Kate W.
Yelp
Had I reviewed the Birthplace ten years ago, I would have had nothing but positive things to say. They helped me to bring my daughter into the world, and both of us came out safe and healthy, despite a few complications along the way.
However, I gave birth to my third child there in March 2010, and they literally almost killed me. It was a VBAC, which was repeatedly encouraged for me due to other health conditions. That part was successful, and I don't believe it is the reason for the subsequent problems. And, to be filed under Good News, my son was healthy from the start.
For me... not so much. About 12 hours after the birth, I began experiencing very intense, sharp pain in one particular spot in my lower-right abdomen. I told every nurse I saw that something was wrong, and that I needed to see a doctor ASAP. I spent two days being brushed off: "Oh, that's just gas pains. It's normal to be a little uncomfortable after you give birth. Drink some hot tea mixed with ginger ale, you'll be fine." It took 36 hours to get a doctor into my room, and then she performed a very cursory exam and agreed with the nurses.
Three days after giving birth, I was discharged, despite continuing complaints of serious and increasing abdominal pain. I went directly from the Birthplace to the ER, and within 24 hours I had been Medflighted to MGH. I was in a coma for the next 10 days. It turns out that my "gas pains" were actually a case of my uterus rupturing due to a very serious infection, affecting both my abdominal organs and my blood. This was something incurred in the delivery room, and if I had been taken seriously from the start it could have been diagnosed with a simple lab test and treated with a short course of antibiotics. Doctors at MGH told my husband they had never seen anyone be as sick as I was and survive, and they were certain that if I had waited even a few more hours I would not have pulled through.
I understand that illness and germs happen, and that some complications are inevitable. My complaint about the Birthplace is not the fact that I was infected in the first place, because life is all about risks... my complaint is that I had to *beg* to see a doctor, and even then I was not taken seriously. I am absolutely certain that, if this was my first baby and I had believed them about "normal discomfort" or if I was less attuned to my own symptoms, I would not be alive today.
I have received health care services from a number of other departments at the North Shore Medical Center, with varying levels of skill - but the Birthplace is the only place where I felt overtly disrespected and ignored.