John Swinney has apologised to two women who suffered from miscarriages following failures in NHS care.
The First Minister said he was “terribly sorry” to hear the experiences of Elizabeth Crammond and Katie Lyon.
He said the level of care they received was not the standard it should’ve been.
The women are now campaigning for improvements in the framework for delivering maternity services.
They were at Holyrood during First Minister’s Questions when Scottish Labour acting leader Dame Jackie Baillie raised their cases and warned their experiences were not “unique”.
STV NewsMs Lyon had noticed spotting on December 23 during a pregnancy following a previous miscarriage.
Ms Lyon, who has had three miscarriages, attended A&E on Christmas Eve because the maternity service was full. It took another seven days before her miscarriage was confirmed.
She told STV News: “Services need to be accessible 24/7, 365 days a year. When you’re going through this, you cannot wait to get the answers you need.
“I want to see words transferred into actions. They need to remember this is about our experience and what we’re going through.”
Ms Baillie also raised Ms Crammond’s pregnancy, which was considered high-risk following previous miscarriages.
STV NewsShe told STV News in July she was left “traumatised” after suffering her third pregnancy loss earlier this year.
She said: “I’m traumatised, I’m hurt, not just for myself but my family and my daughter. It’s happened three times, and I feel I have to say something because the more I keep quiet about it, the more things will not change within the system.”
Elizabeth asked for her care to be transferred from NHS Tayside to NHS Fife, where she had previously given birth to her daughter.
Within days, she experienced pain and bleeding, and says she repeatedly contacted the Early Pregnancy Unit in Kirkcaldy for help.
“I was triaged over the phone, and I had to go privately for two scans showing strong heartbeats. When I went in on the ninth day, I was told, ‘your baby’s dead, there’s not much we can do’.
“If I were ever to have a future pregnancy, I would be terrified.”
In a letter, NHS Tayside apologised to Elizabeth, saying there appeared to have been a miscommunication from NHS Fife regarding her request to transfer care.
She was also told that, following a previous miscarriage, her pregnancy record had been closed, information which would have triggered additional monitoring and treatment.
She said in July: “Now, from this moment in time to the future, my life will always be what if because there should be another child there. It’s almost like a postcode lottery to get heard, get seen, probably have investigations and that needs to change.”
Swinney ‘terribly sorry’ for experience of two women
Dame Jackie told the First Minister on Thursday: “As Katy herself said, families should not have to endure repeated loss before their concerns are taken seriously.”
The First Minister said: “I am terribly sorry for the experience that these two women have had within our health services.”
He said the framework for the delivery of maternity care “should address the circumstances that Jackie Baillie has put to me but it has clearly not done that”.
Mr Swinney said the Government was looking into what happened to Ms Crammond, saying: “She should not have had that experience.”
He said everyone using Scotland’s health service should receive the best and most appropriate care.
He added: “In the cases that Jackie Baillie has put to me today, that clearly has not happened, and I apologise for that.
“I will happily explore both those cases to provide as much information and as much response as I can to Elizabeth and to Katie, to whom I express my sympathy and my empathy at what they have experienced.”
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