Why do so many birth stories seem to involve poor care from health professionals?

[kezhulme]

Like most people on here I like to read the happy birth story announcements of wonderful new arrivals, but as I'm WTT it really concerns me that some of the midwives come across as un-necissarily pushy and ignorant to what these poor women tell them.

It worries the hell out of me that a women can tell a midwife that they feel something is wrong but the midwife ignores them for ages at risk to the mum and baby.

Or that the mum feels intense pain or urges to push and the midwife doesn't even check and tells them to go home or to bed.

Speaking to friends who have had babies aswell there are a fair few that have had bad experiences. such as being shouted for throwing up in a sink rather than on the floor! or being left on their own with a newborn after a 52 hour labour because dads arent allowed to stay after 8pm

I'm sure the majority of births must go really well but some scare the hell out of me, how is it possible to avoid getting a midwife that ignores your concerns because she/he thinks your body will have a textbook birth?

I don't want to have a go at midwives in general as they do a fantastic job but these few bad experiences ruin peoples expectations

Rant over

 

[MummytoSummer]

I know how you feel. Before I had Summer I was really concerned at some stories I'd heard about bad experiences.

I agree that midwives in general do a fantastic job and are often under a great deal of pressure but I think sometimes things really need to be looked at.

I was unfortunately one of those that didn't have a great birth experience. My waters broke in the early hours on 28th June, and contractions started straight away, by 9am they were really strong and close together so we went to the local midwife led unit where I'd planned on giving birth. They examined me and I was only 2cm so sent home to rest. Fair enough I thought, there's probably a long way to go and the best place to rest is at home. Well by the next day I was still having painful contractions and had made several trips up to the unit only to be sent home agdin. I kept saying I was worried as my waters had broken well over 24 hours ago. Don't worry, they said it's fine up to 96 hours!
So by the next day I was STILL having really painful contractions and we made our way to the unit again as I could no longer cope with the pain and I'd had no sleep since my contractions began 2 days ago! They wouldn't examine me because risk of infection but instead kept me in overnight and gave me a shot of pethadine to help me sleep through the pain.

The next morning I STILL was in pain and still the unit were happy that things would progress and told me to go home and rest up some more. There was noway I was going to do that and my husband was getting quite upset at seeing me in so much pain so we ignored the unit and drove to the main hospital. We arrived there at 8am on the 1st July and after being examined by the midwives and filling them in on what had happened so far they immediatley hooked me up to a drip to induce me and were horrified that the unit had said I could go 96 hours without my waters, when infact 24 hours was all they recommend, 48 maximum and that carries major risks. My waters had been gone for 72 hours already!

My labour really came on strong once the drip was in and I progressed to 7cm after having an epidural. After 4 hours with the epidural all the pain returned and when I told them they thought I was imagining it! Painful induced contractions is not something you can 'imagine' - I was in agony! They reluctantly topped up my epidural but this did nothing. They went on to top it up a further 3 times and it still did nothing! I begged them to bring back the anethatist and at first they refused. It got do bad that my husband threatened them with a formal complaint if they didn't bring him back. When he finally came back to see me I made the midwives eat their words when he discovered the tube was no longer deep enough in my back and so the epidural had become ineffective! It had now been 2 hours since I first said it wasn't working! They said they'd have to remove the tube and now start all over again.

When the registrar came on shift that evening and came to check on me she couldn't
believe i had been left so long with my waters gone and in quite a panic and while she was in the room with me she got on her phone to get her surgical teal ready for theatre as she said I needed an emergency c section. That was at 10.30pm and by 11pm I was in theatre being given a spinal block and Summer was born at 11.21pm. In total it was over 92 hours since my waters had broken and my contractions started!

As a result my baby was taken straight from me in theatre (I didn't even get to hold or feed her) and she was whisked down to scbu and put on adrip to fight off any infections she may have been subjected to because of no waters. I couldn't hold her until the next day (2nd July) and she didn't come up on the ward with me until 3rd July. We didn't cone home until 5th July. I attempted breast feeding but she never really took to it because for the first 48 hours she was exclusivley drip fed glucose. I was able to breast feed with difficulty for 3 weeks and my health visitors were certain it was all down to the birth.

