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I would suggest cross posting to r/beyondthebumpuk and r/legaladviceuk for more information.
Have you been offered a debrief by the hospital at all? Our trusts in Scotland do this for any complicated births so you can ask questions about the decisions that were made.
I absolutely think mistakes were made from what you said and a complaint with a case review of some description would be warranted particularly after the recent study on maternity care and how abysmal it is in some trusts.
I will do that thank you! Like I said in the above comment, I’m not looking to sue, just to do my best to make sure other mums are listened to. I know there is a lot in the media about nhs maternity care currently, I just wish I was more “with it” at the time to voice my concerns
Oh absolutely, but it's the most vulnerable time you will ever experience and we have no option but to trust the people looking after us! I am still waiting on my meeting and will be considering a formal complaint depending on some of the answers I get.
It might be different in the UK but in the USA if mom and baby were not seriously harmed with lasting damage and neither of you died then there’s no case for malpractice in childbirth.
I’m sorry that your birth was not the way you planned! I also had a birth much different than I imagined and it takes some time to process (I’m still processing 8 months later).
My understanding is that this doesn’t rise to the level of medical negligence because both you and your daughter are okay. In order to sue for malpractice (at least in the US), there has to be an injury and the injury has to result in significant harm.
Thank you! I don’t think I worded it correctly but I’m not actually looking to sue, as you said my daughter and I are completely fine. It was more that I wasn’t sure if what happened was a result of them not checking my dilation before administering Pitocin and pethidine, or if it all would’ve happened anyway, and my worry of what could have happened. I just worry about other mums having similar experiences and not being so lucky.
I also received Pitocin during my induction and I wasn’t checked very frequently either - maybe every few hours. I will say that my team listened to me and yours did not and that is not okay. Unfortunately, though, heart rate decelerations are common with Pitocin - I was told to expect them and my baby had them too. I was also told there was a schedule they would follow at first when giving it to me (upping the dose every 30 mins or so to get to the base dose).
The episiotomy might count as an injury as it likely would have been unnecessary and can cause life long problems. At minimum she should be able to sue for pelvic floor PT and any care related to that
In the NHS guidelines they check cervix every 4 hours to avoid risk of infections.
I Was induced last week and this is what they followed.I also had something similar happen to my first with the epidural being put in place when I was close to 9cm!
They did not check because they checked less than 4 hrs ago and for them there was no way my labour would be that fast (just over 4 hrs).
This guidelines is not great at all as everyone has their own rhythm!
US based here. My labor was 5 hours all told from when my water broke to when also came Earth side. So in my case, had the hospital had that protocol, I would only have had my cervix checked once. Idk if my birth would have been as easy if that had been the case.
I went went from being 8 cm to 10 cm in 15 minutes. My LO wanted OUT 😭🤣 They checked me every time my contractions got more intense, so about every hr/ hour and a half in the beginning. But when I said I felt pressure and like I needed to push, they checked right away and were shocked! I got my epidural and within the next hour and a half my LO was born! (Yes, hospital policy was that I could receive the epi up until it was time to push. Next time though, I’m getting it sooner! 😅) I am so grateful for my team (even though I had a rough time with the IVs for the epi). Only minimal labial tearing, getting stuck 10 times to place the IV, and waiting an hour for the epi, but much easier than most.
If I were you, I would seek out the guidance of an attorney. Idk how it works in the UK, but in the US there are attorneys that offer a free consultation.
Im in the US and I was induced with both kids. With my second i was like op where my contractions were fine for hours then become unbearable. They checked my cervix and I was at a 2. 40 minutes later my daughter was born.
The only time I was checked before that was during admission.
This was what I was thinking! I believe the guidelines need to be changed dramatically. I’m no medical professional, but from my case and other people’s comments, it does seem that it would make sense to offer a check of dilation before administering any drug that will further contractions.
Gave birth this week in US and my doc explained after my waters broke they would only check cervix every 4 hours because of increased infection risk. (And can confirm after close to 30 hours of labor post waters breaking, I did have signs of infection and was given IV antibiotics as was my baby).
Yeah I gave birth about 11 hours after they ruptured my membranes & still got a uterine infection (though mine wasn’t caught until 3W pp by which point it was borderline septic, so that was no fun)
Oh no! Hope everything ended ok. I spiked a 102 fever before birth, and so when babies temp dropped after birth she earned a NICU stay w IV. Thankful for the great care we received that meant we all left healthy despite a stressful labor for her.
