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angusmummy
28-06-2009, 01:21
Mine sucked! I had an emergency caesarian though so I guess I had it easier than some. My first and only baby so far, what a different experience!

I hate some small country hospitals though. I was told that when I wanted pain medication to ask the midwife, but when I asked she said no, I was doing fine!? Not to mention she was a total cow. Kept telling me to stop screaming because I was making a fuss.

I went into labour at around 7am but went to the hospital at 3pm when the contractions hurt too much. Ran into trouble at around 1am, asked for medication and was refused. Battled on until 3.30am when I began begging for a caesarian (I was only 4cms dilated so far and was hurting like hell). After being refused twice the doctor ummed and ahhed then called the surgeon and I went to theatre. At 4.54am my beautiful DS was born.

Even my experience in the week after the birth makes me fume. My sheets were changed twice during my stay (the first two mornings) and I was offered a clean gown 3 times. It was during that summer heatwave in January. I was woken at 8am every morning because "it was time to get up".

The lactation consultant was a bossy cow, wrenching my boobs everywhere. She even had me expressing both breats in full view of the corridor, much to my embarrassment. She allowed people to wander in and out while I was breastfeeding/expressing, which I found humiliating. She was constantly arguing with my DH over what was best for DS. One day she told him to get lost and that was the end of that.

The midwives kept getting frustrated while showing me how to feed/change/settle DS, saying 'it's not that hard'. For a first time mother with no previous experience with kids, yes it is hard!

The staff also kept complaining about DH, saying he was intimidating and he scared them. Apparently he isn't allowed to express any opinions that are different to the midwives'.

The hospital also printed DS' name wrong in the blue book. When we asked them to fix it we were told to use white-out and write the correct name over the top. We thought that was unfair and asked for a new name sticker to be printed. They said no. DH went to the hospital director to complain, and was argued with until DH mentioned that the book is a legal document that we will need in the future. Then we finally got a sticker with the correct name on it.

I made many a teary phone call to DH during my stay, asking him to come to the hospital (luckily we live just around the corner). I hate Kerang District Hospital and will never go back!!

Am I just being a sook or does this not sound right? I'd love some opinions :)

tomtom
28-06-2009, 01:57
Your not being a sook at all. They sound like a bunch of b!tches. They are supposed to be there to support you and look after you not make you feel like crap.
I wouldn't step foot in that place again if I was you.

Semana
28-06-2009, 02:03
:hugs::hugs:

Not trying to be rude or anything but do you think that they were so rude to you because of your age? I was 17 when I had DD and 19 when I had DS and both times I was treated like crap by the midwives and I assumed it was because I was young and they thought that I didn't know what I was doing etc.

lokibird
28-06-2009, 09:38
That's just awful - what was meant to be such a special experience (esp for your first child) should never have been like that. There is no excuse for them to treat you that way - I am flabbergasted that professional carers would be so horrible.
:hugs: to you.

angusmummy
28-06-2009, 14:05
Not trying to be rude or anything but do you think that they were so rude to you because of your age?

Thanks for replying :) The head midwife was in her 50s and did seem to have the opinion that 18 year olds shouldn't have children :rolleyes:

There was a lovely young girl in her early 20s who helped make my stay bearable, we would sit and chat for ages while she was helping out with DS.

There was also another brilliant midwife, probably in her 40s? She was always kind to me but unfortunately she was only working twice during my stay!

Up until the birth I was lucky enough to not have experienced any negativity about my age, so I guess it was a shock! :)

Zada
28-06-2009, 14:23
Wow sounds like you had a shocking experience! My sister lives in Kerang, she had wonderful births tho (this was 8 and 6 yrs ago tho).
:hugs:

LeeJ
28-06-2009, 14:26
oh, that does sound like a horrible experience!

i hate to say it, but the older midwives were probably that way because of your age, which is quite dissapointing:(

-its not so much the small country hospy's, as apposed to just that small country hospy;)

mamesmumma
01-07-2009, 13:19
Wow sounds absolutely awful - I also had a terrible birth experience due to the staff. But Im in a country where Doctor is GOD and women are completely uneducated idiots who do what they are told or else! Oh and when you ask a question or react differently to what they say they just lie to get you to shut up. Or even kick you out of their hospital!

