Advice From Mothers Who Almost Died

[Anonymous]

I'm not pregnant now but I have 2 kids and have been following this series of stories and reporting. And OMG I am so glad I am not pregnant reading these. Pregnancy is so fraught with worry and I can only imagine how I would be taking this if I were expecting... I am pretty sure we won't have another baby.

I will say that my Sibley-based GP told me years and years ago not to deliver at Sibley until they had a NICU because she had seen/heard of too many babies having to be sent to Georgetown while the moms stayed there. I didn't even think about the trauma side of it. I delivered (2013 and 2016) at Inova Fairfax and was very pleased with MY care there as well as my babies. I've known 2 women in real life who hemorrhaged and needed multiple transfusions. Both were normal deliveries, no major issues, and the bleeds were not explained. When the shit hits the fan you want to be somewhere that sees it all and has great outcomes, even if the c section rate is a little higher. FWIW, I had vaginal deliveries, pre-e both times in labor but was watched like a hawk for weeks, and lots of great BF support to boot.

[Anonymous]

I have a crazy, special one, guys. Post-partum thyroiditis. Thyroid Storm, which is basically a death sentence for 90 people.

I was 12 weeks post-partum and felt exhausted. I was losing hair, lost 50 pounds (40 baby and 10 were the 10 I couldn't stubbornly lose for a decade) in 8 weeks. I brought it up at every well baby and my own OB appointments. I was sweating all the time and had this ache in my throat (hint hint). I felt like shit and every doctor was like "ALL MOMS DO! You're just tired...new baby with a toddler blah blah".

My husband dragged me to the ER (I thought he was being dramatic) and it was like Grey's Anatomy. I was sent to Fairfax in a helicopter and thrown in the ICU in critical condition. They basically said if I had waited another day, I'd be dead.

If you feel like shit ladies do not let a doctor write you off. Keep going and pushing to get to the bottom of it.

[Anonymous]

I delivered my first at INova Fairfax and had a mixed experience. I got HELLP, which my OB missed for four days because she was so convinced everything was fine that she didn't bother to read my lab results, and had to have an emergency c-section as my platelets kept going lower and lower. My OB wasn't at the hospital, she kept just checking in over the phone as nurses are telling her induction isn't working at all and new (worse) lab numbers every few hours. I'm on pubmed reading about the best treatment for HELLP and my husband was on the phone with an anesthesia colleague asking about the platelet cutoff for a spinal (husband is a pediatrician). Finally, we're both getting really worried and start voicing our concerns aloud and two of the nurses pipe up like "yes, we'll get your OB on the phone... this is bizarre... you need a c-section now." I got one. DD was fine. For 24 hours post delivery, I was on a mag drip (so feeling like shit) as my platelets kept tanking and it got really scary when I started leaking blood from my orifices (nose bleeds, gums, etc) and my pulse ox alarm kept going off... but just as everyone started to panic, my platelet count finally stabilized around 20K. In the end, everything was OK.

So, on the one hand, good experience with nurses in the end. Also, I was really impressed with the pediatricians who checked on my DD a lot as they became concerned about jaundice (we were held an extra day and told to supplement/power pump overnight to try to get my milk to come in faster; not so impressed with the fact no one ever told me delayed milk is a frequent occurrence with mag drop recipients). On the other, so so not impressed with the private doctor with admitting privileges means no one is checking/rounding on you at all if your OB is not at the hospital model that INova apparently permits, but I definitely didn't know I was getting myself into. It seems crazily dangerous to me based on my experience, though I know that was mostly because my OB sucked. If we hadn't voiced our concerns, it seems no one was going to step in re: my OB who wasn't even in the hospital; later, when my BP spiked to the 170s, she apparently asked them to check more frequently (or so she claims), but there was no one to talk to when they didn't or ask what the plan was if things started to go wrong/when someone would intervene.

I had DS at GW with the MFA practice and it was 1000x better all around. The only thing I was less impressed with was the quality of the pediatricians/thoroughness of their exams, but I admittedly cared less since DH is a pediatrician and I felt more comfortable on that front. Well, also the fact they woke me up every hour overnight for 3 nights in a row.. and often woke up DS in the process.... that sucked and was so unnecessary.

[Anonymous]

Jury awards $20M to family of woman who died days after giving birth

https://www.gomn.com/news/jury-awards-20m-to-family-of-woman-who-died-days-after-giving-birth

She got an infection from her 4th degree tear (I wonder if she disclosed the birth injury in the ER), went to the ER and was diagnosed with a UTI and sent home. Came back later with sepsis and died. So sad and infuriating. Really wish so many women could avoid getting these massive tears to begin with.

