Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Feb
14
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“…I’m Not Your Doctor, So I Don’t Have To Allow You To Deliver Vaginally.”
“If you decide to drop in again when you’re in labor, just know that I will cut you. I don’t care if you are 9cm, I will still cut you. I’m not your doctor so I don’t have to allow you to deliver vaginally.” – CNM Midwife to mother who came to the local hospital for unexplained pain early in the third trimester, that the mother suspected was uterine rupture from prior surgery.
There are 50 comments to this post.
What exactly is this CNM threatening? She can’t perform a c-section.
[Reply]
Candice Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 12:11 pm (Quote)
hahaha This is true! My first thought was her words, not what she could do. OY!!! What an idiot. I hope this mom knew better and wasn’t scared.
[Reply]
Mindie Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 12:16 pm (Quote)
Um…yeah. Does “Scope of Practice” mean nothing?
[Reply]
The Deranged Housewife Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 1:21 pm (Quote)
I was wondering the same thing. Wha….?!
[Reply]
1) That is a threat
2) Since when is a midwife allowed to perform a cesarean section?
3) If this mother needs to go back to the hospital, the midwife has placed her in an untenable position because the midwife has said she will not provide adequate care
4) I hope this mom was married to a malpractice attorney and/or had one who could accompany her to the hospital should she need to return
[Reply]
Well these quotes just keep getting better and better! And they are pushing any sane women farther and farther from the hospital and doctors and medwives! Ugggh. This poor mother. I wouldn’ve punched her (CNM) in the face and walked out.
To the mother who submitted this, I’m so sorry! How did everything turn out?
[Reply]
Alyson Miers had this to say,
Feb 14, 2011 @ 12:09 pm (Quote)
*boggles*
This person is a sociopath. She shouldn’t be working in healthcare at all.
[Reply]
As someone who has had an emergency c-section, I would be aghast at the wording here. I will (obviously) submit that some c-sections are necessary, but when you bring semantics into it, “I will cut you” is violent and scary. “Based on what’s happening, we might need to discuss a c-section” informs the mother of the HCP’s concern but doesn’t dismiss her completely or make her feel like she should not have a say in her care.
My CNM stayed with me for hours even though she knew I would not get my homebirth. She met me at my hospital, then followed the ambulance when I had to be transferred to a hospital that had a NICU. She gently told me, “It is too early for a homebirth.” She asked me if I’d like a blow-by-blow description of how the c/s would go and explained it to me in a matter-of-fact but gentle way. I wish that all CNMs would be like that so when a mom DOES have to abandon her ideal birth due to an emergency, she can at least walk away knowing that she was under the best care possible when it happened. (For the record, I saw this same CNM for my HBAC a couple months ago and she was nothing but supportive the entire time.)
To the OP – sorry to write a novel here, but this post really got to me and I’m sorry you had to hear that. I hope you and your baby are safe and healthy, even if your birth didn’t turn out the way you had wanted.
[Reply]
“Well luckily I’m not your patient, so I don’t have to allow you to touch me!”
And geeze, does NURSE McStabbyhands really think that someone who knows about “uterine rupture” doesn’t know that a CNM can’t do a C/S?? She’s not a doctor at all, so what she’d “allow” a patient to do is beside the point!!
[Reply]
If they suspect uterine rupture what are they going to do about it? and why is this midwife threatening to do a c-section anyway? she can’t to do surgery.and why would anyone tell someone that they are going to cut them? can’t you think of a better way to put it?
[Reply]
devil is in the details had this to say,
Feb 14, 2011 @ 12:46 pm (Quote)
The head of the hospital would be on site so fast this MEDwife would be cleaning out her locker after a statement like that. Don’t threaten me! Don’t even think about threatening me. That is not acceptable.
[Reply]
WTF? I’m sorry, as a human being I don’t need your “permission” to birth vaginally. And why do some medical personnel think they can get away with threatening bodily harm to women when an average Joe would be seeing the inside of a courtroom if he tried the same thing?
[Reply]
mommymichael had this to say,
Feb 14, 2011 @ 1:52 pm (Quote)
::gets out smart phone::
One more time for the camera. I’d like to show my doctor this.
[Reply]
So…by this CNM’s logic, informed consent is essentially null and void if the attending provider is not the client’s PRIMARY care provider. Interesting.
[Reply]
Good to know. Remember though, karma’s a bitch. Now, should my husband sue you directly or the hospital if I die because I’m scared to come back here for any care I might need?
[Reply]
Impatient Reply:
February 15th, 2011 at 10:13 am (Quote)
Dying at home because you’re afraid of one CNM in an entire hospital? Seriously?
