By EMS1 Staff
FARNWORTH, England — A pregnant teenager lost her baby hours after a hospital midwife accused her of using an ambulance as a “taxi” when she was suffering from abdominal pain.
Metro reported that Elise Flitcroft, who was 23 weeks pregnant, was transported to the hospital in an ambulance after suffering severe abdominal pain. A midwife at the hospital told her she was only suffering a urinary infection, saying, “Do you know that ‘taxi’ has just cost us £300 ($400)?”
Flitcroft was sent home less than three hours later, and suffered a breach birth on her bathroom floor.
The baby was transported to the hospital, where he later died in an incubator, according to an investigation. A coroner called the midwife’s comment “extraordinarily insensitive,” and the hospital apologized to the family.
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust midwifery head Sue Ainsworth stressed that pregnant women should not be afraid to call for an ambulance.
“I can assure you it is not policy, nor was it a directive to staff, that women in labor should be discouraged from using ambulances to attend hospital,” Ainsworth said in a statement. “Our midwife has apologized to the family for her comments, and lessons have been learned for the future.”