Nov 19

“That’s A Bloody War Zone Down There…”

“That’s a bloody war zone down there. I can’t even look.” – OB to mother upon examining her perineum and sutures one day postpartum.

62 people dislike these words.

There are 23 comments to this post.

Jane had this to say, Nov 19, 2011 @ 1:10 pm (Quote)

No, doc, that’s her body. And you’re paid to take care of it and treat it with respect.

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Jessica had this to say, Nov 19, 2011 @ 1:15 pm (Quote)

Shoulda done a better job with your repairs then, huh? And then go find another profession. You’re in the wrong field if you can’t stand the sight of blood, genitalia, or a combination of the two!

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Tee had this to say, Nov 19, 2011 @ 1:24 pm (Quote)

Wow! This doctor is obviously lacking a brain/mouth filter!

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Melissa had this to say, Nov 19, 2011 @ 1:24 pm (Quote)

While my OB was repairing his (unnecessary) hack job of an episiotomy after my 3rd delivery, he yelled to a nurse, “Hey, get that student in here…there’s muscle damage and everything!!” He was so excited. Then I fired him. The baby was 5 lb with a tiny little head that would have barely torn me, if at all, if he hadn’t gotten all slice happy. Asshat.

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Tee Reply:
November 19th, 2011 at 1:30 pm Tee(Quote)

Please, please, please tell me you kicked him in the face before firing him. Please…

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Melissa Reply:
November 19th, 2011 at 1:34 pm Melissa(Quote)

I certainly wanted to…smug little jerk. That was the last straw in a series of idiocies that would have made the most incompetent of physicians blush from the embarassment of having to call this guy a colleague.

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Tee Reply:
November 19th, 2011 at 1:40 pm Tee(Quote)

Oh, man. I’m so sorry that you were treated in such a nasty manner. And let me say that you have more restraint than I do. If he had done that to me, I feel quite certain that I would have forgotten I’m a pacifist.

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Jane Reply:
November 19th, 2011 at 1:34 pm Jane(Quote)

Wow! I’m so sorry you were treated so badly! Good for you for firing that clown of a doctor right then and there.

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road2vba2c had this to say, Nov 19, 2011 @ 2:34 pm (Quote)

Am I the only one thinking that comments like this came from guys who, in high school or college, decided to become OBs so they could look at vaginas all the time?

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Tee Reply:
November 19th, 2011 at 5:30 pm Tee(Quote)

I hadn’t looked at it like that but you could have a good point there!

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Mama Wrench had this to say, Nov 19, 2011 @ 3:11 pm (Quote)

You know, when I go to the doctor or dentist, I tend to calm myself by reassuring myself that he or she is a professional, and has undoubtedly seen worse than whatever problems I’m having and can handle it.

If a doc said this to me I’d be completely horrified and spend every other visit to an OB wondering if I was his “worst case scenario” against which he’s measuring all his other patients.

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Eileen Reply:
November 19th, 2011 at 4:10 pm Eileen(Quote)

This was exactly my thought, I calm myself by thinking they’re a professional who has seen this a million times, no big deal. And I often offer the same assurances to my dog training clients that there is nothing their dog is doing that I haven’t seen before…even if it’s a lie and I’ve never seen a problem that bad…because it does no good to make people nervous and on-guard! It’s still TRUE that I’m not going to get shaken by something that’s a normal part of my job! What the heck, doc???

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Carlz had this to say, Nov 19, 2011 @ 4:18 pm (Quote)

This was me. This was a ‘midwife’ at the hospital. She then proceeded to say ‘I can’t even look. That is the worst thing I have seen i a long time’. She then left the room.

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Rebecca Reply:
November 19th, 2011 at 5:10 pm Rebecca(Quote)

Hope you reported her and made sure you weren’t paying her (or she didn’t get paid on behalf of you)

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Jane Reply:
November 19th, 2011 at 6:36 pm Jane(Quote)

Oh, that’s awful — she didn’t even get someone else to come check you? That’s unsafe!

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Carlz Reply:
November 19th, 2011 at 8:21 pm Carlz(Quote)

The OB was there doing the main checking and she was standing beside him looking absolutely disgusted, like she was going to throw up. I had a massive hematoma and and stitching in my bum, vagina and urethra… so the OB looked a bit shocked as well, but he didn’t react. The next day the midwife brought a physio up to see me and while talking to her (with me in the room) said ‘This woman is going to need some serious pelvic floor exercised to do. You should see her… it is disgusting down there. Her catheter came out during delivery (I didn’t know this until now) and the balloon ripped her urethral mateus to bits and the baby took the rest. When the OB checked her yesterday it brought a tear to my eye’.
I made several complaints against her, but nothing formal. I wasn’t in a good state and just wanted to leave hospital. I probably should have made a formal complaint.
(I am in Australia and we don’t pay a cent to have a baby in the public system here, so I wasn’t paying her anything).

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Tara Reply:
November 19th, 2011 at 8:31 pm Tara(Quote)

Oh my. I’m so sorry. Sorry you had to deal with this clueless unprofessional rude tactless midwife, and sorry you had to deal with these sorts of injuries. I hope you’ve healed well – emotionally and physically.

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Carlz Reply:
November 20th, 2011 at 4:51 am Carlz(Quote)

Oh and thank you Tara! It was only 9 months ago so still physically healing unfortunately (but getting there). Definitely coming to terms with the emotional trauma of both the labour and hospital treatment postpartum. All good though I know what not to do next time!

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Jade Reply:
November 19th, 2011 at 9:00 pm Jade(Quote)

I would be interested to know what state you are in. I was treated horribly in a large teaching hosptial in QLD.

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Carlz Reply:
November 19th, 2011 at 9:36 pm Carlz(Quote)

Hi Jade,

This was also in QLD, although at a relatively small hosp in a town with a population of about 15,000-20,000…

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Carlz Reply:
November 20th, 2011 at 4:50 am Carlz(Quote)

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Jespren had this to say, Nov 20, 2011 @ 1:45 pm (Quote)

Well doc/midwife, there was only me, you, and the baby down there, and baby and I are on the same team, so if there was a ‘war’, you supplied the opposition. So what you going to do about the mess *you* made?

Sorry OP, it’s unconscionable (sp?) you were treated that way.

My midwife said she was afraid to touch me, but that was a comment of sympathy over the pain after I inadvertantly tore all my stitches. Apparently sitting in a wheelchair most of the day watching your NICU baby is stressful on your stitches (don’t know why that should have surprised me, it was hard on everything else! He’s fine btw, happy 3 yr old on my lap right now)

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