A MUM was left devastated when doctors gave her an abortion leaflet at her 12-week scan before her unborn baby’s genetic condition was confirmed.
Hetty Blakely felt “pressured” to terminate her pregnancy - and says she would have, had she not gotten a second doctor’s opinion.
Hetty, who previously lived in Lincoln, had her initial 12 week scan at Lincoln County Hospital.
She said: "From the scan, we were given a leaflet on abortion and told that it didn't look good, and that with the amount of [nuchal translucency] fluid, there was a chance that the baby had something very severe.
"They handed me a scan picture and lulled me into this really depressed place of, 'This baby's not going to live'.
“That was before any diagnosis was made. It was just purely off of a scan.
"All babies have this fluid at the back of their neck, and in a baby that doesn't have any chromosome abnormalities, the measurement would usually be between one and two millimetres.
“But a baby that has a chromosome abnormality, their measurement would normally be above three.
"So because the thickness was so high - in our case it was 6.7mm - that was enough for us to be handed an abortion leaflet.”
The NHS says if tests show an unborn baby has a serious anomaly, the mum may be offered a termination.
It encourages parents to "find out as much as you can" from the doctor about the condition. Parents then make a decision on how to proceed.
Hetty said she felt “hurt and disregarded” by the medics’ opinion.
She said: “They made it feel like it was the most fair thing to do. It was not a case of, 'She might have something wrong with her, but it could be OK', there was no happiness to it.
“It was just very much a case of, 'Prepare yourself'.
"I felt really hurt and disregarded. I drove on a bypass absolutely hysterical, alone, because my partner was in London that day. But I was incredibly suicidal.”
The couple then sought private healthcare at the Harley Street Hospital in London, and Hetty underwent a procedure which detects foetal abnormalities.
It was there that Hetty was told her unborn baby had Down's Syndrome.
She said: "[The baby] looked perfectly healthy and they didn't feel there was a reason to medically terminate the baby at all."
Hetty said that in the first week after hearing the news, she felt like her baby was "gone" but she soon picked herself up to embrace pregnancy again.
She said: "I had feelings of embarrassment, shame, and I thought that I was going to be laughed at.
“Me and my partner were really upset, but it must've taken about seven days for us to snap out of it and get things organised, and just fall in love with the pregnancy again."
Hetty said she would have made the decision to terminate the pregnancy had she followed the advice given at Lincoln Hospital and not sought a second opinion.
She said: "I would've aborted Poppy based on the information I was given at Lincoln Hospital.
"After that day, they never contacted me again. I was not even called to see if I was OK.
"Poppy was nearly not here as a result of their advice."
A spokesperson for the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust said: “Unfortunately we are unable to comment on individual cases, however, we have been contacted by the patient’s family and have been liaising with them directly.”
After the expecting couple found out Poppy would have Down’s Syndrome, a myriad of other health problems were detected, including a heart defect.
The couple decided to move to Kirmington, on the outskirts of Grimsby.
Their care was transferred to the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, otherwise known as Grimsby hospital - also run by United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
Hetty recalls: "At this point, we were classed as a very high-risk pregnancy and Grimsby could no longer deliver Poppy.”
At 30 weeks pregnant, Hetty had to choose between two birthing options.
She could give birth at Grimsby hospital before being taken in an ambulance two-and-a-half hours away to Leeds, or move somewhere that was able to provide more specialist care.
Hetty said they chose to "up and move" because a long hospital drive in the first hours of Poppy's life was too risky.
Hetty looked online and found a hospital in London which specialises in unborn babies with Down's Syndrome.
She said: "I was told at 30 weeks that the baby could come at any time, and I was told that I needed to move to London and needed to move there quick."
The couple say they were forced to spend £15,000 on hotels that were close to the hospital.
They eventually found an apartment across the road from St Thomas' Hospital, Southwark.
Hetty had to lay in bed for five weeks until Poppy was born due to a condition called polyhydramnios, when there is an excessive amount of fluid in the uterus, which can run the risk of going into labour early.
Poppy was born via emergency C-section on November 2, 2021.
Hetty said that had she not been at a hospital with specialist care available, she does not believe her daughter would've survived.
Poppy underwent two surgeries after being born, including to correct duodenal atresia - a condition in which the stomach is not attached to the bowel.
Poppy's care is now split between St Thomas' Hospital in London and Grimsby hospital.
Hetty says the care Poppy has received at Grimsby hospital has left her feeling neglected.
She said: "We asked Grimsby hospital if they could scan Poppy's heart as she had an open duct which could've led to immediate heart failure.
“We were told that the consultant couldn't see us."
Hetty also claimed that Poppy was also given the wrong vaccines at Grimsby hospital at eight weeks old - something that may need to be corrected by a third operation.
She said: "Any baby that's had operations on their intestines or bowels should not have something called the rotavirus immunisation.
“That causes sickness and diarrhoea. Poppy shouldn't have had it, and Grimsby hospital administered it.
"Two days later, I was at Sheffield A&E with Poppy because she was bleeding from her behind.
"For a mum who's just got her baby out of the intensive care unit, it was incredibly frightening.
“I feel a huge amount of neglect and I feel harassed and bullied by Grimsby hospital.”
Poppy is now awaiting open heart surgery.
Hetty said: "Poppy is a remarkable little girl."
Melanie Sharp, Deputy Chief Nurse at Grimsby's Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital said: “We are fully aware of these concerns and currently we are investigating as a formal complaint.
“We’ll respond directly to the family once the investigation has concluded.”