[Reply]
jaed Reply:
February 15th, 2011 at 5:05 pm (Quote)
Nobody would knowingly risk death while staying at home unless the hospital presented a worse risk, no. But someone in medical trouble often isn’t certain just how bad the situation is, or whether it warrants going to the hospital. Throwing sadistic medical personnel into the risk equation – plus the fact that the hospital doesn’t seem to have any problem employing such a person, which may say things about anyone else who works there – might very well make someone delay or avoid the hospital if they weren’t absolutely sure they needed advanced medical care. I could easily see this causing a death.
[Reply]
It’s not even an implied threat. “I WILL cut you” is a in-your-face what-are-you-gonna-do-about-it threat. Besides the out of scope of practice issue, this bitchwife seriously needs a vacation. A long walk off a short cliff should do it, I think.
[Reply]
Susan Peterson had this to say,
Feb 14, 2011 @ 5:08 pm (Quote)
I am afraid what she means is, “I will made the decision that you need a C section, and get the on call OB, who won’t question my decision, to do it.” The OB being in this case just the instrument she will use to do the cutting.
Why the hostility? What kind of “midwife” is this?
Why does someone like that even want to become a midwife? She could become a nurse-anesthetist for instance and make way more money.
[Reply]
This is mine. As is the “we only treat our patients here” comment. The back story behind this is in the very beginning of my pregnancy I had placental abruption that had mostly healed. In my third trimester one night I was getting out of the tub and it felt like something in me had ripped. I was screaming in pain and couldn’t move so my husband called the ambulance to come get me. The closest hospital was East Houston Regional which is where they brought me. They wheeled me back to L&D and would NOT let my husband in triage with me. They wouldn’t even tell him where I was. No one would even come to the door to talk to him. They just kept pushing him off via intercom. While I was being tortured .. i mean triaged, two nurses came in and said “we need a sterile urine sample” promptly held me down and jammed a catheter in me despite me screaming “I do not consent” at least three times.
Then came nurse bitchwife. “Why are you here?” I told her about the placental abruption and how I felt it had ripped again. She refused it and said “I see no blood so you’re not bleeding”. Mind you she was looking at me from across the room. Then she threatened me with those little gems and demanded to know why I didn’t go to MY hospital. I was pissed and told her “MY doctor is over 30 minutes away. Excuse me if the ambulance didn’t have time to make that drive. Then came the other little gem. Finally I just yelled at her that she better not even think she’s getting paid to harass me like this and left. We went directly to MY hospital, got the ultrasound and what do ya know, I HAD started to hemorrhage again.
I called my insurance AND the director of the hospital and nothing was done. I even spoke with a malpractice attorney and he said it would be $15,000 for a retainer but he didn’t even think I had a case.
[Reply]
Sarah Dorrance-Minch Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 5:27 pm (Quote)
Don’t have a CASE? Assault and battery. Threats. Harassment. Refusal of emergency treatment…
Get a second opinion from a lawyer who is more willing to take on the Old Boys’ Network.
Yike.
And remind me not to ever need reproductive care in Houston…
[Reply]
Jennible Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 5:36 pm (Quote)
The way the attorney described it, I would need to pay a malpractice physician to examine me to see how much “physical damage” was done and then he would make a report out for the attorney who would need $15,000 to take on my case. But he said since there was “minimal physial damage” it would cost more in retainers than I would get back IF I won.
[Reply]
road2vba2c Reply:
February 15th, 2011 at 4:54 am (Quote)
You may not have a civil case, but you have a CRIMINAL case. This is a verbal threat of harm, and the other comment is against the law as well. You need to contact the district attorney and press charges against this evil woman. I pray you get justice!
[Reply]
Jenny Islander Reply:
February 15th, 2011 at 9:04 am (Quote)
This. She has committed CRIMES. Veiling their threats in medical jargon does not protect practicioners from being PROSECUTED FOR CRIMINAL ACTS.
Sorry for shouting. I am so angry on your behalf that my heart is pounding. How dare she?
