I wouldn’t recommend this hospital for childbirth. From the moment I arrived, I felt unsupported. I was admitted with mild contractions and sent to the postpartum ward, and my husband was kicked out. When my contractions suddenly got much stronger and I couldn’t move, I called the nurse. She told me to walk to the delivery room, down a long hallway and stairs, alone. My husband wasn’t allowed to help, and staff just watched as I struggled in obvious distress. A doctor even told me to move so he could pass.
When I finally got to the delivery area, you can’t just enter; you have to ring a bell and explain over a speaker, with people watching and listening. I was in so much pain I couldn’t speak. They only let me in when a woman in the waiting room intervened. The whole process was stressful and frightening. Only then was my husband allowed in.
The nurses showed no empathy. I was pressured into unwanted procedures with wrong information. The first epidural failed, and the anesthesiologist disappeared for hours, although I desperately needed pain reduction. They broke my waters even though I told them I cant handle more pain, and that I want to do it when the anesthesiologist is available. They pressured me into doing it by telling me it wouldn’t make things worse, and that if it did, they can have the anesthesiologist here in 20 min, when it actually made the pain so much more intense, after which I completely broke down. The pain became unbearable, but the anesthesiologist had gone home; the replacement was in a meeting. I waited hours, suffering.
After hours of extreme pain, they suggested a c-section. They gave me meds to stop contractions, but it didn’t work. I kept telling them, but they rolled their eyes and left me screaming. They put me under general anesthesia because I was in too much pain I couldn’t move or cooperate for the operation preparation, which was dangerous for me and baby, and, as it turns out, was caused by their mistake. I was surrounded by staff, nobody offered any support, everyone just watched, and seemed annoyed. I thought I was dying and fainted from the pain. Because of what my body went through, I lost blood during the operation and needed transfusion.
After, they forgot me in the recovery room. I didn’t see my baby for hours. Meanwhile, my husband was waiting and no one could tell him where I was or if I was even alive. No doctor or nurse ever came to explain what happened, or why everything had gone so wrong.
A few days later, by chance, I saw one of the nurses who had been with me. She told me that when they undressed me for the operation, they saw that the IV wasn’t in my vein during labor (the solution was going into the surrounding tissue), so I hadn’t received any of the medication, including antibiotics (both my baby and I ended up with infections), and that’s also why the contractions didn’t stop, which left me in agonizing and humiliating pain. She felt bad how everyone was treating me and that everyone was annoyed. Again, no apology from anyone at the hospital.
The postpartum ward was just as bad. The nurses were mean; I was yelled at for not picking up my lunch, though I couldn’t walk. No one helped with my baby. My husband could visit only two hours a day. We asked for a room so he could help, but they gave it to someone in clearly better shape. The first day I was allowed to stand, they made me take my baby up two floors (with stairs) for treatment at midnight, even though I could barely walk. When I said I couldn’t, they said I had to (literally), my husband wasn’t allowed to help. When I arrived upstairs, I almost fainted, they measured blood pressure drop, and put me in a wheelchair. Even then, I had to beg for help with the baby. We desperately needed help from my husband, because they don’t help.
There are more examples, but the point is: a humiliating and dehumanizing experience. I wish I had known, to spare my family.
After speaking to many doctors, I learned that stress, fear, and pain can slow labor. Sadly, this hospital’s approach only adds to that.