[lostalex]

Originally Posted by joeysteele

Not here in the UK, I was in an a&e with a friend who had an injury,not a serious one, but there were many other people waiting there too.

One person who had come in just a few minutes after us, seemed quite ill, his wife with him alerted the Nurse who said she would go to se if a Doctor could see him straightaway, the Doctor said yes and he was rushed through.

That is how our NHS works, if someone needs treatment or to be assessed quickly it is done with a Doctors nod.
I cannot think of that many other instances where a baby actually being born could not be classed as an emergency,if only from the safety aspect of the Child and it's Mother but also as to the hygiene elements too.

funny how women all over the rest of the world manage to give birth quite often without the NHS... go figure...

[Z]

Originally Posted by lostalex

funny how women all over the rest of the world manage to give birth quite often without the NHS... go figure...

That's either through a lack of availability or personal choice though, Alex. The fact that this particular woman had the option and wanted to make use of it, and it let her down, changes things somewhat. We'll have to see if the blame lies with the hospital or not but even still, it's a bit shocking that she gave birth in the waiting room regardless of whether or not the baby could have been saved.

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by Zee

That's either through a lack of availability or personal choice though, Alex. The fact that this particular woman had the option and wanted to make use of it, and it let her down, changes things somewhat. We'll have to see if the blame lies with the hospital or not but even still, it's a bit shocking that she gave birth in the waiting room regardless of whether or not the baby could have been saved.

i'm just saying that giving birth is not necessarily the most high priority in an emergency room.

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by lostalex

i'm just saying that giving birth is not necessarily the most high priority in an emergency room.

Really, a life threatening situation for the baby and the mother...not priority..Ok in your opinion what would take priority over that?

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by kizzy

Really, a life threatening situation for the baby and the mother...not priority..Ok in your opinion what would take priority over that?

They had no way of knowing that the baby was being strangled by the umbelical chord. you are playing monday morning quarterback.

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by lostalex

They had no way of knowing that the baby was being strangled by the umbelical chord. you are playing monday morning quarterback.

1. I asked a question.
2. I have no idea what a 'monday morning quarterback is.
3. In the UK we do not have 'emergency rooms' we have casualty departments, a woman in full blown labour arriving in casualty would be taken straight to the delivery suite. It is this delay that is being questioned.

[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by lostalex

They had no way of knowing that the baby was being strangled by the umbelical chord. you are playing monday morning quarterback.

By the same token, they didn't know all was going to well with the birth either, so more stringent checks should have been done to ensure all was well.

Taking your point, yes, they didn't know there was a problem with the umbilical cord, however they 'do' have ways of assessing how well the Baby is doing as the birth nears,so they at the very least should have made sure that was the case.
Which is actually one the main reasons for having a Baby in a hospital in the UK in the first place, to deal with these possible problems during the birth.

[Z]

Originally Posted by lostalex

i'm just saying that giving birth is not necessarily the most high priority in an emergency room.

And I agree with you. I assume she was left on her own in the ER waiting room because the staff were already stretched and had too much to do. It's not like they'd have callously ignored her if they'd been able to do anything. British hospitals need more staff and resources.