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MAMA-KANGAROO 282
I was 22 when I gave birth to my child in the Hospital in Majdanpek. I was under doctor's supervision from the beginning of my pregnancy since I had heart condition as it was recorded in my medical history. My pregnancy went well without any major problems up to the 6th month when I was advised to spend 15 days in the Hospital for the Internal Medicine due to mu high blood pressure. All of the doctors and the entire medical staff were highly competent and kind. I have no objections. I felt my contractions 10 days prior to my due date. My husband took me to the hospital at 1AM. I was admitted by one extremely tall and hefty midwife who was on duty at the time. She had been rough with me from the beginning: "You couldn't have picked worst time to deliver a baby! Come on, get in!" She slammed the door in front of my husband's face. She let me in the dreadfully cold room with the high hospital bed behind which stood a black medical equipment. She ordered me: "Undress and hop to the bed!" Then she walked out and left me alone. I did as I was told and climbed to bed with the difficulty. When the midwife returned, she hooked me to this machine by the bed and she stepped out again. I was alone in that cold room. I have never really discover what was the machine that my stomach and my hand were hooked onto. Immediately after I started experiencing an excruciating pain. I couldn't talk and there was no way anyone could hear me. I felt feverish and was about to faint. Luckily, the midwife returned in the last moment and when she saw the way I looked, she promptly unhooked the machine and quickly brought the full pitcher of cold water which she splattered over my face. There were no doctors on duty; we were alone, the midwife and I. As soon I felt a bit better, I told the midwife about my heart condition. Oh, my, how that woman yelled hysterically: "Why haven't you told me! You fool! You want me to get sacked (fired) because of you!!!" How would I know, at 22, what to say when in labor? She failed to look up my medical history. I stopped feeling contractions and my pain ceased after she unhooked the bloody machine. The midwife took me to another room where she offered me juice and coffee. She suddenly became considerate and understanding. We set and talked until the brake of dawn and I had no pain. The midwife told me that I probably had false contractions. At around 6 in the morning, a woman gynecologist arrived. My contractions started again. I held my stomach and the gynecologist said:" It hurts, doesn't it? Of course it does, it has to!" The cardiologist came and examined me. There were some problems with my heart and the cardiologist suggested a C-section. I told them that they should do what ever they needed to. The gynecologist wondered if they should perform C-section at the spot, or if they should send me somewhere else (to another hospital) for someone else to be bothered by my situation. On the April 11, 1986, at 10 AM, I had C-section in the operating room of Majdanpek's maternity ward. I gave birth to the little girl who had the umbilical cord rapped three times around her neck. The baby was reanimated and she begun to cry after few seconds, and started breathing. I had difficulty waking up from anesthesia. For a couple of times I could hear an encouraging female voice: "You have a daughter." That voice gave me strength to open my eyes. I felt some pressure on my entire body, and I couldn't move. When I waked up completely, I noticed that I had strapped with the wide leather straps.. When I asked them why I had to be strapped, the nurse said: " You were naughty!" My husband was notified about the birth of our daughter, and he came to the hospital immediately. He saw our little daughter. I was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit next to some unfortunate dying man hidden by the curtain. My stomach was butchered-the scar was from the naval downwards. I still have this scar to remind me of the time from twenty years ago. I spent three days in ICU with some gravely sick people. After the third day, I was transferred to the room shared by two more women. Then, I saw my daughter for the first time and I breast-fed her. The horror began when my C-section wound got infected since the dressing had never been changed. Fortunately, when the young doctor and the two nurses made rounds and the doctor saw my stinking, never changed dressing, the head nurse had some emplaning to do. " Your negligence is intolerable! How long ago did you change the dressing on this wound? You should immediately clean and disinfect this!"As the doctor yelled through the hall way; the entire hospital was shaking. An hour later, the head nurse arrived and she begun to shout at me: " You will create a problem for me, I will be fired because of you! Shame on you! Tomorrow they will stitch you without an anesthetic, do you understand?" At 22 I was still a child, what did I know? How could I know when to change the dressing and how to order the nurses to change it. I was very scared and beside my self. I didn't want to see my baby because I blamed her for my troubles. When the young doctor made his morning round, I cried and pleaded with him to give me local anaesthesia during the stitching. The compassionate doctor told me:" Calm down. Do not worry. We'll clean the wound and change the dressing. You probably won't need extra stitching." And it was as he promised. The C-section wound was nicely healing and I finally went home with my little daughter after 15 days of such an ordeal. I had to have my dressing changed every day in the emergency room until the wound healed completely. Today, after so many years, I still have an ugly looking scar to remind me.
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STORIES FROM MATERNITY WARDS Mama-Kangaroo 002
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