[Anonymous]

Definitely be firm if you have questions. I neglected to speak up when the delivering doctor sewed me up before I delivered the placenta. Of course, I re-tore when I delivered that - also pretty much the size of a baby! It was awful and shouldn't have happened.

[Anonymous]

Wow, that's sounds awful PP

[Anonymous]

I delivered at Georgetown. And they overall provided excellent care and I credit them with saving my life and my baby's life. I had fairly severe pre-eclampsia and an IUGR baby diagnosed at 33 weeks, was monitored VERY heavily (hospitalized for a week) for three weeks and on the day they induced me it developed into severe HELLP syndrome. We all made it. Thank god of course.

But while my doctors were great I do sometimes think about my 32 week checkup. I had gained 12 pounds in 4 weeks when I had been gaining 4 between checkups VERY reliably. I had suddenly swollen up and taken my wedding rings off. And my blood pressure was 135/80. That is not a terrible pressure but it is for me. My blood pressure is usually around 110/65. RARELY above 120/75. I mentioned all those things, I think I even made a joke about pre eclampsia and was told to not worry and it was totally normal blah blah blah.

I went into L&D a week later for some weird cramping and just honestly feeling in my gut that something wasn't quite right. The cramping ended up being nothing but my blood pressure was so high I was immediately admitted and given steroids because the doctors thought the baby would come that week. I knew my body, I knew my history, and I knew at that 32 week appointment and that something was off. I thank god I went in that day.

Similarly but worse (totally different hospital in another state) I delivered my second baby after a very heavily monitored but uneventful pregnancy and scheduled c section. The week before I delivered I had a BP spike and called triage immediately (137/88). It was after hours. The on call doctor called me back and basically made fun of me that I was worried about that. Despite that my medical records would have shown him my history of rapidly developing pre-e and HELLP etc. I couldn't believe it. My doctor called me the next day and had me come in and my pressures went down and everything was ok but I won't forget how enraged I was at that guy for minimizing me. He took me a little more seriously when I snapped at him that I almost died last time from pressures that started at about the same area but his instinct was to dismiss.

We HAVE to start listening to women. That is how we'll save them, listening.

[Anonymous]

I'm switching over to the OB practice from the midwives practice because of my experience with #1.

I ended up having a completely natural birth -- but I'm rather shocked that no one took my condition more seriously. I was only allowed to come into L&D because my husband called and said that my blood pressure had shot up and I said that I couldn't see half of his face.

I think I was just lucky I didn't develop a more serious condition.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of the things the women in the article discuss are familiar to me. I had severe preeclampsia and gave birth at 29w. I also had 8 significant fibroids, which combined with low-platelets and an emergent c/s led to an emergency hysterectomy. There should have been much better communication between the various providers I was seeing-I assumed that they were sharing notes, but in retrospect I don't think that was necessarily true.

And while I totally support less medicalized births for lower-risk women, I think the natural birth community endangers the lives of women with preeclampsia every day. As one of the women in the article said, natural birth people say that preeclampsia happens to women who don't eat well and don't take care of themselves, and I've seen in books and online dangerous advice to try and fix preeclampsia with dietary and herb routines.

I also had severe preeclampsia and was well taken care of at a local hospital. The dietary approach to preeclampsia and GD (if you eat enough protein and veggies and calories and drink enough water, then you won't get either of these) is dangerous and wrong. It's also insulting, because it means that you did something wrong if you get preeclampsia or GD or other complications.

Most of my friends and family had less complicated, less medicalized births. I didn't. Thankfully, we each have healthy children, whatever route of delivery.

Thanks for posting this. I had a friend with a twin delivery that became full-blown HELLP. She had a super healthy pregnancy (was doing pilates through her third trimester etc), and she thinks that they were a little laissez-faire about following up her bloodwork because of that. She didn't have pre-E diagnosed earlier, but apparently the last BW taken a couple days before she went into labor would have shown some issues if they had bothered looking and noting that she had a twin pregnancy.

She almost died, and there is no reason for her to have gone through that.

[Anonymous]

While I don't think I almost died, I do think (5 years ago) Sibley was not well prepared for my hemorrhaging. My husband had to beg for someone to come in the room as blood was steaming down my legs in labor (not pushing yet, so they'd left me for a bit) and they didn't have / couldn't locate multiple tools the Ob requested to help stop the bleeding. I was then monitored with hourly blood draws after delivery for 24 hours to see if I'd need a transfusion so that was exhausting. Second was born in California where we now live. I don't know if it's the 4.5 years between births, my history, or CA but the hospital here was VERY attentive and took a lot of measures to both prevent and prepare for potential hemorrhage (such as giving me a medication during labor to help).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I delivered at Georgetown. And they overall provided excellent care and I credit them with saving my life and my baby's life. I had fairly severe pre-eclampsia and an IUGR baby diagnosed at 33 weeks, was monitored VERY heavily (hospitalized for a week) for three weeks and on the day they induced me it developed into severe HELLP syndrome. We all made it. Thank god of course.

