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A woman who suffered a miscarriage claims she was forced to wait in A&E for three hours with her dead baby in her handbag.
Tammy Anderson, 33, was told to bring her son’s body into hospital when she rang midwives to inform them about what had happened.
The traumatised mum-of-two ended up sitting in a crowded waiting room with the corpse of her baby – named Archie – beside her.
She was finally seen by a doctor but claims medics failed to put her in touch with a bereavement midwife until nearly 48 hours later.
Tammy said: “It was a horrific three hours, which I will never, ever forget.
“I had Archie wrapped in a blanket inside my handbag because I couldn’t face seeing him.
“After such a traumatic experience all I wanted was be at home with my children, not in a public place.
“I was being sick while I was in the waiting room because I was so scared and shaken.
“I got to the point where I was begging the staff to come and help me.
“They didn’t treat me like a human being, there was no compassion or respect.”
Tammy and her partner Shaun Hammond, 44, discovered they were expecting their first child Archie in April.
The following month the wedding and events planner suffered a bleed and contacted midwives at Queen’s Hospital, Romford, Essex.
They told the devastated mum that she had miscarried over the phone but this was not confirmed by tests or scans.
On June 13 she suffered the traumatic ordeal of delivering Archie at her home in Dagenham, Essex.
Daughter Jamie-Leigh, 14, bravely helped her mum during the early morning medical drama.
Tammy said: “We managed to break the cord together and wrapped him in a blanket “My daughter was very brave and put all her fears to one side so that she could support me through it.
“She saw things no child should have to see.”
Tammy immediately phoned Queen’s Hospital and was told a midwife would come to her home.
Several hours later she received a call informing her that she should take Archie – born at 15 weeks – to hospital herself.
She was driven to A&E by relatives and arrived at around 7pm.
Tammy said: “I felt absolutely distraught – carrying my baby dead in my handbag just ripped me to pieces.
“I waited 10 minutes to get booked in. Then I was told to take a seat.
“Three hours later I was still waiting for the gynaecological registrar to come down.
“How they left me for so long with my dead baby in my bag is unbelievable.
“Patients and police were coming and going and there were children present Even now I still feel numb about how I was treated.”
Tammy was seen shortly after 10pm when she finally handed her dead son into the care of the hospital.
She was told bereavement experts would be in touch to support her.
But the mum says that 36 hours on from her traumatic ordeal she had still not received a call.
She finally spoke to a bereavement midwife on the afternoon of June 15 after contacting them herself.
Tammy said: “They were clearly ashamed with how I had been treated.
“I was kicked to the curb.”
Tammy and mechanic Shaun – whose son was due to be born in October – are now struggling to deal with the traumatic miscarriage.
She added: “To me what they have done is despicable, I’m so angry and upset.
“To go through such a traumatic thing would have been horrible anyway.
“But the treatment I received made it even more horrendous.”
The Care Quality Commission rates maternity services at the hospital as “requiring improvement”.
A hospital spokesman confirmed the incident is being investigated.
Kathryn Halford, Chief Nurse at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We are very sorry to hear of Ms Anderson’s poor experience with us.
“We know what a difficult and painful time this is for all women and we aim to offer them as much support as we can.
“We’re investigating her case fully and have also invited her into our hospital so we can discuss what happened in more detail.”
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