Ok, so I need to get ready to organize my thoughts and put them down on paper so I can start a formal complaint against some of the people at the hospital that I encountered when Ilo was born. I don't even know how to make this short, or how to not make this ramble, but here it goes....
Ilo was born at 6:47pm on Thursday Dec 16th. I had some trouble delivering the placenta and some of it got left behind. They had to sedate me and do a manual removal. This was incredibly painful and the sedation didn't seem to do anything to help. Anyhow... I made it to my room over on the postpartum ward and patiently waited for morning to roll around for the pediatrician to come in and check Ilo out. I made it clear in my birth plan, and to the nurses on the postpartum ward that I intended to leave as soon as Ilo was checked out and I was through with my two rounds of IV antibiotics. Ilo had 10 on his apgar, so I figured he was going to get a clear bill of health when the doctor came.
6am, the doctor came. He was really nice and you could just tell that he had something special. Great with babies. He said Ilo was perfect and as soon as I hit the 24 hour mark, we would be released. I told him that I wanted to leave before then, that I would sign the leaving against medical advice papers, and we would be on our way as soon as I was done with my medicine. He said, "baby is perfectly healthy, and I don't see a problem with that, so okie dokie."
There was a shift change with the nurses. The new ones came in and introduced themselves. One nurse came in, looked at Ilo's chart, said, "oh, he was born yesterday morning." I explained to her that he was born last night and she wanted to know how he got his discharge papers (since it hadn't been 24 hours). I told her that I was leaving early and the doctor checked him, I told him my wishes, etc. She said "oh" and left.
I finished my medicine and asked for the IV to be removed. I asked three nurses to take it out. Nobody would do it. So I got dressed, with my IV in place, and waited.
Then a psychologist came in. She was really nice. She warned me about postpartum depression. I told her about my history with depression, about how I deal with it, and explained my support system and that I have a psychologist on St. John that I talked to if I felt the need. She said, "you sound like you know what you are doing, I will go get someone to get you your discharge papers". She also knew that I was going to leave before the 24 hour period (this is just 'policy', the waiting period).
Then, about 6 people, maybe 8, all came in my room and sat and stood all around me. One lady, who said she is the social services liaison for the hospital told me that I couldn't leave the hospital. She said I had to wait the 24 hours. I remained calm, told her that the doctor had discharged the baby, so I didn't understand why I couldn't leave if I signed the papers to cover their butts. She said, "Oh, he did?" and the first nurse (the one who asked how he got his discharge papers before the 24 hours) said, "NO, he doesn't have discharge papers." The it went on from there...just some of the things I remember being said,
-don't you care about your baby?
-(in regards to the cost of staying) You can set up a payment plan.
-aren't you worried about something bad happening to your baby
-They scoffed, and rolled their eyes (literally) when I told them I would have follow up care at their satellite clinic on St. John
-They insinuated that the doctors on St. John were inadequate
That is just a little of it.... This went on for awhile and I finally just said, What will happen if I leave? They said they would call the police and social services and implied that I would be arrested and the baby would be taken away from me. I said, "Call Social Services, I want to talk to them." My thinking was, I need to talk to these people, because obviously, this set of people are lunatics and I need to talk to someone who knows a good parent when they see one.
Everyone left the room. The psychologist, if her eyes could talk, they would have been saying "I am so sorry, but I don't know what to do." Apparently, they all went to a meeting, a scheduled meeting that had nothing to do with me, and after they were done, then they decided to call social services. Shortly after that the CEO of the hospital came in to say hello. Then awhile later, two ladies from social services came in. They said, "Do you know why we are here?" I said, "Because I asked them to call you." They were very shocked, said, "nobody EVER wants to see us." I said, "I thought you are supposed to help families?" Anyhow... one of them was totally on my side, but she wasn't out and out saying it. The other one went on and on saying that I was putting my baby at risk, and other B/S. I wouldn't let it go, and they finally said, "Well, we'll go talk to the doctor and see what he says." They came back and said he said I could go, so they got the paperwork ready and I left. This was around noon. But not without a case having been opened and having to report to these people for an unforeseeable amount of the future.
I cannot even explain to you how freaked out I was. I stayed calm, but I was about ready to peel apart. I have social anxiety, and when all of those people came in my room I was so freaked out just by their presence. Then they started in on my about how I was a bad mom, that I might be arrested, that they were going to take the baby from me. I had a death grip on Ilo the whole time. If anyone even tried to touch him, I was going to freak the F out on them. I had to send my husband out, had him go get me something to eat, and that was probably the best thing. He would have went completely ape $hit on these people if he heard what they were saying to me.
So, I take a look at the discharge papers more closely when I get out of the hospital. Ilo had been discharged at 6:27...AM....many many hours before any of this crap happened. The nurse FLAT OUT LIED TO SOCIAL SERVICES. I now know that she is the one who referred me and started the whole mess.
That is just some of it, and I hope you don't mind me adding to this.... Sorry it's so long already!!! I have so much emotion tied up in all of this and I am having a hard time putting it all down. I really really need to though so I can get moving with the formal complaint. I don't want it to be one big long unorganized bitch. My complaint needs to be taken seriously, so I have to make sure that I do this right.