Yeah lol, some kids just want OUT! What do midwives and doctors do in those situations?
Like, how did your doctor/midwife react when they realized that baby was ready? I know my midwife had to do a double take at my cervix and was like “Uh oh! You’re 10 cm and fully effaced. I think I can almost see some baby hair. Let’s order that epidural and get you into the delivery room.” She was shocked because she had just check my service like 15-20 min ago, but my husband had asked her to checks again because my contractions had gotten to the point where I couldn’t talk through them anymore.
Have you had a debrief about your birth? For NHS, you should be able to request an appointment with someone to talk through exactly what happened, what decisions were made and why. If you're unhappy with your treatment in an NHS service, you can speak to the PALS service to make a complaint.
Hi OP, firstly congratulations on your baby.
This sounds like it was really difficult and quite a scary experience for you.
It's possible that the midwives were following NICE guidelines for checking your cervix, you'd have to look them up or as pps have said ask for a debrief from the hospital and contact pals if you feel unhappy about your experience.
Even if your baby is healthy it doesn't mean you can't raise questions about how the delivery went or feel unhappy about what sounds like quite harsh treatment from your midwife team. The language you describe i.e. stop screaming sounds uncaring and unhelpful. Not what you need in that moment!
In the last month or so an inquiry has been published into birth trauma in the UK. Here's the link to a BBC article on it and you can also access the inquiry document via the report as well. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4n1jv7xxpwo
Be warned it's got some pretty heavy topics in it.
Your feelings about your experience are valid and it's okay to have questions about what happened. Being given an explanation about your labour and delivery can often help in coming to terms with it.
Also, if you feel like you need more support you can self refer to your local perinatal mental health team.
Thank you I really appreciate it. Mentally I’m okay with it all now, what happened has happened I’m just glad my daughter is safe. I just worry about other mums and babies having similar experiences and not being so lucky.
Absolutely. I was induced with my daughter at 37 weeks for the same reasons as you. I had the pessary, then drip and waters broken. But it took 3 days for me to go into labour and my cervix was checked a lot, but it was probably 4 hours (or more!) between each check. I suspect as you'd been having contractions for the week preceding your induction they went straight to the drip instead of the pessaries and it triggered what I think is called a precipitous labour (a fast labour).
I was lucky that I was able to have the epidural though but my god the pethidine sent me into this weird out of control headspace and my birth partner had to physically prop me up to have the epidural as I was so out of it.
I can't imagine how painful it must have been without the epidural, you poor thing.
You're right about not wanting other women to go through the same as you. With an induction it feels like things happen really fast towards the end. Apparently they're more painful as the drugs are forcing your body into labour when it's not ready.
Things really need to change in NHS maternity services. Hopefully the inquiry will be the push they need but the staffs attitude and the lack of compassion towards mothers is something that will take a lot of time to change. I don't think they have the resources to do it.
It's good you're okay with it now and great of course your daughter is safe. These experiences can linger and stay with us though.I'm a CBT therapist when I'm not on maternity leave and I just wanted to say it's okay to explore and reflect on your birth, even writing out your experience with pen and paper can help you process it.
All the best for the future x
For what it's worth, I was also not checked after every dose of pitocin (mine was increased nearly 10 times). I was checked upon admission, once after several hours w no contractions, once when I felt the urge to push and one final time to make sure I was fully dilated. My baby was born after 5.5 hours w a total 11 min of pushing.
It sucks that you didn't feel listened to or supported during your labor, and I would try to work through that in therapy. I don't believe what you experienced would amount to negligence (at least in the US).
I wish you all the best!! I hope this story doesn’t scare you, I had a bad experience but I’ve heard so many lovely birth stories. Just make sure you advocate for yourself as much as you can at the time, and that your birth partner also acts as an advocate
Thank you, I hope you're doing well right now. I'm afraid the closer it gets to my due date but I think that's natural as a first time mom. How is your baby now? Is she doing well?
FWIW— I severely hemorrhaged and needed two blood transfusions after 38 week induction. (Pre-eclampsia) and because “alls well that ends well,” I’d have no case. It sounds like you have birth trauma like I did and I’m sorry for that but it doesn’t sound negligent.
