The Tommy's midwives and doctors really are angels on earth

Jennifer and Adam got married in August 2019, and wanted to start trying for a baby straight away as Jennifer was aware she was an older mum. They got pregnant very quickly but the following month, after noticing some bleeding, a scan which showed a suspected ectopic pregnancy. “That was a massive blow, going from thinking we’d been able to get pregnant very easily to something quite scary. It was also a horrible experience as the nurse laughed at me for being anxious.” A few months after this loss, they fell pregnant again and as they’d had a previous ectopic pregnancy, she was able to have an early scan where they found the heartbeat. But during summer of 2020 at about 10 weeks pregnant while on holiday with their family, she noticed some bleeding.  

I contacted by EPAU, and they tried to tell me it was normal and everything was fine, but I knew something was wrong.   

They returned home the next day and a scan at hospital showed they had sadly miscarried. Her husband wasn’t allowed to come in at first because it was during the COVID-19 pandemic, but when they couldn’t find the heartbeat, they let him come in. “It was so tough because this was the first  time he’d been allowed into a scan, and it was to see that our baby had died.” Jennifer was sent home and unfortunately miscarried fully in her bathroom, which was very traumatic to experience.  

She and Adam reached out to see if they could get a referral for further support but were told she had to have 3 miscarriages before she was entitled to further help. “All the way through this, our treatment felt very clinical. It didn’t feel like there was any support we could access following our losses. I felt like I was a nuisance for asking for help, and that everyone was far to busy to speak to me.”

They got pregnant a 3rd time and tried to stay optimistic, but following a scan they were told it was a suspected molar pregnancy which required surgery. “We felt very scared, because it wasn’t just the trauma of pregnancy loss but also the impact on my health while we were trying.” After the third loss, Jennifer was referred to the Tommy’s recurrent miscarriage clinic at Birmingham.  

It was amazing to finally speak to people who really cared, it was so personal. Our 4th pregnancy ended very early, but the difference in the care I received at Tommy's was incredible  - they were so kind and offered so much support.

A few months later Jennifer fell pregnant for the 5th time, and Tommy’s midwives Oonagh and Rachel looked after her throughout this pregnancy at the clinic. They were on hand at all times to help reassure her with further scans and answer her questions. As part of their treatment at the clinic, Adam took part in the pAToMiUM trial, which was exploring how to improve sperm DNA quality. Jennifer took progesterone throughout this pregnancy, which she firmly believes helped things progress to term.  

Jennifer and Adam welcomed baby Charlotte in April 2023.