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MAMA-KANGAROO 100
Apart from supporting everything you are working on, i d like to give a word of advice. Keeping in mind goal of this campaign, improving position of pregnant women(in health care system) and improvement of maternity ward conditions, i d like to suggest opening new topic on web site that would contain other stories from maternity hospitals or something like that. There women like myself would tell their stories of experience they had while they were admitted in maternity hospital while it wasn't closely related to childbirth.As it is known maternity hospitals admit patients not only for childbirth, but for other reasons as well, and it is all closely related and interwined, representing all services of one maternity hospital,and all that affects to issue of birthrates(plague demography). Specifically, i want to refer to visiting maternity hospitals for check ups, whether specialist ultrasound check up or amniocenteses... revisions after miscarriage (which was in my case), checking in for induced miscarriage (abortion what ever it's called), also checking in for surgical procedures for treating cysts or myoma, staying at hospital after having postnatal complications (like thrombus caused by C-section...), attending examination and fertility treatments ...etc. As i already said, my suggestion is to build one more topic, where would we (women), with these kind of experiences, post examples of rudeness displayed by medical staff, and tortures and dehumanization we were subjected to. Couple of stories I red here already addressed these experiences. All that is happening in same maternity hospital only in different departments, we all felt same humiliation that doctors and nurses subjected us to. Before i tell you my tale, i will have to describe looks of maternity hospital in Novi Sad. I prefer to tell you in this order, because here is put up picture of renovated maternity hospital, so someone not being from Novi Sad will ask 'What are they protesting for, look at their maternity hospital!' but not all is way it seams. Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics Novi Sad(GAK Novi Sad), aka Betanija, consists of more than few compartments. To be more precise it is 'forever building' hospital, and they finally added that new part. There is also old part of hospital that is still admitting patients.It all looks like one building, with everything interwined with inner corridors, but those are buildings, more than one, interconnected, some are newer( so everything looks nice and decent), and some are old, but renovated to some extent(and they look more or less decent), and there is oldest part still admitting patients( situation there is catastrophe, believe me it looks like Narodni Front hospital in Belgrade in pictures taken 1997.). And I was in that oldest part two months ago, precisely in September of 2008. My Story: September of 2008. Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics Novi Sad After miscarriage i had in 2004, and long years of hope,in August of 2008 I m pregnant again. You can't even imagine our joy. But sadly in seventh week of pregnancy I started to bleed a little, which finally led to miscarriage. It was Sunday afternoon (of course, all bad happens on Sundays, when there is no one to turn to) and I had mild bleeding. I m starting to panic, resting, waiting for morning. On Monday 7am exactly we checked in at physician's. She found that everything is all right with me and that mild bleeding just happen, mostly at time when period was, at ultrasound fetal echo is positive. They gave me progesterone shot and receipt for meds i m to take, they advise me to rest and to come back in couple of days. Relieved i return home. But after couple of hours i started feeling pain, that became unbearable in afternoon. As time passed my husband couldn't bare to see me in pain, and he calls Betanija (popular name for maternity hospital of Novi Sad). He explained them situation, answer he got was - its all normal, not to worry, pain is side effect of drugs and I simply have to bare it. It was about 11pm, when pain ceased, shattered i fall asleep. I woke up at 2am covered in blood, of course i knew i had miscarried, sadly that wasn't my first time. My husband called Betanija again and explained situation, and they answered him, it's ok if blood is not streaming up my legs and that there is no need to come to hospital, he tells them that i m bleeding heavily, but that is not pouring up my legs(because i had my legs lifted). Lady on phone was convincing us that it's all good, and that there is no need to come to hospital.They told him that i shouldn't eat or drink- just in case, and to visit my physician first thing in morning, or to come to hospital. They told my husband that even if i had miscarriage, there would be no purpose for me to come to hospital at night, because there is no anesthesiologist, and they can only do procedure 'cold turkey', and that for my own good i shouldn't be brave enough to have procedure that way. I have question for all of them WHY THERE IS NO ANESTHESIOLOGIST DURING NIGHT, why don't they hire someone, there is constant lack of anesthesiologists! There's no need to say, that we didn't sleep till morning, those hours we both were spent crying. Morning came, and i collected stuff i thought i ll need, as spare panties, pads, hankies, wet tissues, my papers, documents stating my blood type, because it is must, and just to ad that my rh factor is negative, i took money, both dinar(Serbian currency) and euro just in case. First I went to my physician, because I knew that in maternity hospital they will ask for written referral from physician. Physician found that i had miscarried, and gave me referral for revision in maternity hospital, she told me to ask for Rhogam and to keep asking until they give me, and if they don't give me, she told us to buy one and come back to her and she will administer it. It's 7.40 am and we are in hospital. We entered main entrance, where they told us to check in at Conservative department, after walking down beautiful corridors, we pass through one door to be shocked, it was like we left that building and entered another, everything looks poor and flimsy... We realize that we are not in oldest part of hospital, one i thought was closed. after waiting 15-20 min. nurse comes to department and asks: 'What do you need?', and her tone was far from pleasant of course. We explained what happened, she takes referral and leaves without saying anything. When 15-20 mins. passed again she comes out. Her way of inviting me in was by saying 'C'mon!'