NHS chiefs have apologised to a mother who almost died when she was wrongly discharged after being diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy.
Jamie Hockey, from Aylestone, Leicester, was told she could go home after being diagnosed with the condition in April 2017.
But three days later she developed severe pain and was rushed back to Leicester Royal Infirmary, where doctors discovered her fallopian tube had ruptured.
The self-employed hairdresser, 32, lost around five pints of blood as medics were forced to perform emergency surgery to save her life.
Her consultant told her she should never have been discharged in the first place and the hospital has admitted there were 'shortcomings in her care'.
An ectopic pregnancy, occurring in one in every 90 pregnancies in the UK, is when a fertilised egg implants itself outside of the womb, usually in one of the fallopian tubes.
Jamie Hockey, 32, from Aylestone, Leicester, suffered a ruptured fallopian tube needing emergency major surgery, three days after being discharged after an ectopic pregnancy diagnosis. Pictured, in hospital at Leicester Royal Infirmary
The self-employed hairdresser was told she could go home after being diagnosed with the condition in April 2017, but was in agony three days later with a life-threatening complication
Ms Hockey said: 'I placed great faith in the doctors who treated me and hoped I would be receiving care that would help me get through the ordeal in the best possible way.
'However, at no time did I feel that everything was explained to me properly. My head was in a spin with everything that was going on.
'Had the various options being fully explained I would have agreed to have surgery at the earliest opportunity.
'If this would have happened I feel it would have prevented the added pain I have had to go through.'
An ectopic pregnancy is when a fertilised egg implants itself outside of the womb, usually in one of the fallopian tubes.
The fallopian tubes are the tubes connecting the ovaries to the womb. If an egg gets stuck in them, it won't develop into a baby.
In the UK, around one in every 90 pregnancies is ectopic. This is around 11,000 pregnancies a year.
An ectopic pregnancy doesn't always cause symptoms and may only be detected during a routine pregnancy scan.
Symptoms can include a combination of:
a missed period and other signs of pregnancy tummy pain low down on 1 side vaginal bleeding or a brown watery discharge pain in the tip of your shoulder discomfort when peeing or pooingSymptoms of a fallopian tube rupturing or splitting open are:
a sharp, sudden and intense pain in your tummy feeling very dizzy, sick, or fainting looking very paleThis is very serious and surgery to repair the fallopian tube needs to be carried out as soon as possible.
A rupture
