I have had surgery following a missed miscarriage twice now: for pregnancies number three and four, in 2017, and 2018, respectively. Both times, this was done at the same hospital. Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea Hospital in London is sometimes described as Britain’s first maternity hospital, tracing its history back to 1752, when it was a volunteer-run ‘lying-in’ hospital for pregnant women. It is named after Queen Charlotte, the wife of ‘mad’ King George III - and the same Queen Charlotte who is reimagined in the just-released Bridgerton spin-off. Queen Charlotte became the hospital’s patron and would hold an annual debutante ball to raise money for it. (Incidentally, this ball - madly - still seems to happen.)
When I was being treated at Queen Charlotte’s, I absorbed a hazy kind of comfort from the hospital’s name and how one woman’s own catalogue of obstetric heartaches had gone on to inspire a legacy of striving for excellence in maternity care. (Today, Queen Charlotte’s is internationally recognised for its pregnancy and neonatal research. It also forms part of the UK’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research, funded by the charity Tommy’s. Quite a few of the experts I interviewed for my book are or have been affiliated with Queen Charlotte’s.)
It was only much later that I realised I’d got my history muddled.
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