"Needle phobia and blood tests"

I am pregnant and recently had my 12-week scan and blood test for the Down's/Edwards/Patau syndromes. Four days later, I received a call from midwife Marion from Princess Royal Maternity Hospital in Glasgow to advise that there is a 1 in 26 chance that our baby could have Down's syndrome and to talk me through the next steps of the process.

I collapsed hearing this news and started crying. Marion spoke to me to check I am okay and explained to me that she could book an appointment for the next day at the hospital for the NIPT test, so that we could have more accurate results regarding this. I was extremely upset, as I have severe needle phobia and had to find a pharmacy at 6pm to purchase EMLA cream. Marion had seen in my notes that this is the case and advised that my appointment will be with Nadia who is very calm and will make the experience as positive as possible. 

The next day, I turned up at the hospital an hour in advance (at 8:30 and my appointment was at 9:30) so that I could apply the EMLA cream onto my arms and to practise my breathing prior to the blood test. Initially I was sent by another member of staff to wait in the room where other pregnant women were doing the diabetes test one after the other, but as I was about to pass out hearing all the details about the blood tests, I asked whether I could wait elsewhere.

I was sent to a bay and waited for Nadia there. Nadia came to see me at around 9:00, to introduce herself and to check whether I am okay. She saw that I could not bend my arms because I had put EMLA cream on both arms (in case she could not find a vein easily in one of them) and offered me Tegaderm dressings to keep the cream in place and so I could bend my arms and move normally until the test.

I had never been offered this in the past, although this is my second pregnancy. For someone with needle phobia who has to use the cream, this changed my world, as up to now I would need to go to appointments in cold weather without a coat on so the cream would not get smeared on my arm and I would need to take taxis, as I wouldn't be able to drive without bending my elbow.

Nadia asked me what time I applied the cream and as I had applied it at around 8:45, she was happy to do the test at 9:45 so we would have waited the full hour. 

Nadia was very understanding why I was upset about the test, about the fact that 1 in 26 is still someone's chances and she reassured me that the results would come out within 7 to 10 days so I should keep an eye out for a call.

Nadia took the blood and showed me how it's packed into the tracked Royal Mail envelope and explained to me where the box is by the entrance to post it. As I was still a bit upset, she checked that I understood where I needed to go to post it. 

Five days later I received a call from Marion about the results of the test, which came back as very low chance. I was over the moon, of course, and thanked Marion for paying attention to the notes on my folder regarding the needle phobia and for booking an appointment so soon with me for the test, as well as for booking it with Nadia who was so calm, understanding and patient with me.

Sometimes people treat phobias as a joke and this results in lots of people not going for tests or avoiding hospitals. I feel extremely lucky that we have a team who care about our mental wellbeing, too, and who make adjustments for things to be as positive as possible. Thank you so much!