Women's Health Advantage

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For the most part I try not to talk about the pain and disappointment I felt after being cohearsed into giving birth early, in a completely unnatural way. I've tried not to think about it and just be happy that my son is completely healthy and happy. But I think I should say something incase someone else can learn from my experiences.

At 19, I went into women's health advantage, pregnant, unmarried and in a racially mixed relationship. To top it all off, I lived on the Southside of fort wayne, a place known for having poorer, minorities, who live off of welfare. Even though that wasn't our personal case, we almost immediately felt the burn of assumptions through the nurses rude and short manner and the lack of services that we were offered (like certain tests, sonograms etc). At first I thought I was being paranoid when I heard the nurse complaining that she couldn't understand a word I was saying, I knew it wasn't in my head. You see, about 45-50% of the time I speak Spanish, so I tend to carry over my accent accidently. I continued all my appointments, I went on time, and never missed an appointment, yet at every single appointment my nurse would ask me if I was planning to be "sterilized" AKA fixed. I guess that for someone my age, it was a normal thing to be sterilized after one child (NOT NORMAL AT ALL!)

I put up with all the mistreatment and judgmental assumptions until I was about 39 weeks pregnant. I had a quick check up, just to check my progression. Even though I had made it very clear that I planned on doing everything natural (vaginally and without an epidural), my Dr decided to sweep my membranes and then tell me I should be induced, simply because the amniotic fluid around the baby wasn't at full capacity (something that is normal when you're dilated) she told me to go to the hospital later that night, because she was on call (AKA she wanted to get paid). When I got to the hospital, my attending nurses "accidently" gave me a ten times bigger dose of pictocinn, to progress my labor, which wasn't realized until the night nurse showed up. So after extreme pain, nausea and vommitiing for four hours, they lowered my dose, to return my contractions to a normal level and consistency. Essentially I was feeling labor pains more extreme and closer together, until someone realized that they had messed up the dosage. At that point I was unable to communicate verbally or even bear to hear noises , because the pain was so great. I decided to get the epidural, because I was unable to PROPERLY use my birthing techniques while connected to an IV. It was a few more hours until I had to ask the nurse to check my progression because I felt a lot of pressure 'down there'. After one practice push, they could see my son's head but, I was told to wait 15 minutes until the Dr was done helping the person next door to me. When the Dr finally came I was able to give birth in two pushes and my son was born completely healthy. THANK GOD! We got very lucky that there were no complications, many babies have died because their mom's were told not to push by people who are more worried about money and convenience than, what's natural and best.

If I ever decide to have another baby, I will for sure pay to have a doula or midwife to stand up for me and protect my wants. PLEASE DON'T BE AFRAID TO ROCK THE BOAT WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR BIRTHING RIGHTS!



My doctor was Marrianne Watkins MD of Fort Wayne Womens Health Advantage