A woman who nearly died after medics wrongly told her she had IBS said her own dad saved her life.
Becca Maberly visited her GP a number of times to complain of agonising stomach cramps in May, 2017, but was dismissed and told her symptoms were of IBS and indigestion.
The 44-year-old mum from Balham, London, collapsed at home after her third attempt to get help.
She was left in so much pain she couldn’t walk but after ringing her GP again they said they would try get her a scan in the coming weeks.
However, Becca turned to her own dad, Roger Marwood, 75, an obstetrician and gynaecologist instead.
She said: “I was in so much pain I was shaking and sweating and I couldn’t get off the floor.
"I rang the GP again and told him the pain was worse than labour and something was very wrong.
"I asked for a scan because something awful was going on and he said he’d try and get me an appointment in the next few weeks.
“Dad had been on holiday so in the morning when he was home I called to tell him about the trapped wind diagnosis from the GP and how severe my pain was.
“He told me to take a pregnancy test, even though I had the coil – and it was positive.”
After that, everything happened “very quickly” as her dad rushed over to her house.
After he felt her stomach and chatted to her brother, an A&E consultant, and they took her straight to hospital.
At the hospital, a scan confirmed her father and brother's fears: the mum was suffering an ectopic pregnancy and her abdomen was full of blood.
An ectopic pregnancy is when the foetus develops outside the uterus, typically in a fallopian tube.
She said: “I was told that I needed to go straight to surgery. I collapsed on the floor of the unit and the doctor pulled the emergency cord.
"Suddenly the room was full of people undressing me and putting me on a trolley.
"About 20 minutes after arriving at the hospital I was under general anaesthetic having my fallopian tube removed and a litre of blood drained. I was very lucky my dad knew what to do.”
Years later, Becca said she still suffers the harrowing emotions of what she went through and wants to warn other women to not let their concerns be dismissed by doctors.
She said: “I had nightmares about dying and leaving my boys behind. I kept thinking 'what if' - if I hadn’t called my dad would I have just bled to death at home?
"And what about other women who don’t have an experienced medical professional in the family?
“I also felt sad about the loss of a pregnancy but because I hadn’t known I was pregnant I didn’t know if I was allowed to be sad.
"I hadn’t wanted to be pregnant either as I knew my family was complete. It was a very strange emotion.”
Becca also made a formal complaint and met with her GP, who apologised.
The doctor who allegedly dismissed her symptoms has also committed to undertaking extra training.
She is now working with her local surgery to put new measures in place to prevent them missing an important diagnosis next time.
Becca has also partnered with the charity The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, to spread the message about the symptoms women should look out for.
She said: “The symptoms to look out for are irregular bleeding – which may be dark or watery, severe pain in your tummy, pain in your shoulder tip, feeling dizzy or faint and pain in your bottom or diarrhoea.
“I want women to know – please understand there is no right or wrong way to feel and most importantly you are not alone.”
