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MAMA-KANGAROO 578
Dear sirs/madams, After reading the letters of mothers on your site I must admit that I was quite lucky with my deliveries, even though I though otherwise at the time. Anyway, here is my story. I gave birth for the first time in April, 2005, in Betanija hospital in Novi Sad. My due date was 27th March, 2005, the pregnancy was great, there were no problems, I had a private doctor, she was above excellent, even though I paid her dearly, she was really more than wonderful. My problems started when I passed my due date. Since, unfortunately for me, my doctor worked only in private practice, I had to go to give birth without any support. While going to prenatal classes I heard from other women that the fee for the delivery is 50 euros for the midwives. I didn’t want to look for any connections, under any circumstances, because I didn’t want to pay somebody for the job they are already paid for. My husband and I decided to give a thank-you-gift to the midwife who would help me, and nothing else. And so, ten days after my due date, I come into Betanija hospital, all happy, because the end was finally approaching and I was going to see my baby girl. I was admitted to the Pregnancy pathology ward, I honestly hope that they are going to change that name one day, because it sounds really awful. I was just about to settle in the room with four more women when a woman comes in, says my name looking very angry: ‘Hurry up, I don’t have all day.’ I obediently followed her to the doctor’s office and on the way realized that she was the doctor. I entered the office and saw a team of doctors, they interrogated me like judges. One of them said: ‘Hey, you, why aren’t you in labor yet?’ I was still looking around, confused, didn’t know what to say. They did the ultrasound, I was happy to see that my little lady is positioned well, everything is fine. After that the same doctor examined me in a manner that I thought I was going to fall apart, and then invited the students to come in. A bunch of them was standing over me, looking at my cervix and I thought I would die of shame. I forgot to mention that I knew most of them, because I was at college with them. They sent me back to my room and told me that I was the first one the next day for inducing labor. I thought that I would die in there waiting the whole day. Fortunately, there was a nice nurse who gave us, who were to be induced the next day, castor oil to drink. All the women got a little, I was given the whole bottle. The nurse told me to drink it all, because it would cause contractions. And really – whether it was because of the castor oil and sitting on the toilet for two hours or not, the contractions started around half past eight that evening. They were five minutes apart right away, but my body betrayed me. I reacted to each pang of pain by vomiting, which was the worst part of the delivery. I vomited wherever I could, because I was waiting for two hours in the hall for somebody to take me to the pre-delivery room. When I finally got to the bed, a doctor appeared, I had never seen her before, examined me and I was only 3cm dilated. They hooked me up to the induction, which further got me crazy. The pain was horrible, and nobody to turn to. After about three hours of crazy contractions I felt the need to push. I tried to call somebody, nicely, quietly, nobody came. I saw that it was no good, so I yelled quite loudly, that was when a nurse appeared, woken up from her sleep, it was around 5 am. I told her I had to push, she replies: ‘What do you know? With the first delivery it doesn’t go that fast.’ I asked again, nicely: ‘Please, examine me.’, again she yelled something in the lines of what did I know, she had worked there for thirty years, I should shut up and suck it up. Then I started to cry, for I was at the end of my strength. She gave in, said: ‘OK, let’s have a look.’ I will never forget the expression on her face. She just waved to her colleague and said: ‘Quickly, this woman is about to finish.’ They barely had time to transfer me to the delivery room and after one push my little girl was born, live and well, thank God. I didn’t want to give the midwife any presents, I was angry and hurt, nobody came to check on me all night, let alone help me. Luckily I didn’t give birth on the pre-delivery bed. So, next time I was smarter. I had my baby boy in November 2007 in Sombor, where I knew a midwife that spent the whole time with me, massaged me, brought me gauze with water, and I was lucky enough to have the baby born very quickly, exactly on the due date, without inducing the delivery or an episiotomy. My only complaint was that the women had to make their own beds, clean up the bedside cupboards, etc. OK, I was able to do it, I didn’t have an episiotomy, but what about the other women? Both times I was discharged from hospital after two days, both me and the kids were great. I could write about complaints for days, but I also have to mention that there are some great women working there, to whom I am very grateful, because they not only do their jobs, but the jobs of doctors and the regular lazy bags and sleepers. Even after all of this, I am going to go through this adventure once again. All of us, the women of Serbia need to show what bravery is and what torture we have to go through to give offspring to this country. That is all from me… bye!
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STORIES FROM MATERNITY WARDS Mama-Kangaroo 002
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