s life in danger.
The mum-of-three is speaking to the P&J in an effort to make sure other women are taken seriously when they experience pain.
“It was just very scary,” Bobbie says of her experience. “If someone’s having a heart attack, you would expect [the ambulance] to be there fast, because people know a heart attack can kill you.
“But an ectopic pregnancy can also kill you and there’s not enough known about that.
“That’s the problem — women and their reproductive pain is just taken as a joke sometimes. You’re told it’s constipation, or it’s trapped wind, but it actually can be a condition that is life threatening.”
Bobbie collapsed in pain while painting the bedroom
Bobbie Jackson’s ordeal started on February 20 this year when she was at home in Tillydrone painting her son James’ room.
The month before, on January 20, she had an ectopic pregnancy confirmed and was having treatment to reabsorb the pregnancy.
The treatment — a chemotherapy drug — was to safeguard against the very real possibility that her pregnancy could be stuck in a tube and cause it to rupture.
However, as she painted she suddenly collapsed in pain, signaling to Bobbie that the treatment had not worked.
“It was like being stabbed 100 times,” Bobbie says. “I’ve been through labour three times and this was so much worse.”
Husband Cameron called for an ambulance, but it was 45 minutes before Bobbie was taken to hospital even though she was certain she had ruptured.
‘Agonising’ pain of ectopic pregnancy
At the hospital, Bobbie was told that scans couldn’t see any rupture, and that the pain she was experiencing was the egg being expelled out of the fallopian tube.
However, Bobbie says: “I could only relate this to it being a rupture from the pregnancy. There was nothing else I could relate that pain to.”
She was given morphine, but it only took the pain away for ten minutes.
“It wasn’t a constant pain, but when I coughed or when I sneezed it was excruciating.
“I couldn’t sit myself up in bed and I couldn’t stand up on my own. It was agonising.”
The pain came back just before Bobbie went home from hospital
Bobbie was told she would be kept in for observation and then sent home. However, as she was preparing to go home, the pain came back.
Bobbie’s blood count was dropping, indicating that she was bleeding internally.
Eventually, a doctor that Bobbie credits with saving her life recommended an operation, where doctors discovered a rupture on her left tube — along with 500ml of blood in her stomach.
Future pregnancies could endanger Bobbie’s life
Bobbie strongly believes she would have died if she had gone home as planned.
“I already had 500ml of blood in my stomach,” she says. “What’s to say I didn’t go home and lose another litre?
“So if we then had to wait another 45 minutes for an ambulance, how long until I bled out?”
The surgery was a success but Bobbie is waiting to hear if she is able to have another baby.
She still has one working fallopian tube, however complications from her condition mean a pregnancy could endanger her life.
At the moment, she is focusing on raising awareness of ectopic pregnancy as well as money for the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, which supports women who have ectopic pregnancies.
Bobbie, who has set up a JustGiving page in aid of the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, says she doesn’t want other women to go through what she has.
“We need more research,” she says. “It’s not the NHS’s fault as there is a lack of funding. But ectopic pregnancy effects one in 80 pregnancies. That’s a lot of woman, so why isn’t there more information on it?”
Bobbie is also left mourning the loss of her baby through the ectopic pregnancy.
“Nothing was going to change what happened with my baby,” Bobbie says. “But the treatment that I received didn’t make any of the experience any easier. It just made it 10 times harder to deal with.”
NHS Grampian response
An NHS Grampian spokesperson said: “We have received Ms Jackson’s complaint and are currently investigating the concerns she has raised.
“We strive to offer the best care to everyone in Grampian and take all complaints extremely seriously. Once our investigation is complete, we will respond directly, in writing, to Ms Jackson.”