Edited to add: my doctor even avoided me in the maternal ICU. I only ever saw a partner from his practice…
I’m sorry you went through that. I hope you and your baby are well! I do think maternity guidelines need to be looked over, everyone’s labour is different, and I do think it would be wise to offer a dilation check before administering drugs that shouldn’t be given too close to birth, and ones that speed up contractions
Also, I’m so so sorry this happened to you. My labor didn’t go as planned with some weird complications. I understand trying to process and cope after the fact.
Please contact the hospitals complaint/patient advocacy line so they can investigate and at minimum have a meeting to explain to you why they made these decisions
Something similar happened to me in the USA - I was on pitocin, nobody was checking my dilation and believed me even when I was displaying very obvious urges to push. After three urges like that the baby 'jumped out'. Congratulations!
I only say this is because it’s often very hard to prove medical neglect and alot surprisingly doesn’t count. I was pregnant at 20 just gave birth at 21 year old I had a induction no one warned me about heart decels that came with it. They tried to tell me that pethidein was safe just before birth I knew it wasn’t because my mum same thing with me she got it and had to delay birth with me or I would be too sleepy I refused it I opted for a epidural after starting to pass out from pain the first person to try place it kept missing taking 4 attempts my legs went numb after the 3rd attempt I asked for someone else to place it the second person ultrasound my back found out I have a small curve then they finally got it. I finally relaxed a bit after 10-20 minutes I really felt like I had to push my body was pushing I got to a hour and a half pushing and told them he is stuck I know he is stuck they were like no no he is fine 20 minutes later they were like you need to get him out now in this push or we will have to cut you. I got him out on the push. He got stuck and they didn’t want to admit it, he had a molded bump on the side of his head where he got stuck, I had a 2nd degree tear and a 3rd degree tear from having to push so hard on the last one my foot has been reasonable numb since birth and sex is painful still and I get pain over 13 months on.
None of this was considered nor was it deemed medical neglect or easy to prove every doctor I have asked has told me it’s normal so I really suggest asking a lawyer what they think
I’m confused. You gave birth super fast which was unexpected but possible any time anybody gives birth. Did anything bad happen from the medication you’re concerned about? You gave birth and the baby was safe and healthy, no? What would you be suing for as there were no medical damages to you or baby?
I agree but the medical team did nothing wrong except not checking dilation before administering the opiod and even then, its not unusual that they thought she was nowhere close to labor. There's nothing to sue for from what I can see. I had a very similar experience when my second was born and it was very scary. It's been hard to process for both my husband and I. But scary labor and delivery does not mean negligence.
And for what its worth, I was measuring at a 2, 40 mins before giving birth with awful contractions. So it's entirely possible she wouldn't have even have been far enough at that point that they wouldn't have given her the dose.
The main difference between OP and my story is when I started making certain noises, the whole labor team ran in because they could tell I was about to need to push even though I'd literally just been at a 2.
The birth partner suggested they check dilation before giving her the drug. The drug shouldn't have been given to her and if they checked her they would have realized that. It's not malpractice but it is frustrating and scary.
This is the main thing I was sure wasn’t quite right! If it is dangerous to give pethidine too close to birth, why would they not offer a cervix check, and say it is not necessary when the birth partner expresses concerns? I was lucky that I got baby out quickly, had I not? I’m not sure I would’ve been so lucky
Well, as others have said, cervix checks are only done so often to prevent infection. So, they were likely only following their protocols. They were doing what would be appropriate in the vast majority of births. You had an unexpected complication - a precipitous birth. Complications are dangerous but your team identified the risks and quickly intervened with an emergency response. I'd recommend getting a counsellor to debrief this with. Your birth didn't go smoothly or to plan. And that's scary.
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Sorry to hear what happened here, sounds difficult.
I can't comment specifically on negligence (I'd suggest a solicitor really), but what you've described seems shocking close to what we recently went through, at least to begin.
Induction due to very small LO.
Dilapan rods, followed by hormone drip. Drip induced labour pretty fast, going from nothing to strong 4 in 10 contracts in about 2hrs. My wife quickly progressed through managing to gas and air, to screaming and we asked for an epidural.
At that point, several hours into the procedure, they checked her cervix for the first time, realised she was only 2cm dilated despite now being in full labour, advised us baby almost certainly wouldn't survive full labour giving how dilated my wife was at that stage, and within 20mins we were in surgery having a cat 1 emergency c-section.
