|
home petition media reactions comments awards donations contact |
|
|
Civic initiative |
|
|
MAMA-KANGAROO 163
While reading other Mama Kangaroos’ stories, I was thinking that my story is not so bad after all. I thank God that both my baby and I are safe and sound. I cried while I was reading the tragic experiences they managed to survive. I decided to send in my story because the hospital staff should learn some manners and do their jobs properly. I gave birth to my baby in early September 2008 in Belgrade’s “Narodni front” hospital. My stay there was so unforgettable that I’ve been trying to make myself go to my regular gynecological check-up for the last two months. The story is this… I’ve listened to a lot of child-bearing stories and so I realized that without an insider I don’t have a chance. The anesthesiologist is between 100 and 150 euros (If you don’t pay, he doesn’t show up), the price for the doctors varies significantly depending on the source; some say that the most important person is the midwife anyway and they have rates of their own. You’re supposed to pay because, oh dear, everyone has to show up for your delivery outside their working hours. So at seven months pregnant, I had decided to change my doctor. Instead of a doctor at a local clinic, I chose private consults with an OBGYN employed at “Narodni front”. I figured, that by paying for the consults I would be paying for the delivery itself and I would also be in the care of a really good doctor, unlike the one at the clinic (that’s another story altogether.) When it was time to deliver the baby, the doctor took care of everything, the epidural, the midwife, another doctor to deliver me. They were all working their shift. My doctor’s shift had ended, but he came by to say hi, gave me over to this other crew and left. Because of my doctor, the delivery took no more than an hour, the anesthesiologist was nicer to me than my own husband would have been, the doctor extremely friendly…you’d think we weren’t in Serbia. The midwife was a little rough while inserting the catheter and she wanted to be done with me as soon as possible, but I was high on my epidural and busy with the birth of my pumpkin so I didn’t pay any attention to her. I did tell her to take it easy when she hurt me and tugged on her hand. The lady that wheeled me into the ward put me in three-bed room so “I wouldn’t be crowded”. I was really lucky, the room was nice, lots of space, right next to the nurses’ station, just the three of us in there, peaceful and quiet. I gave gifts to the entire delivery team when they came by to see me (except for the midwife), not because I had to or was told to, but because I was in good hands so I wanted to reward them, so they would keep up the good work. Although, some soft music, softer lightning, to be able to change position while in labour or at least a pillow, husband by my side, all these things would be nice, but it was OK anyway. It was stressful for me, and I imagine the doctors too, and maybe it doesn’t have to be so. The main horror story came after the delivery. Starting with the head nurse, gliding down the corridors like Elisabeth II, not taking notice of anyone, and ending with the lower ranking staff wagging their little tails in her presence and barking insults when she wasn’t around. You get the feeling everyone’s at some crazy Olympics, they run through the rounds, they run with the food carts, with several babies in their arms… awful. The pediatrics is a separate ward and mothers are not allowed in, as is stated at the door. You’re not even allowed to be present during the morning bath, and God forbid, they should actually teach you how to do it. There are baby baths and weighing scales in the rooms, but these are never used. Why aren’t they used? And there are all sorts of stories about what happens behind the closed doors of the pediatric ward. My baby would come from these baths red all over, they would scrub the delicate skin too much. The only thing they worry about at the pediatrics ward, is that the baby’s weight doesn’t go below 2600 grams, because they can’t discharge you from the hospital if that happens. They stuff babies with formula, without ever telling you, so babies get lazy and you have such difficulty nursing later. Because of them, I didn’t start breastfeeding until the third night and I had difficulty doing this with silicone nipples. I never dared ask about breast massage because whenever I turned to someone for help, they would just squeeze my nipple so hard I thought I would pass out and leave saying: “It’s OK, just keep up with the massage and the milk will come”. That would be it and I would be left panicking “What happened with the milk? How am I supposed to feed my baby? Is she hungry? Oh, just give her some formula”. And so on. When I came home I did some research online and took it from there. One time a nurse came to draw some blood from the baby’s heel. While she was busy with another baby (with baby jaundice), a drop of blood ended up on the table. So I was standing there, breastfeeding and waiting for her to wipe it off so I can hand over the baby to her. She finishes up with that baby, doesn’t wipe the blood off, but turns to me and says: “Are you going to take her off your breast or should I?” Horrible. Of course, I told her that I was waiting for her to wipe the table clean, she got angry, but she finally did it. Two days later we were asked to give blood again because she hadn’t done it right. The pediatric nurses and the OBGYN nurses don’t interfere with each other’s work but rather act as two rival camps. The first night at the hospital, I was sitting there, admiring my baby when I saw a cockroach. The windows are old, shabby and dirty. Some of them are at level with the windows of a high school across the street, so the blinds are always drawn, so they wouldn’t peek. At least the bathroom was clean, ugly but clean. There isn’t any toilet paper, not even in the room where they give you enema. I asked for some and the nurse replied with: “Don’t you have your own?” You have to beg for cloth diapers. Getting on and off the hospital beds was hard work and painful. There were two chairs, and three of us in the room. I guess they were counting on one of us being just out of the delivery room and unable to get up. And we couldn’t really sit anyway… I tried sitting down to meals at the hospital and it wasn’t until I got home that I was told I shouldn’t really sit down at all because of the wound. I ached for quite some time, no-one at the hospital told me not to sit down for awhile. The rounds take about 2 seconds, they use the same dressing forceps to remove sanitary pads on everyone… so much for