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MAMA-KANGAROO 151
I gave birth twice, in 2006 and in 2008, City Hospital, Belgrade.
June 2006 I had a normal pregnancy and took the classes, so I wasn’t too scared. My husband had decided to be in the delivery room with me. On the morning of the 3rd June the amniotic fluid had started to trickle. When I took the classes, they told us this happens when the amniotic membrane breaks high. There was no pain so we didn’t go to the hospital until the afternoon. Dr Vesna Kostic admitted me and took me to the prep room where I was given an enema; I had already shaven at home. A midwife briefly connected me to a fetal monitor, read the results and left. The labor pains started around 4am so I tried to get a midwife, but the room was in a complete darkness and there was no-one around. They must have been asleep somewhere as there were no immediate deliveries. She showed up around 6am, clearly just woken up, and connected me to the fetal monitor again. When I told her I had uneven contractions, she just ignored me. The doctor showed up around 7am, he examined me and checked the fetal monitor. He was saying that the delivery room would be full that day (how could he have possibly known that?) and that he wouldn’t be able to deliver the baby then. I realized he expected a bribe, but I wasn’t going to give in. When he realized he wasn’t going to get anything, he sent me to the pregnancy pathology ward. I spent the whole day there, I had the contractions the whole time. In the evening I a took a sedative on my own, so I would at least get some sleep and gather some strength. A lot of amniotic fluid leaked during the night. In the morning the wonderful Dr Kostic arrived and couldn’t believe I was at that ward. She gave me an antibiotic and sent me to the delivery room. She came after me and said something to the doctor there. The doctor examined me, told me to send for my husband and to get to the delivery room. He ruptured my amniotic membrane and realized the fluid was green. He induced labor and told my husband and me that he would try to deliver me naturally, but if I didn’t dilate soon, a C-section would be necessary to prevent the baby from suffering. I was induced and soon the contractions were following one another. The doctor came by often, dilating me manually as well. I delivered the baby in three hours. Baby’s hands and legs were blue, but fortunately, everything was fine. Both the doctor (Mitrovic Milan) and the midwife (Snezana Dujan) treated me nicely. My husband always says that if the doctor had come by any more often he would have been a nuisance. I received an episiotomy so the doctor sutured me after giving me an anesthetic. After that I was sent to the ward. The nurses were OK, they would help me get up, assisted me with the shower, they gave me clean sleeping gowns and bed linen. The toilets were pretty dirty, but the patients are partially to blame for that. I doubt they throw sanitary towels in the toilet bowl or forget to wash the blood out of the tub at home. The lactation nurses were horrible, but I was ready for that so I read about breastfeeding in advance and expected no help. The baby was brought to me to be breastfed the same day it was born, in the evening. The babies were usually already full when brought to us, but that didn’t stop my munchkin from giving me sore nipples, which I treated myself. I had blocked ducts when I came home, but I had managed to avoid mastitis, so I was able to breastfeed the baby for a year. They referred to me as “mother” and called me by my last name. Except for the “wonderful” doctor that almost cost me my baby, there were no other unpleasant events. It still hasn’t been three years, so I don’t feel comfortable giving his name.
August 2008. I decided on private consultations during my pregnancy, this time around, and I choose Dr Milan Luzajic, who also happens to work at the City Hospital. I was very happy with the service and especially with the way he treated me. He told me he that he would deliver the baby himself. On the 27th August he gave me a vaginal tablet and told me to come to the hospital around 1pm and to contact him when I got there. They finished prepping me around 2pm and connected me to a fetal monitor. I was dilating very slowly, but the doctor didn’t want to rush things. He wanted to let the nature take its course. Around 6pm I was sent to the delivery room and this time my husband was with me. They connected me to a fetal monitor again and put me in the tub. They gave me some glucose because I hadn’t had any food since that morning. The doctor would come by every half hour to examine me. The midwives were also kind and friendly and they kept checking if the water was warm enough and what the baby’s heart rate was. My husband was given the remote control so we could fine tune the hydro massage ourselves. We were also given a cassette player to pass the time. At 9pm I got out of the tub so the doctor would rupture my amniotic membrane. He told me that if the labor pains got too strong I could go back to the tub until the baby started coming out. The baby came out at 11pm. The midwife (Marina) did her best and saved me from the episiotomy. I decided on the baby friendly scheme. Although I was able to get up and have a shower that same evening, they didn’t bring the baby to me until the next morning so I could get some rest. I breastfed the baby as soon the umbilical cord was cut. The ward was cleaner than the normal one because there were only six of us. The nurses were pleasant, although I didn’t come into much contact with them because everyone assumes you know all there is to know when you have your second baby. The lactation nurse showed up maybe twice, but that was to be expected. I was referred to as “mother”. They gave me clean gowns and linen whenever I wanted. I hadn’t paid for anything, except for prenatal care, but that was my decision. During my prenatal consults I was aware that my doctor wouldn’t necessarily be the one that would deliver the baby and that it was up to him to do so or not. I am aware that things in our health care sector need to change and that not many people do their jobs the way they are supposed to. I guess I was lucky I ran into the good ones both times. I also think some of the new mothers need to change their behavior. I would often find used sanitary towels on the floor or a toilet bowl smudged with blood. I’ve also come across women that hadn’t taken one single shower the whole time they were in the hospital.
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STORIES FROM MATERNITY WARDS Mama-Kangaroo 002
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