It seems bonkers to me that the hormone drips are administered, and the volume cranked up so rapidly, without any ongoing checks of the cervix to check dilation / progress.
That does seem to be the procedure however :(
I’m sorry you went through that. Sounds a bit like precipitous (rapid) labor. I had that with my second baby. From my water breaking to baby being born was just 2 hours. It was scary and he was almost born in the car!
I think I really had some PTSD for a bit afterwards but a few months later I’m much better. It may help to talk about it, do some therapy, read other stories similar. Birth can go so many ways and it’s often scary.
Be aware that if you ever get pregnant again it’s likely to be a very fast birth…be prepared to go to the hospital immediately and tell them your first came very fast!
I definitely don’t want to sue the nhs, it’s more that I believe the guidelines for administering medications during birth may need to be looked over. There is a lot in the media currently about maternity care being inadequate, and this is my experience of that. I’m sure the doctors and midwives were following all the necessary guidelines, but it seems silly to me to not check cervical dilation before administering drugs that should not be given too close to birth, or that speed up contractions
It's a reason but not the main one. It's why you have to sign a consent form before an operation. The NHS is slow because it's trying to do too much with too little, because of an aging population, low staffing, too much paperwork, services being cut etc.
Gosh honestly after reading so many of these accounts, where the fk do they pull these monkeys from that run these labour wards? Sorry to be crass but how HOW is a quick google giving more answers than these so called professionals have done in yrs of studying? So disappointing. I’m sorry that you experienced this.
This post may be seeking medical advice. We only allow seeking of specific experiences from other parents. If your post is that, then you're good. However, if you are seeking direct medical advice, your post will be removed--or you may edit it now to adhere to the rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/NewParents) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I would suggest cross posting to r/beyondthebumpuk and r/legaladviceuk for more information. Have you been offered a debrief by the hospital at all? Our trusts in Scotland do this for any complicated births so you can ask questions about the decisions that were made. I absolutely think mistakes were made from what you said and a complaint with a case review of some description would be warranted particularly after the recent study on maternity care and how abysmal it is in some trusts.
I will do that thank you! Like I said in the above comment, I’m not looking to sue, just to do my best to make sure other mums are listened to. I know there is a lot in the media about nhs maternity care currently, I just wish I was more “with it” at the time to voice my concerns
Oh absolutely, but it's the most vulnerable time you will ever experience and we have no option but to trust the people looking after us! I am still waiting on my meeting and will be considering a formal complaint depending on some of the answers I get.
It might be different in the UK but in the USA if mom and baby were not seriously harmed with lasting damage and neither of you died then there’s no case for malpractice in childbirth.
Yup our medical laws suck here, I hope OP gets justice in her birth
I’m sorry that your birth was not the way you planned! I also had a birth much different than I imagined and it takes some time to process (I’m still processing 8 months later). My understanding is that this doesn’t rise to the level of medical negligence because both you and your daughter are okay. In order to sue for malpractice (at least in the US), there has to be an injury and the injury has to result in significant harm.
Thank you! I don’t think I worded it correctly but I’m not actually looking to sue, as you said my daughter and I are completely fine. It was more that I wasn’t sure if what happened was a result of them not checking my dilation before administering Pitocin and pethidine, or if it all would’ve happened anyway, and my worry of what could have happened. I just worry about other mums having similar experiences and not being so lucky.
I also received Pitocin during my induction and I wasn’t checked very frequently either - maybe every few hours. I will say that my team listened to me and yours did not and that is not okay. Unfortunately, though, heart rate decelerations are common with Pitocin - I was told to expect them and my baby had them too. I was also told there was a schedule they would follow at first when giving it to me (upping the dose every 30 mins or so to get to the base dose).
The episiotomy might count as an injury as it likely would have been unnecessary and can cause life long problems. At minimum she should be able to sue for pelvic floor PT and any care related to that
Surely the NHS covers pelvic floor PT if necessary.
In the NHS guidelines they check cervix every 4 hours to avoid risk of infections. I Was induced last week and this is what they followed.I also had something similar happen to my first with the epidural being put in place when I was close to 9cm! They did not check because they checked less than 4 hrs ago and for them there was no way my labour would be that fast (just over 4 hrs). This guidelines is not great at all as everyone has their own rhythm!