sanitary conditions. Also, there is a really stupid and painful administrative protocol and that is to have a gynecological examination the day after the delivery. This goes to show that they don’t care if the woman’s started to heal (meaning she can pee normally, the uterus is retracting so there is a slight pain, she can walk more easy, and so on) or what kind of intervention she’s had, they have to bother everyone with a manual examination taking roughly one second. I declined the offer and signed a release so they would leave me alone. The doctor was very offended so he tried to scare me with a guilt trip of the it’s-on-your-head sort. At discharge, my husband was supposed to pick us up at 4 pm because of his working schedule, meetings and so on. That morning a junior nurse comes in and says: “I was told to tell you that you have to vacate the room by 12 pm.” I try to explain it to her that I can’t , that there would be no-one to pick me up then, but she just says: “I don’t know anything, I was just delivering a message”. And off she goes. So, I try to find the head nurse for an explanation and this is the conversation between us: Head nurse: “Who do you think will stay behind to discharge you at 4 pm? Why can’t we do it earlier?” Me: “I don’t know, whoever is on discharge duty. No-one can pick me up earlier, my husband works until 4.” Head nurse: “Discharges are done by 12, can’t you see we’re busy, think of something.” Me: “OK, discharge me at 12, I’ll wait in the corridor.” Head nurse:” You can’t stay there, if you can’t leave by 12, you’ll have to stay until tomorrow.” I did think of something, albeit at the last minute. They were really busy, right. What they were is rude blackmailers. If I had known sooner, my husband would have organized things differently. I was also an exercise ground for a young nurse’s bad attitude workout. First, she turned off my overhead light. I’ve already mentioned that this room faces a high school so the blinds are always half way down. I turned the light on when she left, because I didn’t want to fight with her. She showed up again, saying: “Why do you need to keep it on in broad daylight?” I couldn’t take this any more so I said: “Why should you care, is it forbidden? Are you worried about the electricity bill? This is a neon light, it’s doesn’t use a lot of electricity, you should have put up a sign if we’re not supposed to use them.” So she apologized and left. Didn’t she have anything better to do? Before I was about to leave, I wanted to take a shower when I noticed that there weren’t any clean sleeping gowns. I asked for one at the nurses’ station and received a “What do you need it for?” as a reply. Horrible. They were relieved when I said I had my own, anyway. Why does it have to be that way, the best equipped maternity hospital in Serbia and there are not enough sleeping gowns, diapers, bed linen, beds, chairs, staff…what is the hospital manager doing all day long? Who’s supposed to take care of these things? There was one night nurse that once helped me with the breastfeeding and one other nurse that was nice enough to give me a couple of tips as I was leaving. The rest…awful. They didn’t address me at all, except for that one doctor that called me Mrs. There were three of us in that room and only one was given a gift at departure, I don’t know why the rest of didn’t get it. I don’t care much about it, I was just wondering what the award criteria was. It’s safe to conclude that there is none. The food is bad, my husband used to bring me two meals a day plus snacks, juices and water, that’s how much care is given to nursing mothers. But they did bring in a photographer who will take the shirt off your back for baby photos. And they’re not all that good, either. White-blue-red background and the baby doesn’t even look like herself… These are the things I would change: Babies should be bathed with the mothers present. Why should anyone have to take my baby away from me? God forbid, if something should have happened, I wouldn’t have been responsible for my actions. I really didn’t like that. The hospital manager shouldn’t be a doctor because of the conflict of interests. That position should go to someone with training in management and organization. More cooperation between different wards and hospitals. I saw women spending nights on stretchers because there weren’t enough free beds. How can they admit someone if there isn’t enough room? If it isn’t an emergency, why not send or move the woman to the next hospital? The shifts are understaffed. That’s why everyone runs around making everyone else nervous. Toilet paper! More supplies. Much more. I don’t understand why they don’t ask the big manufacturers to sponsor diaper, toilet paper, bed linen, sleeping gown, bottled water purchases… Isn’t it in their best interest to have the women try their product and perhaps continue using them later? Yes, it is, but there is no-one to look into this. The entire staff should take a psychological test and a course in manners. All patients should be addressed politely, the staff should smile the whole time and explain everything to the patients instead of letting us chase them down the corridor. Babies should be given formula only if a mother has no milk. And not have the mother massage her rock hard breasts while they give baby the formula. The first breastfeeding should happen in the delivery room because it is considered very important for the baby. It contains colostrum which babies in hospitals usually don’t get. So, the first hour after the birth, skin to skin contact and breastfeeding (which is also proven to accelerate the birth of placenta). The mother has to spend two hours in there anyway. Midwives should give women perineal massage. That way routine episiotomy could be avoided. A lot women only need a little patience and a massage. A father should be allowed at delivery. Or someone else close to the mother. Delivery rooms shouldn’t look like factory canteens but rather like pleasant, comfortable rooms. There is no respect for a woman’s privacy. There are glass walls everywhere so everyone can take a peek at what’s going on. A more humane and imaginative approach. And while I’m at it: loosen the baby equipment taxation! It seems we are the only country in the world where baby things are a luxury and the entire family needs to join forces, event though the parents actually have jobs! There should be a decent childcare supplement so you could at least buy things for the baby. Right now, the childcare supplement is welfare, you would have to make under 50 euros to be eligible for it, it’s nonsense.
|
STORIES FROM MATERNITY WARDS Mama-Kangaroo 002
|
|
sponsors and friends
|
|
 |
|