Oh my god, I did not mean to ramble on for so long! Well done if you could be bothered to read all that! I was just trying to say basically I heard more bad stories than good. Although I know there are many women that have amazing wonderful natural births and brilliant experiences with their midwives. I guess I was just one of the unlucky ones!

I hope everyone wtt gets the birth plan they hope for!

X

 

[Linzi]

I had a famtasic experience in hospital the midwives did a fantastic job, both during labour and aftercare. But it was incredibly quiet when I was in there. I may as well have had a private room coz there was no one else on the ward!!

I think midwives do an amazing job and are overworked which means they cant be in 30 places at once. But dont be scared by all of the stories because it isnt always bad xxx

 

[Carmello_01]

Please don't forget that if someone has had a bad experience you'll probably hear about it more often than a positive one, a bad experience usually requires more processing and venting than a good one.

 

[katy1310]

I couldn't have had better care. My midwives were absolutely amazing - when I had my 25 week check they instantly picked up on high bp, and sent me off to the bigger hospital for monitoring.

There, I was told my baby would be early, maybe 30 weeks. I was in floods of tears and the midwives again were just so lovely. I was transferred again to an even bigger hospital and again, they couldn't have been more caring. I burst into tears on the doctor after being told my baby wasn't doing well at the scan and she just put her arms round me and so did the midwife, and gave me the biggest hug and said they'd deliver that day and give the baby a better chance.

They were all just so lovely and without them, my baby and I probably wouldn't be here.

I hope I've not scared anyone by having a 27 weeker but I just wanted to let you know about the wonderful care I had My baby is now a very happy, healthy 8 month old. xxxxx

 

[beccad]

The horror stories do worry me a bit. Half the people I know have had a less than satisfactory care during birth, some of it downright dangerous quite frankly, being left having painful contractions for five days with no progression. My SIL had a terrible time - the midwives tried to induce her baby that was in the 'frank breech' position, and would never have been born safely.

Why is it in this day and age that women are still expected to go through all that pain as a matter of course? Why should it be that way? Why they not trusted to know when something isn't right?

 

[Nimoo]

the mide wife who delivered my LO at 34wks was amazing she was really encouraging and kept calm with me and was really good with OH she could see he was nervous!

she reminded me when to take gas and air and to breathe it in slowly! she helped me with the pushing and when she could see that i was strugeling with the head she gave me a tiny cut and 5 pushes later he arrived!!

the rest of the doctors who arrived just before LO was born were excellent aswell they talked me through everything they were doing, they had to make sure he was fine cos he was a premie!

my experience was amazing some parts of it had down sides but hey i got my lo in the end and we both came through it fine, what more could i ask for!!
try to concentrate on the positives thats what i did!

sorry for those who had a bad experience hope next time around things go better
xX

 

[happygal]

one of my midwives were useless when i was pregnant. when i was 39 weeks, developed really bad swelling to my legs, feet and hands. my bp was high, i had ++protein in my urine and id been having headaches. she dismissed all of these symptoms and made an appointment for me to be seen on my due date. the next day i was admitted to hospital with pre eclampsia and was induced at 39+3.
It really made me mad that i wasnt listened to but i have to say that the rest of the care i recieved was fantastic x

 

[berniegroves]

This is something that really concerns me as well. Now that we are WTTC i have been speaking to lots of women about their experiences and most of them seem to be bad.

The thought of being left in the hospital with a new born baby and my husband being sent home scares me witless!! So much so that i have even started thinking that if we do get pregnant i would consider a home birth.
Has anyone ever had a baby in a private hospital? Have those experiences been better?

 

[Star7890]

My mum had a bad experience where she was rushed for an emergency caesarean 10 weeks early with me due to pre pre-eclampsia. The doctors didn't handle it well and performed the caesarean with no anaesthetic, and my mum still has therapy now about it. Terrible. I understand the issue of having to save the baby but I can't even imagine the pain she went through.
Does anyone have any information on whether pre-eclampsia has any genetic roots or any similar experiences? Am I more likely to develop this or need a caesarean? Em

 

[LolaAnn]

Unfortunately it does seem like the majority of people do have some kind of bad experience. Even though I think I had a really nice homebirth etc I still had a pretty rough midwife at one point who even 6 months on still bothers me a bit.

