Mother-of-one Eibhlín Seoighthe said the new national guidelines could not come soon enough

A Galway mother has described as "cruel" her experiences at University Hospital Galway following a missed miscarriage.

Mother-of-one Eibhlín Seoighthe said the new guidelines could not come soon enough.

Following an ultrasound last month, she and her husband Garry discovered that she had suffered a missed miscarriage, which occurs when a foetus dies but the body does not recognise the pregnancy loss.

Almost four weeks on, she has yet to speak to the hospital's bereavement officer because they are "on annual leave".

Ms Seoighthe explained: "We were told that the baby had been gone for about three weeks."

She added: "Beside us we could hear the heartbeat of another baby from the other ultrasounds. We were then taken to a private room, but first we had to walk through the main maternity area."

Ms Seoighthe chose to undergo a D&C to remove the contents of her womb. When she arrived for the D&C, she was asked for a urine sample. "When I looked in the toilet, it was covered in blood," she said. "The nurse... said it was just a blood clot. I realised then there was a chance it could have been the baby.

"I overheard a nurse saying, 'Sure it's probably gone down the toilet anyway, so there is no point in doing this.'"

A spokesperson for the hospital said it did not comment on individual cases.

Irish Independent