"ED and Maternity Ward visit"

I am almost 19 weeks pregnant with twins. All day I felt a great deal of pain and discomfort in my upper abdomen. Experiencing waves of pain and in the evening the pain went up to a 10/10. I tried avoiding going to the AHC ED as much as I could as the last time I was there I had a horrible experience (again) but my partner was really worried and made me go. 

I was seen promptly by the nurse and took into the resus room to see a doctor. 

They treated my case (blood test, pain meds, simple ultrasound of babies) and in the end, even though I was still in pain and discomfort, I was discharged by the ED doctor and the Obstetrician on shift (whom I didn’t see - ED doctor was in contact with them via phone) with a diagnosis of not unsual pregnancy symptoms. Before being fully discharged the ED doctor said that it would be a good idea to go up to maternity to check on the heart beats of the babies. We were taken up by an orderly and welcomed by a midwife. The midwife said they were dealing with some things in the ward (not birth) and they put us in a room with all the equipment and we were told to wait. 

We waited for an hour. I (the pregnant patient still in pain) decided to go out of the room and find out if they were gonna be any longer. I walk out of the room into the nursing station area to find both midwives sitting down on the nurse station chatting away with other hospital staff. I think they were security guards. 

I asked if they’d be any longer and they said they would be with us soon. 2-5mins after that - guessing they’d still be sitting there chatting away if I haven’t came out of the room - they both come into the room.

Upon entering one of the midwives turns to me and says, so am I worried about my babies? Did I want to to see the heartbeat? I reply: “I am only doing what the ED doctor told me to do. I was advised to come up to check on babies heart rate.” The midwife touches the ultrasound computer and comments with the other midwife that they can’t get the number on this. I don’t know how. Do you know? The other midwife replies that they don’t either. They then proceed with the ultrasound and shows us the 2 heart beats at a time.

We then tell them that that was already done in ED and we were sent up to maternity to monitor the heart rate of the babies. The midwife then makes a comment that it is hard to do so with twins. They instruct the other midwife to get the Doppler and find the heart beat. They find it for a couple a seconds and tells them the number then proceeds to try and find the other. Also finds that for even less time than the first baby and reports the heart rate. After that they said that was it and we could go home.

By that stage me and my partner were already in absolute shock of how much they did not seem to be wanting to do their jobs. We expected them to put the bands with heart monitors around my belly but that wasn’t the steps taken by them. They wanted to have sent us home with just a look of the hears beating and we had to explain a couple of times that ED said to monitor their heart beat. On that note the ED doctor also got in contact with them telling them what to do. 

Me and my partner left feeling completely hopeless. I feel extremely anxious to be doing this pregnancy in Albany where I feel we have to rely on professionals like this in an emergency. My pain felt completely disregarded and I felt very under looked at maternity as I am 18 weeks and they only take 20 weeks pregnant patients (another thing I heard from the midwives). 

I am super scared if I have to give birth in that ward and I don’t feel safe in the hands of professionals like this.