The only way to truly guarantee you get a supportive midwife and birth experience in my opinion is to fork out for a independent midwife and give birth at home - for most people this is unfortunately too expensive - me included

 

[Ozzieshunni]

I think it depends where you go to deliver. The midwives where I'm going to be delivering LO have an excellent track record and anyone I've spoken to says it's a wonderful place to have a baby. Even if they tried to jerk me around, OH would have me out of there and into the hospital so fast their heads would spin if I hadn't already given them tons of cheek

 

[happygal]

The thought of being left in the hospital with a new born baby and my husband being sent home scares me witless!!

this is another thing i wasnt happy about. when i was induced, i was given my first pessary at 6pm on the monday night, had pains through the night so didnt get much sleep and Olivia was born at 9.28pm on the tuesday night.by which time id not slept properly since the sunday. we were moved to the ward at 11.30pm and at midnight my OH was sent home. the mw left ollie with me the whole night so i barely slept at all untill OH arrived the following morning.

when we have our next baby im going to try to have it at the hospital in the next town because they dont have a labour ward as such, every woman has their own room which they stay in until they leave and their partners can stay with them the whole time.

 

[qwk]

I think the most reassuring thing you can do is to educate yourself so you are not completely dependent on the midwife or doctor. I operate under the assumption that doctors will tell you whatever they want to get you in and out of the hospital quickly, whether their recommendations are in your best interests or not. Just look at the INSANE rate of C-sections in the US now. TOTALLY ABSURD.

I would recommend the book The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth, which explains 1) why many of the "technological advances" are used now, and 2) whether they are actually useful. If you don't know the benefits and risks of something complex, like, say, electronic fetal monitoring, you are likely to just agree to whatever the doctors say - which may not be in your best interest or that of your baby.

The US must be set up differently in general than the UK though, as the vast majority of births are overseen by a doctor in a hospital, not a midwife, which means you generally get the bigger push for unnecessary C-sections and short labors and drugs.

I would also recommend really knowing your hospital/delivery place - how are they set up? Do they have private rooms? How many people can you have in the delivery room with you? Can OH/DH/mom/someone stay in the room overnight with you? Can the baby sleep in your room? Do they have lactation consultants? Basically, where is there emphasis - on getting you out of there ASAP or making sure you have a safe and healthy birth?

I also plan to hire a doula who understands my birth plan and can help be an advocate during delivery. Then you have someone, besides you and your OH/DH, who can stand up for your choices even if the doctor is insisting that you be induced or have a forceps delivery or [insert thing you didn't want to happen during birth and probably don't need, but when it's 3 am and you are exhausted you may just give up and agree to it!]. Of course, there are certainly situations when these things are merited, but in general giving birth should not be treated like it is a horrendous thing! It is a natural body function!!

 

[Ozzieshunni]

I think the most reassuring thing you can do is to educate yourself so you are not completely dependent on the midwife or doctor. I operate under the assumption that doctors will tell you whatever they want to get you in and out of the hospital quickly, whether their recommendations are in your best interests or not. Just look at the INSANE rate of C-sections in the US now. TOTALLY ABSURD.

I would recommend the book The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth, which explains 1) why many of the "technological advances" are used now, and 2) whether they are actually useful. If you don't know the benefits and risks of something complex, like, say, electronic fetal monitoring, you are likely to just agree to whatever the doctors say - which may not be in your best interest or that of your baby.

The US must be set up differently in general than the UK though, as the vast majority of births are overseen by a doctor in a hospital, not a midwife, which means you generally get the bigger push for unnecessary C-sections and short labors and drugs.

I would also recommend really knowing your hospital/delivery place - how are they set up? Do they have private rooms? How many people can you have in the delivery room with you? Can OH/DH/mom/someone stay in the room overnight with you? Can the baby sleep in your room? Do they have lactation consultants? Basically, where is there emphasis - on getting you out of there ASAP or making sure you have a safe and healthy birth?

I also plan to hire a doula who understands my birth plan and can help be an advocate during delivery. Then you have someone, besides you and your OH/DH, who can stand up for your choices even if the doctor is insisting that you be induced or have a forceps delivery or [insert thing you didn't want to happen during birth and probably don't need, but when it's 3 am and you are exhausted you may just give up and agree to it!]. Of course, there are certainly situations when these things are merited, but in general giving birth should not be treated like it is a horrendous thing! It is a natural body function!!