I so know how you feel about their attitude and bearing ruining your birth experience. Try not to focus on it - or it may eat you up. My bubba boy is 2 and Im preganant again and the evilness I went thru still hurts, try not to let that happen to you. It's really not nice still carrying this.

You did a great job and your bubba is here and healthy not because of them but despite them. You are fantastic! And good on your DH for sticking up for whats right.

sharonnscotty
01-07-2009, 13:28
THAT IS CRAP!!! I would wanna hunt em down and .......

Ok ok that dosent help you.... I have the luxury of choosing my doc & hospital and yes we did change once. I am stil appalled by the nastyness of some supposed midwives (and there are some fantasitc ones). Modern medicine should be available to anyone and with out predjudice. What happened is WRONG without a doubt. Keep you head up and know that you have grown and obviously are the more mature person. BIG BIG Hugs!

bycablecar
02-07-2009, 14:14
I'm sorry about you birth experience, Angusmummy :hugs:

In my opinion the general level of care and consideration they showed you was poor and you would be entitled to make a formal complaint (directly to the hospital or to your state's health minister).

Good luck with your bub!

Oya
02-07-2009, 14:35
You poor thing, I am so sorry you had such an awful experience. Some of those midwifes and nurses can be so rude and bossy. :hugs:

AhelenA
03-07-2009, 10:09
I am so sorry for the poor experience you had especially with your first Bub. Good on your DH for standing up to them. As someone else has mentioned, you could complain to the Director of Health for your state.

I had a friend whose first birth was something similar (small country hospy as well) and she formally complained about the particular midwife to the hospital and it was dealt with very thoroughly. Although with the attitude that you have already experienced with the Director of the hospital, maybe you should go up to the next level.

There are some good links on here to birth trauma sites as well, which you may want to check out if you continue to be haunted by your experience. All the best.

cho
04-07-2009, 21:18
If I was you I would write out a formal complaint, if only to make myself feel better and to make them relize that they treated you poorly.

georgie11
13-08-2009, 23:57
I'm sorry you had such a horrible experience with the staff at the Kerang Hospital. I on the other hand could not fault the midwives and doctors at the Kerang Hospital for both of my kids' births. They were so supportive and always had our best interests at heart.
In the birthing suite (with the last one this year) the midwife stayed with us the entire time and told me what a wonderful job I was doing- even though I didn't believe it. Her voice calmed and assured me that I could get through it. They offered me pain relief several times but I refused- only using the gas. The doctors came in several times to check on me and were always kept informed of my progress (I was labouring in hosp for approx. 7 1/2 hours).
I was never asked to be quiet, instead they told me to make any noise I wished.
Once my kids were born everyone was so complimentary and told me what a fantastic job I'd done.
It didn't bother me that my sheets were not changed- I realised that the nurses had many patients to care for and I don't change my sheets at home every day.
I also had the lactation consultant (and the midwives) squeezing my boobs to help me feed. I didn't mind because they were doing everything they could to help me (and my babies) learn to latch propperly. I found their advice essential in feeding my kids.
I was actually sad to leave the Kerang Hospital and would sincerely like to thank everyone there for making both of my birthing experiences so rewarding!

BabelFish
14-08-2009, 13:14
Oh my goodness! You poor thing - that is just dreadful. I really think that it's very important that you write a formal complaint to the Department of Health - names, if you can remember them, things that happened, specifics etc etc. It's very important that you do this - because a) you need to make sure they are fully aware that this kind of treatment will not go unreported and b) to maybe help prevent other women from going through the same thing as you.

:hugs:

I really hope that you are able to move on from this. None of it was your fault and I feel so terrible for you to have gone through what you have.