Before I start my story of Evies birth I want to give a trigger warning, there was some trauma involved so please be aware this could be upsetting for some.
Let me begin by saying I loved being pregnant. I loved everything about it, the feelings of baby moving, the glow, heck even the leaky boobs and SPD – they were all part of the journey to bring our little girl into this world and I wouldn’t change a thing. Well, I wouldn’t change a thing of the parts I had control over.
Having gone into labour, as always, in the early hours of the morning I held off as long as possible before phoning my mum to come through to watch the boys. I was never known for quick labours, hours, sometimes even days passed while I had contractions and then of course the baby would appear with the threat of c-section, intervention or a knife (Yes, I was told the midwife was going to have to cut my lady parts and he was out in 3 pushes!)
Evie however had other ideas!
Having arrived at the hospital at 3pm I headed straight for the delivery suite, jumped into a bath and was straight back out as the pains were too much I couldn’t even get comfortable in the water! Up onto the table and one of the midwives popped her head around the door only to realise Evie was making an appearance already. Within 6 minutes of me getting up onto that table our first little girl was born.
Everything was going smoothly and even my SPD pains had eased enough for me to be a little more comfortable, I was given an injection to release my placenta and this is where it all started to go wrong.
The midwife ‘down there’ wrapped the umbilical chord around her wrist and YANKED, she yanked it damn hard too – so much so that i yelled in pain and hubby even had to leave the room as it just all was too much. He almost passed out as the placenta, minus most of the outer skin came away from me.
“Its fine, everything is fine, congratulations” With that the ‘placenta’ was scrunched up in paper and disposed of.
These were people who do this full time and many times a day so I didn’t think anything else of it and fell into the little bubble of newborn babyness that overcomes you when you deliver a child.
However, after getting home and feeling a little unwell the following day I knew something just wasn’t right. I was bleeding a little more than usual and just presumed it was because of a quick birth. *Overshare coming* After a visit to the toilet that will stay in my mind forever, I peed pure blood – literally there was no stopping it even when i had finished ‘peeing’ there was still blood pouring. I wiped and that was when I found a huge piece of tissue which was the outer skin of the placenta had come away from me. Having something that resembled an internal organ in your hand sent me into a spiral of panic and sheer fright. I just remember screaming to hubby that I needed help, and quickly.
We rang my mum to come and stay with the boys and I remember watching out of the window for her to pull up, crying and saying tell the children I love them – I really thought this was it, I couldn’t lose this much blood and still be ok.
Having taken the ’tissue’ with me they were waiting for me on arrival at the hospital and I was whisked straight into a private room with a doctor who immediately apologised and set about making sure everything else was ‘removed’. There was A LOT of tissue removed and he just kept apologising saying it should never have happened and he didn’t know how it had. I was too ill to be annoyed at this point and just wanted to be reassured I was going to be alright.
I really do wish I had had the hindsight to take this further as I think this was one of the things that made me worry so much during my pregnancy with Amelia and when I went into hospital for Amelia to be born it was the first thing that was brought up by the staff – obviously it was on my file and they were made aware of the situation because they couldn’t have been more attentive this time round.
We are known as a society for letting things slide too easily, I really was too soft to take things any further for repercussions of what might happen to the member of staff – seriously that was my main concern, WTF?! I really wish now that I had taken this issue up with clinical negligence solicitors – even just so that this never happens to anyone else.
XOXO
Debbie
This is a collaborative post
You know it’s just so easy not to though isn’t it. I think this is why they get away with so much with regards to poor treatment at birth. We are so exhausted and wrung out from birth and a new baby, we just don’t have the energy to deal with a complaint. I’m sorry that was your experience though. It sounds like that was really mismanaged and it must have been very traumatising for you.