[Reply]
Jenny Islander Reply:
February 15th, 2011 at 9:25 am (Quote)
Something to give to the prosecutor, in case he/she has swallowed the “any threat is OK if it’s said to a pregnant woman” crap:
This is mine. As is the “we only treat our dental patients here” comment. The back story behind this is after a tooth extraction earlier in the year, I had developed an infection that appeared to have cleared up. Several months later, I was eating dinner when I experienced a sudden agonizing, incapacitating pain and swelling in my jaw and a weird bitter taste in my mouth. It felt like an acute dental abscess. I couldn’t even speak and we were worried about a fast-moving infection spreading to the other tissues in my head, so my husband drove me to the nearest dental surgery. They would NOT let my husband in with me. They wouldn’t even tell him where I was. No one would even come to the door to talk to him. They just kept pushing him off via intercom. While I was being tortured .. i mean examined, two assistants came in and said “we need a sterile urine sample” promptly held me down and jammed a catheter in me despite me screaming “I do not consent” at least three times. [I can't think of anything as monstrous done at a dental practice! Who would do this to a man who had appendicitis? Are women not protected by common human decency if they are pregnant?]
Then came Doctor Yankem. “Why are you here?” I told her about the pain and swelling and said that I thought I had an abscess that was rupturing. She refused it and said “I see no pus so you’re not abscessed”. Mind you she was looking at me from across the room. Then she threatened me with those little gems and demanded to know why I didn’t go to MY dental surgery. I was pissed and told her “MY doctor is over 30 minutes away. Excuse me if I was worried that it was going to rupture and dump poisons into my bloodstream.” Then she said that if I came back again, she would pull out the rest of my wisdom teeth, even if I was not reporting any problems with them. Finally I just yelled at her that she better not even think she’s getting paid to harass me like this and left. We went directly to MY dental surgeon, got an examination and what do ya know, I HAD a serious dental abscess that WAS about to rupture and/or spread into other tissues.
Wouldn’t that be grounds for criminal charges?
And while we’re on the subject–”I will cut you” is what thugs with switchblades say to people they intend to hurt.
[Reply]
Jennible Reply:
February 15th, 2011 at 11:14 am (Quote)
I really believe that was the whole reason they hid me from my husband. They didn’t want any witnesses around to see what they were doing. It’s unbelievably frustrating trying to get an attorney to listen to you when there were no witnesses and no “visible damage” so its just a giant case of hearsay.
[Reply]
shannon Reply:
February 16th, 2011 at 2:12 pm (Quote)
That is probably one of the worst parts of this story to me, that they wouldn’t allow your husband to be with you, that they were actually purposely keeping the two of you separated!! My husband is my rock during difficult times like that and I would absolutely want him there holding my hand, paying attention for me in case I couldn’t, being my advocate as he’s so good at doing. Since I’ve read this, I am putting him under strict orders to NEVER leave me alone at the hospital! So sorry for you both. 
[Reply]
devil is in the details Reply:
February 15th, 2011 at 5:56 am (Quote)
I’m so glad you got the heck out of that hospital and got the care you needed! This woman should be arrested, but of course you have no witnesses.
[Reply]
Heather Reply:
February 16th, 2011 at 7:40 am (Quote)
OMG!! I am just so angry for you that I can’t think straight!! At that point, I would have gone to the news.
[Reply]
Cindy Reply:
February 16th, 2011 at 12:25 pm (Quote)
I am SO sorry this happened to you. Really.
[Reply]
Heather Reply:
March 7th, 2011 at 5:23 pm (Quote)
Please, do not stop at the insurance company, hospital medical director and craptastic lawyer. Call the state medical board and file a formal complaint in addition to your local prosecutor. Give the medical board a copy of any testimony or affidavits you give the prosecutor. All of the involved parties need to be stripped of their medical licenses.
[Reply]
This sounds like a line from a hospital horror movie or something. Like the zombie nurse coming after you with a scalpal… In all seriousness, besides the fact that she’s not qualified to “cut” anyone, that’s not how any medical professional should be speaking to a patient.
[Reply]
this makes me think that, whenever going to a hospital, we should wear recording devices. stuff like that can be found at any local spy shop. and when you walk in, you can announce “i am obligated to inform you that you are being recorded”… or better yet… “this visit is being recorded for quality assurance!”
[Reply]
Wendy Reply:
February 15th, 2011 at 5:40 pm (Quote)
Since you mentioned it….you know those pro-lifers who go into clinics with cameras and recording devices? Love ‘em or loathe ‘em, when it comes to obstetrics and having a baby, they may be on to something. Wouldn’t that be AWESOME to have these bizarre obstetric encounters posted on You Tube? :-p
[Reply]
Trackback/Pingbacks to this post.
Add Your Comment.
Previous Post
« “You Better Stay Away From Those Desserts.” Next Post
“…We Only Treat Our Patients Here.” »
« “You Better Stay Away From Those Desserts.” Next Post
“…We Only Treat Our Patients Here.” »
W. T. F. !!
[Reply]