Freelance writer Emily Roberts has launched a petition to create separate waiting areas for women going through infertility treatment away from pregnant women. Here she tells her story in the hope for changes to be made in hospitals.

I sat in the waiting room, rubbing my sore, swollen stomach. It protruded as much as the other women around me, but not for the same reasons. They were all pregnant, waiting for scans or check ups, whereas I was extremely bloated and in pain.

I heard one couple excitedly discussing possible names for their unborn child, and watched another beaming over their scan pictures. I tried not to listen as two women next to me struck up a conversation about how many weeks gone they were. The worst part, was when a woman sat down beside me and asked me my due date. I didn't blame her. The whole waiting area was focused solely on pregnancy. How should she know I was there for the opposite reason, to discuss my infertility.

As women all around me lovingly caressed their blooming bumps, my heart broke, knowing I may never experience the same joy.

I had just been diagnosed with endometriosis, an incurable condition with symptoms including pain, fatigue and infertility.

It might seem too cruel to be true, but the reality in many hospitals across the country is that those with possible infertility problems are being made to wait in areas totally focused on pregnancy.

Sitting in the waiting room in Basingstoke hospital's maternity building, I looked for a distraction to focus away from all the happy pregnant women. I went to pick up a magazine only to find they were all about babies. The television was showing information about having a baby and even the notice board was solely about babies. It was torturous, at a time when I had no idea if I would ever be able to conceive myself.

I understand that pregnant women cannot be hidden away. But to force those with possible infertility problems to wait in an area focused entirely on babies is incredibly insensitive.

Thankfully, this doesn't affect me currently as I went on to have a little boy through IVF. However, I have launched a petition to help all the other people with infertility problems who are still forced to sit in such waiting rooms.

As a leader of a support group for women with endometriosis, I know of others who have complained directly to their hospital about this matter, myself included. But we are not being listened to and our concerns are not being taken seriously.

The NHS needs to be considerate and sensitive towards patients' emotional well-being, and take it more seriously. The most frustrating part is that I sorted the problem at Basingstoke hospital in 2015. I worked with a member of staff to help create a separate waiting area, which included information about gynaecological conditions. A year later and it had been forgotten about. I complained again, but the woman I had originally spoken to had left and nothing was done.

It is extremely disheartening to know that other women are now unnecessarily suffering in the way I did, particularly when I had pushed for the matter to be resolved.

My petition appears to have highlighted a wider issue, in that women who have suffered a miscarriage are also being asked to wait in the same area as pregnant women. This seems particularly cruel and unkind. The comments from those signing the petition are devastating to read, but will hopefully force those who can make a difference to finally listen and make the necessary changes.

What I'm asking for wouldn't cost hospitals lots of money. Small changes could make a big difference. Perhaps they could put out a few non pregnancy/baby magazines, or some posters on the walls about gynaecological conditions. Maybe they could use a spare room for women to wait if they are particularly sensitive about sitting with pregnant women. It wouldn't take much, but I believe every hospital could do something to better support those with infertility and their emotional well-being.

This might seem like a minor issue compared to other problems. But it is an issue which could be resolved quickly and easily. The NHS needs to listen to the concerns of its patients with infertility and stop treating them with such cruelty and insensitivity.

Since launching my petition Basingstoke hospital has been in touch to say it is currently working on a project to relocate gynaecological appointments. I have been again asked to work with them. This sounds positive, but I have been in this position before. And it doesn't change the fact that some women are still being treated insensitively, or that three years since I first complained the issue is still rumbling on.

To sign the petition visit https://www.change.org/p/simon-stevens-stop-the-nhs-forcing-people-with-infertility-to-wait-for-appointments-with-pregnant-women.

Alex Whitfield, chief executive of Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital, Royal Hampshire County Hospital, in Winchester, and Andover War Memorial Hospital, said: “We understand the distress that sharing a waiting room with expectant mothers must cause for women who are having difficulty conceiving and have taken steps to ensure that, if at all possible, this does not happen at our hospitals.

“We are disappointed not to have been able to make this happen for all of the women who attend our gynaecology clinics and continue to work hard to find solutions in the limited space available to us. These include moving clinics to other areas and looking at our scheduling carefully to try and ensure that gynaecology and maternity clinics happen at different times.”