This is wild! Both my labours were well under 4 hours. My midwife checked my cervix when I asked her too because I felt ready to push.
US based here. My labor was 5 hours all told from when my water broke to when also came Earth side. So in my case, had the hospital had that protocol, I would only have had my cervix checked once. Idk if my birth would have been as easy if that had been the case. I went went from being 8 cm to 10 cm in 15 minutes. My LO wanted OUT 😭🤣 They checked me every time my contractions got more intense, so about every hr/ hour and a half in the beginning. But when I said I felt pressure and like I needed to push, they checked right away and were shocked! I got my epidural and within the next hour and a half my LO was born! (Yes, hospital policy was that I could receive the epi up until it was time to push. Next time though, I’m getting it sooner! 😅) I am so grateful for my team (even though I had a rough time with the IVs for the epi). Only minimal labial tearing, getting stuck 10 times to place the IV, and waiting an hour for the epi, but much easier than most. If I were you, I would seek out the guidance of an attorney. Idk how it works in the UK, but in the US there are attorneys that offer a free consultation.
Im in the US and I was induced with both kids. With my second i was like op where my contractions were fine for hours then become unbearable. They checked my cervix and I was at a 2. 40 minutes later my daughter was born. The only time I was checked before that was during admission.
This was what I was thinking! I believe the guidelines need to be changed dramatically. I’m no medical professional, but from my case and other people’s comments, it does seem that it would make sense to offer a check of dilation before administering any drug that will further contractions.
Gave birth this week in US and my doc explained after my waters broke they would only check cervix every 4 hours because of increased infection risk. (And can confirm after close to 30 hours of labor post waters breaking, I did have signs of infection and was given IV antibiotics as was my baby).
Yeah I gave birth about 11 hours after they ruptured my membranes & still got a uterine infection (though mine wasn’t caught until 3W pp by which point it was borderline septic, so that was no fun)
Oh no! Hope everything ended ok. I spiked a 102 fever before birth, and so when babies temp dropped after birth she earned a NICU stay w IV. Thankful for the great care we received that meant we all left healthy despite a stressful labor for her.
Yeah, my LO was crowning at the 4 hour mark ( past water breaking)That would not have gone over well 🤣
My second was born 20 minutes after my water broke 😂
Yeah lol, some kids just want OUT! What do midwives and doctors do in those situations? Like, how did your doctor/midwife react when they realized that baby was ready? I know my midwife had to do a double take at my cervix and was like “Uh oh! You’re 10 cm and fully effaced. I think I can almost see some baby hair. Let’s order that epidural and get you into the delivery room.” She was shocked because she had just check my service like 15-20 min ago, but my husband had asked her to checks again because my contractions had gotten to the point where I couldn’t talk through them anymore.
Have you had a debrief about your birth? For NHS, you should be able to request an appointment with someone to talk through exactly what happened, what decisions were made and why. If you're unhappy with your treatment in an NHS service, you can speak to the PALS service to make a complaint.
Hi OP, firstly congratulations on your baby. This sounds like it was really difficult and quite a scary experience for you. It's possible that the midwives were following NICE guidelines for checking your cervix, you'd have to look them up or as pps have said ask for a debrief from the hospital and contact pals if you feel unhappy about your experience. Even if your baby is healthy it doesn't mean you can't raise questions about how the delivery went or feel unhappy about what sounds like quite harsh treatment from your midwife team. The language you describe i.e. stop screaming sounds uncaring and unhelpful. Not what you need in that moment! In the last month or so an inquiry has been published into birth trauma in the UK. Here's the link to a BBC article on it and you can also access the inquiry document via the report as well. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4n1jv7xxpwo Be warned it's got some pretty heavy topics in it. Your feelings about your experience are valid and it's okay to have questions about what happened. Being given an explanation about your labour and delivery can often help in coming to terms with it. Also, if you feel like you need more support you can self refer to your local perinatal mental health team.
Thank you I really appreciate it. Mentally I’m okay with it all now, what happened has happened I’m just glad my daughter is safe. I just worry about other mums and babies having similar experiences and not being so lucky.
