In early 2025 I was pregnant with my third baby and began feeling breathless and tight chested at around 17 weeks pregnant. I knew it wasn’t my asthma as my reliever inhaler didn’t help. I mentioned it to a GP who told me it was the pregnancy, but I hadn’t experienced this with my previous babies until the last couple of weeks when my lungs were squashed.
At 20 weeks pregnant, I fell down the stairs and returned to the same GP. They weren’t too concerned about the fall and, once again, dismissed my chest tightness as something benign related to the pregnancy. It didn’t sit right with me. Then during a road trip over the Easter holidays I began having an intense feeling of impending doom. I felt my life was genuinely at risk. It was like I could feel my body failing, and the breathlessness and weakness was overwhelming. When we got home, I went to the GP yet again. This time I told them, “I think I am dying and I’m not going home without help.” I was sent to hospital for scans, where I was told I am probably just anxious and it was the baby growing that was causing the symptoms. But at 24 weeks pregnant the baby was still small, and so I knew I needed to push for scans. They even sent me home and said they were so convinced it was nothing and that I could go home and just wait for a call. But an hour later, they called me and told me to return to the hospital right away. When I got there, I was told I had a pulmonary embolism.
I was treated very poorly and ended up having my baby 3 weeks early via a C-section, during which the breathlessness was terrifying due to lying down. My symptoms began to improve about one month postpartum and I completed 6 months of blood thinning injections. But in the UK you are not offered a follow-up scan to see if the clot has gone. I feel I was repeatedly ignored and gaslit but I am proud of myself for listening to that feeling of impending doom, which was clearly my conscious telling me I needed help.
All this has led me to feel extremely anxious about having more blood clots and being mistreated by medical staff once again. I feel the aftercare is so poor in the UK — you are left with no support.
I have learnt listening to my inner dialogue, when my body is speaking to me and letting me know I am not well. If it feels off, no matter how big or small, don’t ignore what you feel and don’t let anyone just send you away. I believe if I had left it any longer, I might not be here for my 3 beautiful sons.
Please do not be led to believe that because someone has a medical degree, they know your body better than you do. No one knows you better than you. Advocate for yourself.
