To whom it may concern:

I am writing to express concern about my recent experience in Labor and Delivery triage at (the hospital name here). In particular, with the nurse that was working the night shift on Tuesday (Wednesday morning) 7/3/2018 – 7/4/2018.

On 7/4/2018 I started to experience very regular contractions at 39 weeks pregnant. Around 1am, they became strong, lasting for 1 minute or more, every 5 minutes. My husband and I waited a few hours to ensure that the contractions were regular, and around 3:30am we went to the labor and delivery department because surely, I was in labor. When I got there, the nurse brought up my visit from the Monday before, when checking me into triage she said “has anything changed from yesterday” with annoyance in her voice. My husband and I reported my contractions to the nurse and told her that I was also experiencing vaginal bleeding, vomiting, and diarrhea. She said, “the bleeding is probably from getting your cervix checked yesterday.” She checked my cervix and she said: “you are a small 2 cm dilated and maybe 70% effaced, but I am going to hook you up to the monitors for 30 minutes and see if we can see any contraction patterns.” I offered to show her my contraction log from home but she declined. After about 10 minutes of being on the monitor, she came to the room and said “I have to move the monitor because it’s not picking up on any contractions. I was having regular contractions in triage and was clearly in pain. Twenty minutes after moving the monitor she came back into triage and said “so you aren’t having regular contractions. They are inconsistent. I talked to your doctor and he said he’ll see you in his office tomorrow and re-check your cervix. You are barely 2cm right now, so if you are a full 2 tomorrow morning, that’s progress, right?” I was having regular contractions in triage, so I was taken back. I told her that my contractions were regular, painful (which I would have expected her to be able to visually observe), and that there was an error in the monitor. I asked her to re-check my cervix and she said “come back when they are 5 minutes apart, lasting for 1 min, for 1 hour.” We told her that they were and she again stated they are Braxton-hicks and walked us out.

As a first-time mom, I didn’t know what to think and I questioned if this were accurate. I got home and started to panic because the contractions became stronger and closer together. I became scared because I was told that I would have to wait until the following day to be seen by a doctor. By 7:30am on 7/4/2018 my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart. I was still vomiting, experiencing the diarrhea, and my bleeding had become very heavy. My husband called the labor and delivery department and reported the changes. We aren’t sure who the nurse on the phone was, however, my husband was told “your wife is not in labor. It sounds like she’s experiencing menstrual pains, tell her to take a bath, take Tylenol, and drink water. Her cervix is high up and she’s not even fully 2cms dilated.” He told the nurse on the phone that there is an error and she replied “just so you know, if you come in today, your doctor won’t be seeing you. He is off.” We asked if it were possible that I was having a different medical emergency if this pain and vaginal bleeding were not labor related. I was scared for my baby that if this pain wasn’t caused by labor, that I was having some other serious medical emergency. The nurse stated that “her body is preparing for labor, she should expect things to get a lot worse.” This was terrifying to hear. Around 8am, I told my husband that I needed to go back. As directed by the nurses, he encouraged me to wait it out at home and to see if they pain decreases with time. I demanded that we go back. When I got back, I was unable to walk independently due to the contractions. At this point, I felt like my dignity had been compromised by the staff in the labor and delivery department. I was on my hands and knees in the emergency room waiting room with a dress on, having heavy vaginal bleeding, while there was a man also in the room waiting to be seen. Once they brought me into the L&D; unit, the nurse checked my cervix and my “barely a 2cm” was 6cm and I was 100% effaced; within 4 hours from my last visit. I had fully progressed 100% (10 cms) on my own and had my baby in my arms within 11 hours of Ashley sending me home stating again and again that I wasn’t in labor.

I am concerned by this for many reasons. I trusted the medical advice and direction provided by the medical professionals in the labor and delivery unit. As previously mentioned, I had never labored before, I was counting on them to acknowledge the symptoms I was vocalizing, provide me with medical guidance and patient care that respected my self-dignity, and for them to help me when I needed it. I was in pain and asking for pain management and was refused that service until the second trip into the hospital. After reviewing local L&D; options during pregnancy, I selected your hospital because of the calming atmosphere. However, when I left L&D; that morning I was anything but calm. I was in a panic. I was communicating my symptoms and the nurses were non-responsive, arguing that I wasn’t in labor or having some other type of emergency. Your hospital has signs that read “if you are in labor or having a medical emergency, you have a right to treatment.” Such treatment isn’t something that should be begged for the way I had to that morning. It’s not something that a patient who is in labor or having an emergency should have to advocate for. The result of not being seen was that I was experiencing labor at home in fear that I wasn’t going to be able to receive help, that I was having some other medical crisis, or that I would have to have my baby at a hospital that I wasn’t familiar with. When I should have been implementing my L&D; plan, I was advocating that I receive help and asking for the staff to listen to me. When I arrived back at the hospital, I felt distrust and defensive against the L&D; staff, again, this isn’t how I had envisioned my L&D; experience. Instead of focusing on my labor I was focusing on getting your staff to help me and to believe me. It had a serious impact on my labor experience and I am upset about that. I don’t believe that the symptoms I had reported to Ashley were accurately communicated to my doctor or to the other staff in the L&D; department and I don’t believe that the symptoms I was relaying were taken seriously. Reflecting on my experience, I keep thinking “what if I had waited as advised?” and “this is how people end up having babies on their kitchen floor.”

I welcome the opportunity to discuss this experience with you further. Once admitted to the hospital, I had an entirely different experience, however, based on the distress associated with attempting to be admitted and receive help, I would not recommend your labor and delivery unit to other women and I will not choose your hospital for any future medical needs of my family.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.