My Concern About Women In Labour | Emergency Medical Dispatcher (ANON)

The following guest blog was sent into us earlier on this afternoon by someone who, for obvious reasons, has asked to remain anonymous:

‘I am an Emergency Medical Dispatcher, handling 999 calls for a busy Ambulance Control.

‘There are many concerns, often shared on your site by other Ambulance colleagues, however I don’t think this subject has come up before.

‘Women who present in labour to their maternity unit, or telephone their maternity unit, are being sent home when already dilated.

‘They are often in active labour but told to take a warm bath and paracetamol while they wait to have more frequent contractions.

‘We all know that there is resource problem with a need for more midwives, so we can understand that the women are sent home to prevent a poorer service to those closer to giving birth.

‘The problem is that people like me are often faced with an emergency labour to deal with over the phone.

‘Often not long after the Mum was sent home.

‘Although our job gives us a script and instructions to follow to help deliver a baby, we are faced with several set backs.

‘Firstly, the caller and patient in labour often don’t follow the very important instructions, which puts mum and baby at risk.

‘They often refuse to remove clothing to assist the birth, or they refuse to take a safe position.

‘Also, they often pretend to follow the instructions and an Emergency Medical Dispatcher only finds out when baby starts to present into mum’s panties.

‘There are also the mum’s with high risks.

‘For example; placenta previa.

‘Why on earth is a woman with a low lying placenta sent home when already in labour? It is plain and simply putting mum and baby at terrible risk.

‘Then we have those having twins, or a known breech birth.

‘Surely the risk to them is concerning if they deliver at home, with only the over the phone instructions that my colleagues and I provide to the very best of our abilities?

‘We often get babies born in the bath, or worse into a very hard toilet basin.

‘This not only puts baby at risk, but causes horrendous stress to the mum and the Emergency Medical Dispatcher taking the call.

‘Something needs to be done about this for the sake of our patients! 

‘A very concerned EMD’

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