What do you do when you find out the maternity delivery area of your hospital is less than desirable?
ByI was admitted into the maternity/delivery area the other night for an emergency and we were treated horribly. We could even hear the nurses talking about us out in the hallway. It just made me really uncomfortable and now I don’t know what to do? Drive 100 miles to the next nearest hospital when I go into labor or suck it up? Anyone have a similar experience?
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15 Comments
April 16th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
Once your in labor your the boss, who cares what they think or have to say because once your there to stay you can be the biggest brat and there’s nothing they can do about it!!
April 16th, 2010 at 11:46 pm
yes, when i had my second child, it was the worst experience of my life, the staff at the hospital treated me worst than most people treat their dogs. what i would do is contact the patient advocite dept. at the hospital and tell them about your experience and tell them that you dont feel right about how you were treated and maybe they can fix things for you. good luck with your baby!
April 16th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
Try talking to your doctor to let them know what happened and maybe they can speak to the right person. I would also file a complaint with the hospital. You proably don’t want to drive b/c then you would have a new doctor who doesn’t know anything about your preg.
April 17th, 2010 at 12:15 am
child birth is a hard time and usually can take hours, then you have to spend a few days there. i would take the time to drive to the next nearest hospital. in the meantime i would write a ltter to the health dept or the hospital telling them of the nurses bad behavior and your treatment at there facility, most hospitals wont tolerate that kind of behavior from there employees. on your day of labor you want to be comfortable not worrying about anything else.
April 17th, 2010 at 12:21 am
suck it up. really thats the only thing you can do. you can ask that certain nurses not be aloud to handle your care. make sure you do what you feel is best for you and your baby. insist on good care. good luck.
April 17th, 2010 at 12:35 am
Talk to the director of the hospital.
The place I delivered was awesome, but you have to remember that the nurses are going to talk about you, because that’s all they have to talk about while they are at work.
I got to hear about all of the other nurses attitudes from my nurses. I brought it up though!
April 17th, 2010 at 1:00 am
There are really no other hospoitals for 100 mile range???? That alone is surprising…but do remember that nurses change shifts often, you may start with one you hate and end up with one you like…(of course, the opposite could be true as well) think about hiring a labor doula to help you while in labor…one of their roles can be to ‘deal with’ the hospital staff for you
April 17th, 2010 at 1:15 am
Usually, upon discharge from a hospital, they send you a comment card. Use that baby! Or, contact the hospital flat out. Ask to speak with the head of nursing and tell them your concerns. Best of luck to you!
April 17th, 2010 at 1:52 am
I think that as long as the hospital was clean, efficient, and capable of giving you proper care, you should stick with it. Forget about those nurses! Maybe you were being just a tad sensitive because you were in distress.
April 17th, 2010 at 2:10 am
Would you really have to drive 100 miles to another hospital? That’s awful. Would you consider a homebirth with a midwife? That’s prime prenatal and birth care in my experience. I was treated soooo much better at my homebirths, my hospital birth I was not respected at all and had a snobby nurse, not to mention the doctor being paid big bucks was only present for about an hour total.
If you need help finding a homebirth midwife, contact me!
April 17th, 2010 at 2:18 am
First, you should complain. Treatment like that is unacceptable.
Second, I’m not sure what I would do. If this is your first baby, the average labor is about 14 hours long. So, a 100 mile drive isn’t horrible, but it would still be risky.
April 17th, 2010 at 3:16 am
Maybe you can find a midwife or a birthing center. You shouldn’t have to put up with that.
April 17th, 2010 at 3:35 am
Find (pay) a doula and she can deal with these nurses for you, probably has lots and lots of experience doing this. Also talk to other moms, if you’re in a birthing class, or le leche, and find out their experiences there and what they recommend. On a nice day, head over to a park, and “stalk” the moms with young ones, and say mind if I ask you a couple questions.
April 17th, 2010 at 4:28 am
There is NO WAY i will deliver at the hospital closest to me. I’ve heard nothing but negative things and other complications that happen to people there. I drive an hour to get to my doctor and hospital.
Do what is best for you. If the problems were minor, you might want to suck it up to have your doctor there at your local hospital. (And giving them a call of complaint might help you feel better too.) If it was a major issue for you and you feel really uncomfortable for your health (and your baby’s), go with your gut and go somewhere else.
April 17th, 2010 at 4:30 am
You may need to go to another hospital. Is there a birth center anywhere around? I did not like the hospitals here, so I went to a birth center. If it is really bad, you may be better off staying at home. Just be informed and know what you are doing.