I need everyone's help! I have to write this in a way that fully explains what happened to someone who wasn't there (like all of you
)
Ilo was born at 6:47pm on Thursday Dec 16th. I had some trouble delivering the placenta and some of it got left behind. They had to sedate me and do a manual removal. This was incredibly painful and the sedation didn't seem to do anything to help. Anyhow... I made it to my room over on the postpartum ward and patiently waited for morning to roll around for the pediatrician to come in and check Ilo out. I made it clear in my birth plan, and to the nurses on the postpartum ward that I intended to leave as soon as Ilo was checked out and I was through with my two rounds of IV antibiotics. Ilo had 10 on his apgar, so I figured he was going to get a clear bill of health when the doctor came.
6am, the doctor came. He was really nice and you could just tell that he had something special. Great with babies. He said Ilo was perfect and as soon as I hit the 24 hour mark, we would be released. I told him that I wanted to leave before then, that I would sign the leaving against medical advice papers, and we would be on our way as soon as I was done with my medicine. He said, "baby is perfectly healthy, and I don't see a problem with that, so okie dokie."
There was a shift change with the nurses. The new ones came in and introduced themselves. One nurse came in, looked at Ilo's chart, said, "oh, he was born yesterday morning." I explained to her that he was born last night and she wanted to know how he got his discharge papers (since it hadn't been 24 hours). I told her that I was leaving early and the doctor checked him, I told him my wishes, etc. She said "oh" and left.
I finished my medicine and asked for the IV to be removed. I asked three nurses to take it out. Nobody would do it. So I got dressed, with my IV in place, and waited.
Then a psychologist came in. She was really nice. She warned me about postpartum depression. I told her about my history with depression, about how I deal with it, and explained my support system and that I have a psychologist on St. John that I talked to if I felt the need. She said, "you sound like you know what you are doing, I will go get someone to get you your discharge papers". She also knew that I was going to leave before the 24 hour period (this is just 'policy', the waiting period).
Then, about 6 people, maybe 8, all came in my room and sat and stood all around me. One lady, who said she is the social services liaison for the hospital told me that I couldn't leave the hospital. She said I had to wait the 24 hours. I remained calm, told her that the doctor had discharged the baby, so I didn't understand why I couldn't leave if I signed the papers to cover their butts. She said, "Oh, he did?" and the first nurse (the one who asked how he got his discharge papers before the 24 hours) said, "NO, he doesn't have discharge papers." The it went on from there...just some of the things I remember being said,
-don't you care about your baby?
-(in regards to the cost of staying) You can set up a payment plan.
-aren't you worried about something bad happening to your baby
-They scoffed, and rolled their eyes (literally) when I told them I would have follow up care at their satellite clinic on St. John
-They insinuated that the doctors on St. John were inadequate
That is just a little of it.... This went on for awhile and I finally just said, What will happen if I leave? They said they would call the police and social services and implied that I would be arrested and the baby would be taken away from me. I said, "Call Social Services, I want to talk to them." My thinking was, I need to talk to these people, because obviously, this set of people are lunatics and I need to talk to someone who knows a good parent when they see one.
Everyone left the room. The psychologist, if her eyes could talk, they would have been saying "I am so sorry, but I don't know what to do." Apparently, they all went to a meeting, a scheduled meeting that had nothing to do with me, and after they were done, then they decided to call social services. Shortly after that the CEO of the hospital came in to say hello. Then awhile later, two ladies from social services came in. They said, "Do you know why we are here?" I said, "Because I asked them to call you." They were very shocked, said, "nobody EVER wants to see us." I said, "I thought you are supposed to help families?" Anyhow... one of them was totally on my side, but she wasn't out and out saying it. The other one went on and on saying that I was putting my baby at risk, and other B/S. I wouldn't let it go, and they finally said, "Well, we'll go talk to the doctor and see what he says." They came back and said he said I could go, so they got the paperwork ready and I left. This was around noon. But not without a case having been opened and having to report to these people for an unforeseeable amount of the future.
I cannot even explain to you how freaked out I was. I stayed calm, but I was about ready to peel apart. I have social anxiety, and when all of those people came in my room I was so freaked out just by their presence. Then they started in on my about how I was a bad mom, that I might be arrested, that they were going to take the baby from me. I had a death grip on Ilo the whole time. If anyone even tried to touch him, I was going to freak the F out on them. I had to send my husband out, had him go get me something to eat, and that was probably the best thing. He would have went completely ape $hit on these people if he heard what they were saying to me.
So, I take a look at the discharge papers more closely when I get out of the hospital. Ilo had been discharged at 6:27...AM....many many hours before any of this crap happened. The nurse FLAT OUT LIED TO SOCIAL SERVICES. I now know that she is the one who referred me and started the whole mess.
That is just some of it, and I hope you don't mind me adding to this.... Sorry it's so long already!!! I have so much emotion tied up in all of this and I am having a hard time putting it all down. I really really need to though so I can get moving with the formal complaint. I don't want it to be one big long unorganized bitch. My complaint needs to be taken seriously, so I have to make sure that I do this right.
I need everyone's help! I have to write this in a way that fully explains what happened to someone who wasn't there (like all of you
)
