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divdiv class=story-body readability=59 span class=story-date#13; span class=date31 October 2013/span#13;span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time20:14 ET/span#13; #13;/span#13;#13; #13;#13;#13; #13; #13; !-- Embedding the video player --#13;!-- This is the embedded player component --#13;#13;#13; #13; #13;#13;#13;#13;!-- wwrights check --#13;!-- Empty country is used on test environment --#13;#13;#13;#13;div class=videoInStoryB readability=1#13; div id=emp-24766167-152306 class=emp#13; #13; #13; noscript#13; div class=warning readability=1#13; img class=holding src=http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70838000/jpg/_70838670_emilywheatley.jpg alt=Emily Wheatley/pstrongPlease turn on JavaScript./strong Media requires JavaScript to play./p#13; /div#13; /noscript#13; #13; !-- embedding script --#13; #13; /div#13; !-- companion banner -- #13; #13; #13; #13; !-- END - companion banner --!-- caption --p class=captionEmily Wheatley said the hospital took away the enjoyment of pregnancy/p#13; !-- END - caption --#13; #13; #13;#13;/div#13;!-- end of the embedded player component --#13;#13;!-- Player embedded -- #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1A Cardiff hospital has been forced to apologise for flaws in the way it diagnosed miscarriages over many years./p#13; pIt follows the case of a woman who was wrongly told she had miscarried nine weeks into her pregnancy after a scan at the University Hospital of Wales./p#13; pEmily Wheatley, from Monmouth, went on to have a healthy baby daughter./p#13; pThe Public Service Ombudsman for Wales believes flaws in UHW's practices may have gone back as far as 2006. A helpline has been set up for patients./p#13; span class=cross-head'Real shock'/span#13; pMs Wheatley was told during a dating scan she had suffered a silent miscarriage - where there are no symptoms./p#13; pShe chose to undergo a uterine evacuation at Nevill Hall hospital in Abergavenny, but staff there discovered she was nine weeks pregnant with a healthy foetus./p#13; pMs Wheatley suffers from polycystic ovary syndrome and endometriosis, meaning the chances of her conceiving naturally were very, very slim./p#13; div class=story-feature narrow#13; a class=hidden href=#story_continues_2Continue reading the main story/a h2 class=quote“spanStart Quote/span/h2#13;blockquote readability=2p class=first-childMaybe hundreds of babies have been lost because of their decision making, which is unthinkable”/p/blockquote#13;span class=endquoteEnd Quote/span#13; span class=quote-creditEmily Wheatley/span#13; span class=quote-credit-titleMother/span#13;#13; /div p id=story_continues_2She said: To be told that I'd miscarried was a real shock./p#13; pIt took a lot to adjust to that after adjusting to the fact that I was pregnant in the first place./p#13; pAfter being told the good news she was still pregnant, she said: Even though the baby was there clearly on the screen, I couldn't really believe it./p#13; pShe said the hospital took away the enjoyment of pregnancy./p#13; pThe thought that other women may have lost babies after wrongly being told they had silently miscarried early in their pregnancy was frightening./p#13; span class=cross-head'Unacceptable mistake'/span#13; pIt's just unbelievable actually that there are potentially other women out there who have been diagnosed with having a silent miscarriage... and they potentially have got rid of healthy babies. That frightens me./p#13; pMs Wheatley added: Maybe hundreds of babies have been lost because of their decision making, which is unthinkable./p#13; div class=story-feature narrow#13; a class=hidden href=#story_continues_3Continue reading the main story/a h2 class=quote“spanStart Quote/span/h2#13;blockquote readability=1p class=first-childWe let her down and we didn't provide a standard of care that's acceptable to me as a doctor or me as a manager”/p/blockquote#13;span class=endquoteEnd Quote/span#13; span class=quote-creditDr George Findlay/span#13; span class=quote-credit-titleCardiff and Vale health board/span#13;#13; /div p id=story_continues_3Peter Tyndall, Public Service Ombudsman for Wales, said it was an unacceptable mistake which should have been avoided and he has called a review of midwife sonographers' competency./p#13; pHe said staff, after discovering a silent miscarriage, should have used a different scan to give them a more accurate picture, but failed to do so./p#13; pIn a a href=http://jportal.bbc.co.uk/AttachmentData/20131028/80e5560f-2a8d-4508-bd06-8dbb52c5d577/FINAL%20S16%20REPORT%20201202432.pdfreport/a, he says the health board failed to implement guidelines issued by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) that were designed to prevent the misdiagnosis of early pregnancy loss and had been using out-dated guidance for two years or more./p#13; pAsked how many other people could have been affected, he replied: You'll have to ask the health board but clearly there will have been others./p#13; pThe health board has set up a helpline for other women who think they may have been affected. /p#13; pWe'd advise them if they are concerned to contact the helpline./p#13; pMr Tyndall said he thinks Ms Wheatley's case is unusual and I don't think it's typical, but he said other women may have been similarly affected./p#13; pThe ombudsman made a series of recommendations, including that the health board issues a written apology and pays the woman £1,500./p#13; pThe helpline - 0800 952 0244 - will be launched at 09:00 GMT on Friday and will remain open until 17:00 GMT on 4 November./p#13; pThe health board does not know how many women, if any, could potentially be affected./p#13; span class=cross-head'Genuinely sorry'/span#13; pDr George Findlay, Cardiff and Vale Health Board director for children and women's services, said about 6,000 deliveries are performed each year, and between 600 and 1,200 people have a miscarriage./p#13; pWe're saying that about 600 women per year may have a miscarriage that leads to an intervention by us, he said./p#13; pWhat I don't know right now is what type of scan or number of scans that these patients had and we're happy to look at that on a case by case basis./p#13; pDr Findlay added: We let her down and we didn't provide a standard of care that's acceptable to me as a doctor or me as a manager./p#13; pCardiff and Vale University Health Board's executive director of nursing, Ruth Walker, offered an unreserved apology to Ms Wheatley and said the said the board was genuinely sorry that it has taken an ombudsman's report for her to receive the answers she deserved. /p#13; pShe said what happened to Ms Wheatley was absolutely unacceptable correct procedures were now followed, and it has undertaken a review of the way women are cared for in the early stages of pregnancy./p#13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center