Coming from California to Scotland, I slight resent this comment, but I know that there are women in the US that schedule c-sections, which is just mental to me.....but I would revise your comment and support it with facts before stating such information

 

[qwk]

I think the most reassuring thing you can do is to educate yourself so you are not completely dependent on the midwife or doctor. I operate under the assumption that doctors will tell you whatever they want to get you in and out of the hospital quickly, whether their recommendations are in your best interests or not. Just look at the INSANE rate of C-sections in the US now. TOTALLY ABSURD.

I would recommend the book The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth, which explains 1) why many of the "technological advances" are used now, and 2) whether they are actually useful. If you don't know the benefits and risks of something complex, like, say, electronic fetal monitoring, you are likely to just agree to whatever the doctors say - which may not be in your best interest or that of your baby.

The US must be set up differently in general than the UK though, as the vast majority of births are overseen by a doctor in a hospital, not a midwife, which means you generally get the bigger push for unnecessary C-sections and short labors and drugs.

I would also recommend really knowing your hospital/delivery place - how are they set up? Do they have private rooms? How many people can you have in the delivery room with you? Can OH/DH/mom/someone stay in the room overnight with you? Can the baby sleep in your room? Do they have lactation consultants? Basically, where is there emphasis - on getting you out of there ASAP or making sure you have a safe and healthy birth?

I also plan to hire a doula who understands my birth plan and can help be an advocate during delivery. Then you have someone, besides you and your OH/DH, who can stand up for your choices even if the doctor is insisting that you be induced or have a forceps delivery or [insert thing you didn't want to happen during birth and probably don't need, but when it's 3 am and you are exhausted you may just give up and agree to it!]. Of course, there are certainly situations when these things are merited, but in general giving birth should not be treated like it is a horrendous thing! It is a natural body function!!

Coming from California to Scotland, I slight resent this comment, but I know that there are women in the US that schedule c-sections, which is just mental to me.....but I would revise your comment and support it with facts before stating such information

Hi Ozzie - didn't mean to offend..! what was offensive...? Oh, and by the way, I am American, and still live here

The C-section rate in the US HAS risen quickly; it was around 5% in the 1960s and is now over 30%. The World Health Center recommends a national rate of around 10%.

But again, I didn't mean to offend, more just to emphasize the importance of educating yourself about your options during delivery

And as I said, there are CERTAINLY situations when things such as forcep deliveries and C-sections are absolutely necessary, but there has been a recent push by doctors to go the C-section route in order to speed deliveries or in response to the use of constant electronic fetal monitoring.

Anyway didn't mean to offend! not sure how I did though

 

[Ozzieshunni]

I suppose it's just every time I see someone in the UK/EU take a crack at the USA, I get a little uppity. Not your fault. I think that there are a lot of stereotypes that follow Americans.

 

[buttonnose82]

I didn't get the best care but thats down too the fact I didn't follow 'text book' as such, I got too 10cm's dilated and my contractions were VERY irregular (contraction - 3 min - contraction - 45 min - contraction - 20 min), My contractions only became 'regular' as such when I started pushing but even then I would have 2 ontop of each other then nothing for 5 mins

Because my contractions were so irregular the midwives didn't believe I was in labour and it was only after almost 72 hours of contractions (66 hours after waters broke) that I demanded too be examined that they infact discovered I was 8cm's dilated

 

[qwk]

Gotcha. Well, the high C-section rate is not really a stereotype, but reflects the state of medicine in the US. Not that all other developed countries are necessarily better; I THINK UK's rate is in the 25% rate range too? Slightly lower, but still. Higher than likely necessary. In my opinion anyway

To be clear though, to the forum-audience in general, I do not mean my comments to insult or criticize people who do end up choosing planned C-sections - that kind of choice it is a very personal decision and I would never presume to make it for anyone! But even if that is your choice, education and awareness are key

Public service announcement over!

 

[LolaAnn]

It's not just the US - the C section rate right here in the UK is abhorrent.
The best thing to do is to check out the rate of c sections the hospital you are planning on going to has. I checked mine out and it was 35%... right then and there I decided on having a home birth if at all possible. A number that high just screams out that something is not right at that hospital.

https://www.birthchoiceuk.com/HospitalStatistics.htm
^^ this link can tell you CS rates for your hospital xx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesarean_section#Incidence <- rates of CS worldwide. USA isn't the worst, it appears china is on the whole.