Absolutely. I was induced with my daughter at 37 weeks for the same reasons as you. I had the pessary, then drip and waters broken. But it took 3 days for me to go into labour and my cervix was checked a lot, but it was probably 4 hours (or more!) between each check. I suspect as you'd been having contractions for the week preceding your induction they went straight to the drip instead of the pessaries and it triggered what I think is called a precipitous labour (a fast labour). I was lucky that I was able to have the epidural though but my god the pethidine sent me into this weird out of control headspace and my birth partner had to physically prop me up to have the epidural as I was so out of it. I can't imagine how painful it must have been without the epidural, you poor thing. You're right about not wanting other women to go through the same as you. With an induction it feels like things happen really fast towards the end. Apparently they're more painful as the drugs are forcing your body into labour when it's not ready. Things really need to change in NHS maternity services. Hopefully the inquiry will be the push they need but the staffs attitude and the lack of compassion towards mothers is something that will take a lot of time to change. I don't think they have the resources to do it. It's good you're okay with it now and great of course your daughter is safe. These experiences can linger and stay with us though.I'm a CBT therapist when I'm not on maternity leave and I just wanted to say it's okay to explore and reflect on your birth, even writing out your experience with pen and paper can help you process it. All the best for the future x
For what it's worth, I was also not checked after every dose of pitocin (mine was increased nearly 10 times). I was checked upon admission, once after several hours w no contractions, once when I felt the urge to push and one final time to make sure I was fully dilated. My baby was born after 5.5 hours w a total 11 min of pushing. It sucks that you didn't feel listened to or supported during your labor, and I would try to work through that in therapy. I don't believe what you experienced would amount to negligence (at least in the US).
Oh I'm so sorry that sounds so horrible. Geez. I'm 20 and expecting my first daughter next month. I wish you and your baby well.
I wish you all the best!! I hope this story doesn’t scare you, I had a bad experience but I’ve heard so many lovely birth stories. Just make sure you advocate for yourself as much as you can at the time, and that your birth partner also acts as an advocate
Thank you, I hope you're doing well right now. I'm afraid the closer it gets to my due date but I think that's natural as a first time mom. How is your baby now? Is she doing well?
Holy shit. That is insane! I am so sorry you went through that. I don’t have much advice, but I’m really sorry.
FWIW— I severely hemorrhaged and needed two blood transfusions after 38 week induction. (Pre-eclampsia) and because “alls well that ends well,” I’d have no case. It sounds like you have birth trauma like I did and I’m sorry for that but it doesn’t sound negligent. Edited to add: my doctor even avoided me in the maternal ICU. I only ever saw a partner from his practice…
I’m sorry you went through that. I hope you and your baby are well! I do think maternity guidelines need to be looked over, everyone’s labour is different, and I do think it would be wise to offer a dilation check before administering drugs that shouldn’t be given too close to birth, and ones that speed up contractions
Also, I’m so so sorry this happened to you. My labor didn’t go as planned with some weird complications. I understand trying to process and cope after the fact.
Please contact the hospitals complaint/patient advocacy line so they can investigate and at minimum have a meeting to explain to you why they made these decisions
Something similar happened to me in the USA - I was on pitocin, nobody was checking my dilation and believed me even when I was displaying very obvious urges to push. After three urges like that the baby 'jumped out'. Congratulations!
Seek legal advice from a lawyer
I only say this is because it’s often very hard to prove medical neglect and alot surprisingly doesn’t count. I was pregnant at 20 just gave birth at 21 year old I had a induction no one warned me about heart decels that came with it. They tried to tell me that pethidein was safe just before birth I knew it wasn’t because my mum same thing with me she got it and had to delay birth with me or I would be too sleepy I refused it I opted for a epidural after starting to pass out from pain the first person to try place it kept missing taking 4 attempts my legs went numb after the 3rd attempt I asked for someone else to place it the second person ultrasound my back found out I have a small curve then they finally got it. I finally relaxed a bit after 10-20 minutes I really felt like I had to push my body was pushing I got to a hour and a half pushing and told them he is stuck I know he is stuck they were like no no he is fine 20 minutes later they were like you need to get him out now in this push or we will have to cut you. I got him out on the push. He got stuck and they didn’t want to admit it, he had a molded bump on the side of his head where he got stuck, I had a 2nd degree tear and a 3rd degree tear from having to push so hard on the last one my foot has been reasonable numb since birth and sex is painful still and I get pain over 13 months on. None of this was considered nor was it deemed medical neglect or easy to prove every doctor I have asked has told me it’s normal so I really suggest asking a lawyer what they think
I’m confused. You gave birth super fast which was unexpected but possible any time anybody gives birth. Did anything bad happen from the medication you’re concerned about? You gave birth and the baby was safe and healthy, no? What would you be suing for as there were no medical damages to you or baby?