. She took me to room and said 'Sit!', showing me bed standing on opposite side of door, then she vanished. Room quite terrible, i look upon wall beside bed, it was covered with dried blood, blankets and bed sheets were disaster, nothing looked quite sanitary. There was one younger lady with me in room, after I settled down a bit we started talking. I found out that she's been here 12 h for thrombus she got after having C-section. Talking to her was soothing. Just the time for cranky nurse to show up, she asked me if i went to toilet and if i didn't, i must go. Ladies room, if one could call it that, was across hallway right opposite of doctors office where check ups and procedures are performed, it was in disastrous condition, filthy, no toilet seat, no toilet paper, no soap... waste bin empty but covered in blood, door can't be closed, looks trashed, entrance door wide open and some kind of bucket is keeping them that way. Disgusted I leave and return to room. It wasn't long before nurse mentioned above comes for me and takes me to next door office, tells me to take of my clothes. i ask if i should take it all of or should i remain in my shirt(i asked because i didn't know if they were going to give me something to wear, if they are going to do check up only or whole revision procedure, so i was clueless). She replied ' Have you ever been to gynecologist, you take of you shirt there?' i said no, 'Well why would be any different here,huh? Keep shirt on and pad between legs'. i asked her how to keep my pad between legs, if its stuck to my panties that i m to take of. She went berserk 'Where did you get idea to come in here with that kind of pad? Are you mindless, constantly they come, likes of you, with those sticky pads. You want to bleed all over my office or what?'then she passes me piece of cotton wool in anger, mumbling something to her self. I couldn't collect my thoughts, I wanted to tell her that I never planned spontaneous miscarriage, but I felt that if i try to utter a word, I ll break down and start screaming in anger,or start crying, I simply didn't have strength to say anything. I enter then next room, standing there in middle of room silently. She tels me 'Lay down', again I have to ask her where, because there was bed next to ultrasound device and gyno chair, I didn't know where should I lay down. Furiously she answers 'Are you sure you've been to gynecologist before? Of course you will lay down here!' pointing to the chair. That exact moment doctor comes in and starting to yell at nurse for putting me in chair, I had to get ultrasound first. I remained silent and went to bed beside ultrasound device. While examining me, doctor notices that I m wearing shirt, and blames her for not giving me patient's robe. Which i got soon after, it was old and tattered. They send me back to my room. Soon they bring another girl into room, girl was weeping, bent holding her belly. I heard some of their conversation it was clear she was here for same reason. Cranky nurse yelled at girl ' Who is your physician? Why did you come here? What do you think, you can get in any doctor's office at your whim?' Furious nurse leaves, only to return when she red girl's file, to make long story short, year ago girl had very complex and really risky procedure ( i don't want to tell what it was, because i cant speak in her place) and now with everything that happened to her, her life was at risk. By the way because she came without physician's referral, she was to pay 7500 din, what was regular price for abortion, but after staff found out that she is working in other hospital in Novi Sad, they let her bring referral in couple of days, and finished procedure for free not even charging her anesthetics. Soon some new nurse appears and tells me to go to toilet, because soon it will be my turn. Soon I was to have most unpleasant surprise during my hospital stay. I told you earlier that 'lady's room' was straight across doctor's office, and office door was open. I was stunned, standing there, right across me there was women in general anesthesia, and doctors performing procedure on her. Why didn't anyone bother to close the door, did everyone have to see her naked and bloody. I don't want to mention how unsanitary it must have been, toilet and surgery right across another, all doors open, and not only that hospital's visitors mingle around and they can see everything. Terrified i return to my room asking myself where did I end up. Soon they finished operating on woman, and they take her out, but nurse who was pushing that bed on wheels, lost control over it and with woman on top of it, bed slammed against the wall. I knew I as next. After surgery they woke me up to go to my bed, I was in terrible pain. I was confused, last time it didn't hurt a thing, felt like I was high on drugs. But last time I went to private practice, and they probably gave me something for pain or something similar, but in maternity hospital that is not the case. I m scared, because I don't know if pain is normal thing to expect. I hear my husband in hallway, they are telling him that i m sleeping, but i manage to lift my head, he sees me and rushes to me. By the way he spent all that time waiting outside, in front of department, and during those hours nobody told him anything, He lost his mind in worry,so he simply went in to find anyone who could give him any information about me. I told him that i m in pain, to call nurse or go ask if that is normal, I could handle it, I just wanted to know if it's normal. Nurse tells me that someone will come to talk to me., but no one came. My husband was sent out. I lay there for some time, after about half hour pain went away. My room was on ground floor, next to old entrance, out side by our window people were standing, family and friends of women admitted here, and one more woman joined us in room in meantime. My husband is allowed to enter once again, and with him, some other people came in as well visitors to patients, and then came nurse to administer rhogam to me, just like that she lifted my robes in front of everyone, revealing by bare and bloody intimate parts to spectators outside beside window and to those inside room, she shoved a shot as hard as she could. My husband said that he felt pain when i got shot. Shorty after that and paying for anesthesia 2500 dinars I was released, they told me to come back in 10 days to collect papers. There were some adventures again too, but telling you this was long story, so i end it here. My case as well showed carelessness and rudeness of medical staff, and I m referring to nurses in most part, especially that one nurse, too bad i never got her name. I have nothing to say against gynecologist, she was plain cold, at least she didn't insult me, unlike that nurse. Me, I try to stay on bright side of this situation like my husband as well, we are left with hope that next pregnancy will be better one all the way, as long as we 'r positive we ll have strength to fight for baby. I still hope that mothers and future mothers, along with me, will succeed in fight for better maternity hospitals.
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STORIES FROM MATERNITY WARDS Mama-Kangaroo 002
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