A woman who has been on a 10-year IVF journey is calling for fertility and gynaecology appointments to be separated from maternity services in some hospitals following her "heartbreaking" experience. Niamh Smyth and her husband Justyn have spent over a decade trying to start a family, undergoing four rounds of IVF (In vitro fertilisation), with three unsuccessful attempts and one pregnancy which ended in miscarriage. After nearly five years on a gynaecology waiting list, Smyth attended her appointment in May in the Ulster Hospital in Northern Ireland.
However, struggling to find the whereabouts of the gynaecology department in the hospital, she said she was shocked to find out where she had been directed to go. "I phoned them and asked where the gynaecology department was," she said. "They told me it was inside the maternity unit.
Whenever I heard that, my heart just dropped." 'Opportunity to reform NI's maternity services missed' 'Emotional' day as first baby loss certificates applied for in NI Mother and baby mental health unit to go ahead She described sitting alongside expectant parents and families before receiving difficult news about her fertility. "I went in for my appointment, which was a hard appointment, and then had to walk back out past those families." The South Eastern Trust, where Smyth was treated, said it hopes to relocate outpatient gynaecology services from the Ulster Hospital's maternity unit in the coming months. Smyth said that it was not until after the appointment when she started to think about her experience, thinking she could not be the only person to feel upset about the location of her appointment.
She decided to share a video online and many women contacted her with similar stories, alluding that this is a wider issue throughout Northern Ireland. "It isn't just me; it's been going on for years and nothing has changed." Sinn Féin assembly member (MLA) Órlaithí Flynn, who has also undergone fertility treatment, said she recognises the emotions felt by Smyth. Following her own miscarriage, Flynn said she had "very vivid memories" of attending appointments at the Regional Fertility Clinic.
"Your senses are totally heightened in terms of noticing babies coming and going from maternity hospitals and noticing pregnant mothers going in to have their babies," she said. "All of those things seem a lot more sharp and a lot more real, and it can hurt." Flynn said the health trusts "do need to take into consideration the surrounding environment," and should consider the emotional impact of where fertility and gynaecology services are located. She said that the location of where services are delivered should be considered as part of the Department of Health's 'Women's Health Strategy'.
Independent MLA Claire Sugden agreed with Smyth's call for separate services, saying the current system adds to the trauma of women at risk of miscarriage. Sugden said women's healthcare was too focused on patients' clinical needs and not enough on their need for care and emotional support. "I think we need to do better in Northern Ireland around designing women's healthcare and recognising that its just more than a body and body parts," she told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.
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