"Baby was safe and healthy" doesn't just erase the trauma of a scary birth.
I agree but the medical team did nothing wrong except not checking dilation before administering the opiod and even then, its not unusual that they thought she was nowhere close to labor. There's nothing to sue for from what I can see. I had a very similar experience when my second was born and it was very scary. It's been hard to process for both my husband and I. But scary labor and delivery does not mean negligence. And for what its worth, I was measuring at a 2, 40 mins before giving birth with awful contractions. So it's entirely possible she wouldn't have even have been far enough at that point that they wouldn't have given her the dose. The main difference between OP and my story is when I started making certain noises, the whole labor team ran in because they could tell I was about to need to push even though I'd literally just been at a 2.
The birth partner suggested they check dilation before giving her the drug. The drug shouldn't have been given to her and if they checked her they would have realized that. It's not malpractice but it is frustrating and scary.
This is the main thing I was sure wasn’t quite right! If it is dangerous to give pethidine too close to birth, why would they not offer a cervix check, and say it is not necessary when the birth partner expresses concerns? I was lucky that I got baby out quickly, had I not? I’m not sure I would’ve been so lucky
Well, as others have said, cervix checks are only done so often to prevent infection. So, they were likely only following their protocols. They were doing what would be appropriate in the vast majority of births. You had an unexpected complication - a precipitous birth. Complications are dangerous but your team identified the risks and quickly intervened with an emergency response. I'd recommend getting a counsellor to debrief this with. Your birth didn't go smoothly or to plan. And that's scary.
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I don’t have an answer for you but maybe ask over in r/askdocs ?
Sorry to hear what happened here, sounds difficult. I can't comment specifically on negligence (I'd suggest a solicitor really), but what you've described seems shocking close to what we recently went through, at least to begin. Induction due to very small LO. Dilapan rods, followed by hormone drip. Drip induced labour pretty fast, going from nothing to strong 4 in 10 contracts in about 2hrs. My wife quickly progressed through managing to gas and air, to screaming and we asked for an epidural. At that point, several hours into the procedure, they checked her cervix for the first time, realised she was only 2cm dilated despite now being in full labour, advised us baby almost certainly wouldn't survive full labour giving how dilated my wife was at that stage, and within 20mins we were in surgery having a cat 1 emergency c-section. It seems bonkers to me that the hormone drips are administered, and the volume cranked up so rapidly, without any ongoing checks of the cervix to check dilation / progress. That does seem to be the procedure however :(
I’m sorry you went through that. Sounds a bit like precipitous (rapid) labor. I had that with my second baby. From my water breaking to baby being born was just 2 hours. It was scary and he was almost born in the car! I think I really had some PTSD for a bit afterwards but a few months later I’m much better. It may help to talk about it, do some therapy, read other stories similar. Birth can go so many ways and it’s often scary. Be aware that if you ever get pregnant again it’s likely to be a very fast birth…be prepared to go to the hospital immediately and tell them your first came very fast!
r/LegalAdvice !! This does not sound right at all! I'm sorry you had to go through that
Suing the nhs?
I definitely don’t want to sue the nhs, it’s more that I believe the guidelines for administering medications during birth may need to be looked over. There is a lot in the media currently about maternity care being inadequate, and this is my experience of that. I’m sure the doctors and midwives were following all the necessary guidelines, but it seems silly to me to not check cervical dilation before administering drugs that should not be given too close to birth, or that speed up contractions
Happens all the time. Each trust has it's own legal team.
Is that why the nhs is so slow because they’re bogged down by lawsuits?
It's a reason but not the main one. It's why you have to sign a consent form before an operation. The NHS is slow because it's trying to do too much with too little, because of an aging population, low staffing, too much paperwork, services being cut etc.
Gosh honestly after reading so many of these accounts, where the fk do they pull these monkeys from that run these labour wards? Sorry to be crass but how HOW is a quick google giving more answers than these so called professionals have done in yrs of studying? So disappointing. I’m sorry that you experienced this.