Stitch in time saves Sam; Easter Ross mum says chance conversation helped save life; mum unhappy with treatment at Raigmore
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AN Easter Ross mum says her baby wouldn't be alive if she had listened to medical experts at a make-or-break moment when she was told he was "not viable".
And now the woman, who says a chance conversation saved her son's life, is urging others to follow their gut instincts and and "never take no for an answer".
Alness woman Linzi Mcmillan (26) said her pregnancy was saved by a stitch in her cervix after hospital consultants told her her baby was "not viable".
She said it was thanks to a chance conversation that she was able to demand a surgical procedure to save her baby.
Ms Mcmillan had a severe bleed in early pregnancy and was rushed to Raigmore Hospital.
Before meeting with a consultant, a member of the maternity unit staff told her that a cervical stitch or suture may be able to help with her treatment.
But she says her hopes were dashed when she met the consultant who told her there was nothing could be done for her.
She said: "I was hysterical, this was my third baby and I felt so unsupported. I was told that because my cervix was opening my baby was not viable.
"My consultant told me she was unable to perform a suture stitch, and I was given pessaries to try to halt the cervix opening.
"They didn't make any improvement. The consultant and I didn't see eye to eye. Although I am not well educated and I am from poor background I found my voice to stick up for myself and my unborn baby. I knew in my gut that this baby was a survivor and I was determined that he was going to live.
"I was eventually given another consultant and the stitch was put in place. Things then started to improve"
However, a horrific road accident when Ms Mcmillan was 20 weeks pregnant saw her rushed to hospital. This time there were serious consequences. She said: "It was a really frightening time, I was told that my baby would likely need to be delivered, and again Raigmore told me that my baby would not survive."
For specialist treatment, Ms Mcmillan was moved to Aberdeen Maternity Hospital where she went on to deliver a small but healthy 2lbs 2oz baby boy on June 10.
She and her partner Sam MacLennan named him Sam.
Ms Mcmillan said: "What I want is for other women to hear my story and know that they should listen to their gut. They shouldn't take no for an answer. Most importantly they should never lose their voice. If I had listened to the consultants in Raigmore I would not have baby Sam now.
"My treatment in Raigmore was terrible, they seem to have all the very best state-of-the-art equipment but nobody was able to provide the procedures that I needed. Women should not need to fight for every single treatment. Treatments should be available to women."
A NHS Highland spokesman said: "We regularly monitor maternity services across our board area to ensure we continue to deliver high-quality, safe care to pregnant women and their babies.
"We have not been contacted and would certainly want to look into it. We would encourage the family to get in touch with our lead midwife so we can investigate this properly. The health board has systems in place to investigate and learn from any adverse events which do occur."
He said they couldn't comment on individual cases but that risk assessment is undertaken by doctors and midwives on a case by case basis and throughout pregnancy.
