Miscarriage misdiagnoses report out

A REPORT examining the circumstances in which approximately two dozen pregnant women were told they had lost their baby, only to subsequently find they had not, will be published today.

The National Miscarriage Misdiagnosis Review Report, which looked at suspected cases of misdiagnosis over the last five years, was instigated last June after revelations that some women were wrongly told they miscarried, a mistake caused by faulty foetal scanning equipment, inadequately trained staff and a lack of second opinions.

Briefing documents drawn up by health department show up to 24 women may have been wrongly told they miscarried by hospital doctors since 2005.

News of the misdiagnoses broke last year, after Melissa Redmond, from Donabate in north Dublin, went public with her story.

Ms Redmond, a mother-of-three who had suffered previous miscarriages, was told by staff at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda on July 22, 2009 — just eight weeks into her pregnancy — that she had miscarried.

However, despite being told to have a dilation and curettage procedure and to take an abortion-inducing drug to remove the foetal remains, she insisted on re-visiting her GP for a second scan which showed a foetal heartbeat. Her healthy baby, Michael, was born on March 6, 2010.

While a report into this incident found the original diagnosis was based on the opinion of only one doctor and problems with equipment, facilities, staffing and scanning practice guidelines, the Institute of Obstetrics said it was likely to be an extremely rare incident.

However, the review chaired by Prof William Ledger, head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Sheffield, will say at least 24 other women may have suffered the same situation since 2005.

A total of 32 possible cases were forwarded by hospitals to the HSE’s national review group. Of these, 24 were deemed to merit inquiry.

These include “any cases where… drug or surgical treatment was recommended when the diagnosis of miscarriage had been made in error, and where subsequent information demonstrated that the pregnancy was viable”.

There are more than 70,000 births annually in Ireland and about 14,000 miscarriages. Since Ms Redmond’s case emerged, all 19 public and private maternity units have adopted recommendations that a woman who has suffered a miscarriage must not be given abortive drugs unless the diagnosis has been approved by a consultant obstetrician.