"Antenatal Care at the LGI"

Unfortunately my experience of the LGI has been very poor so far. I am in my second trimester with my first child and my pregnancy has been deemed high risk.

To begin with my dating scan was initially scheduled for Dec 24th. I called them up when I got the appointment to check this would all go ahead knowing Christmas Eve would likely be busy. They assured me everything would be fine. I then received a phone call on the 23rd to say my scan had been cancelled and the only reason that was forthcoming was "Because it's Christmas" which surely they knew when they scheduled the appointment to begin with. Since I was nearly 13 weeks pregnant at this point with no scan and no blood work done either I booked a private scan which was absolutely brilliant and I can't recommend it highly enough.

I went along for my rescheduled scan at the LGI on New Years Eve anyway. The scan went ahead without mishap (though I only got to see my baby for about 1 minute tops) but I then had an appointment with a consultant due to the high risk nature of my pregnancy. He asked that some bloods be done today and he would book another appointment for me with a consultant I had to also visit at St James's. I was told to go and get the blood work he requested done then come back in ten minutes and see him about booking my 20 week scan and my appointment with the consultant at St James's. I did exactly as I was told and was gone no more than 15 minutes. I came back as instructed to find they had closed and everyone had gone home! They must have known when they sent me to get those bloods done they would be leaving in 15 minutes and given where the phlebontanists are located it would take me that long to get there and back.

As it happens the bloods that I had done at that appointment were then subsequently lost and had to be re-done. When my midwife contacted the Consultant in question at St James's no appointment had been booked for me. I have since followed this up and 3 weeks later and despite my midwife saying she would do it I STILL don't have the required appointment.

The final cherry on the cake came today when I called to get the results of my Triple Screen test for Down Syndrome. After being transferred through three different departments I finally found the right one. They brought up my results and said "Yes your low risk as an Afro-Caribbean woman we have calculated you a risk of 1/45,000 for Down Syndrome" Well that's great except I am White British not Afro-Caribbean.

My overall concern here is that I am deemed by the LGI's midwives and consultants to be a high risk pregnancy and yet I feel the care I have received has been nothing short of farcical at every turn. Cancelling important appointments because it's Christmas (which is simply not an acceptable excuse), losing my bloods, sending me on ‘wild goose chases’ for no other reason that I can discern other than trying to get rid of me so they can knock off for New Year's Eve, failing to make crucial appointments for me and finally analysing an important blood test using the wrong ethnicity. I'm half expecting a need to negotiate a series of strategically placed banana skins at my next appointment. I have no trust in these people to perform simple tasks - how can I trust them to safely deliver my baby? I feel I can’t and I am concerned also for my own wellbeing. I wish to god someone had warned me.