But while my doctors were great I do sometimes think about my 32 week checkup. I had gained 12 pounds in 4 weeks when I had been gaining 4 between checkups VERY reliably. I had suddenly swollen up and taken my wedding rings off. And my blood pressure was 135/80. That is not a terrible pressure but it is for me. My blood pressure is usually around 110/65. RARELY above 120/75. I mentioned all those things, I think I even made a joke about pre eclampsia and was told to not worry and it was totally normal blah blah blah.

I went into L&D a week later for some weird cramping and just honestly feeling in my gut that something wasn't quite right. The cramping ended up being nothing but my blood pressure was so high I was immediately admitted and given steroids because the doctors thought the baby would come that week. I knew my body, I knew my history, and I knew at that 32 week appointment and that something was off. I thank god I went in that day.

Similarly but worse (totally different hospital in another state) I delivered my second baby after a very heavily monitored but uneventful pregnancy and scheduled c section. The week before I delivered I had a BP spike and called triage immediately (137/88). It was after hours. The on call doctor called me back and basically made fun of me that I was worried about that. Despite that my medical records would have shown him my history of rapidly developing pre-e and HELLP etc. I couldn't believe it. My doctor called me the next day and had me come in and my pressures went down and everything was ok but I won't forget how enraged I was at that guy for minimizing me. He took me a little more seriously when I snapped at him that I almost died last time from pressures that started at about the same area but his instinct was to dismiss.

We HAVE to start listening to women. That is how we'll save them, listening.

This sounds a lot like my experience. I had called the nurse midwife hotline for my hospital, and I mentioned my classic pre-e symptoms. By that time I couldn't pee at all due to kidney failure, and I was severely bloated with pitting edema and gaining five pounds a week. The nurse actually told me there was nothing wrong with me. She said I was eating too much and not to bother coming in, because I would be wasting everyone's time. I went in to the hospital the next day with chest pains (I had fluid in my lungs) and was immediately admitted with preeclampsia. Had an emergency C a few days later at 33 weeks, and rapidly developed postpartum HELLP. The nurse who I spoke to on the phone was incompetent and should have lost her job, but she's still out there endangering the lives of countless women.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely be firm if you have questions. I neglected to speak up when the delivering doctor sewed me up before I delivered the placenta. Of course, I re-tore when I delivered that - also pretty much the size of a baby! It was awful and shouldn't have happened.

wtf???

[Anonymous]

Advice from Serena Williams, who almost died, here.
https://www.vogue.com/article/serena-williams-vogue-cover-interview-february-2018

Shades of ProPublica’s year’s Long research into post partum complications here: https://twitter.com/propublica/status/951219421099503621

[Anonymous]

MAKE SURE TO LOCATE THE EMERGENCY BUTTON IN THE HOSPITAL ROOM.

I passed out from blood loss while holding my newborn at Shady Grove.

I had refused the heparin lock for my natural childbirth, which had gone really well until that point. The nurses were nowhere to be seen. My husband looked around for the red emergency button, it was nowhere to be seen (and later turned up inside one of the drawers). He ran out in the corridor, no nurses. He started hollering for help, someone came running, and because of my blood loss, had difficulty inserting the needle for the IV. Apparently there was a stressful moment there.

The doctor recommended a blood transfusion when I came to.

DO NOT REFUSE THE HEPARIN LOCK.

[Anonymous]

I would have died if I didn’t have a one-week pp check up already scheduled.

Contracted an UTI post CS (100% because of the hospital catheter).

Mid week I called in for an RX for the UTI.

When I went for a 1week checkup, I mentioned other symptoms. Doc sent me to the hospital right away. I had a MAJOR UTI AND A BIG UNRELATED HEMATOMA. Both absolutely needed IV antibiotics, or else I may have gone septic without even knowing.

IF I had a 3 week checkup, or 6 week checkup..who knows if I would have received enough treatment for the UTI and hematoma with the macrobid RX she sent at first. Or maybe be I wouldn’t have thought harder about the other symptoms. I *needed* to go back for heavy antibiotics, and I don’t think I would have without the 1 week checkup.

[Anonymous]

Ugh this thread is making me so incredibly nervous to give birth again, especially at Sibley. How do you all seemingly know your BP at any given time? Does everyone have BP cuffs at their house and I’m just finding this out now? I had normal blood pressure with my first until after I gave birth and I remember vaguely nurses being concerned but no one ever explained that you could have pre-e after birth or what to look out for...