Even my labor was pretty perfect. The contractions were not out of the world horrific, even after being given Pitocin, the pain was extreme, but manageable.
The delivery, on the other hand, was almost something out of a Lifetime movie. Had anything been one second off, one action different, one procedure not taken, I could have ended up with an unhealthy, or dead, baby, sitting in a lawyer's office, seeking my day in court, aiming for legislation against the severe use of drugs in cesarean sections.
I am not a medical professional. I don't even know any medical professionals. But I know that the anesthesiologist charged with the care of me and my baby was in the wrong. I feel it in my gut. Thank God, the gods, heavens, the universe, and the prayers and beliefs of myself, my husband, and our families, that my daughter is also perfect, healthy, getting fatter every day (we're already moving up to the next diaper size!), and is a very happy baby.
As a writer though, how can I not write a letter to the hospital, especially considering they sent me a request for feedback survey?
So here it is:
April 11, 2012
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this letter in response to your request for feedback on my experience at your hospital, although, to be honest, this letter would have been forthcoming regardless.
Overall, I would have to say, as I indicated on the survey, that my experience at Eden was wonderful. The nursing staff both in Labor and Delivery and Post Partum was friendly, warm, helpful, and knowledgeable. The doctors from my group, Bay Valley Medical Group, all performed above and beyond my expectations. My birth plan was followed as best as can be expected given my circumstances, and the hospital itself was a wonderful environment in which to bring my baby into the world.
Having said that, my experience was irrevocably and horribly tainted by the anesthesiologist and his part in my labor and birth.
I arrived at Eden Medical Center with a broken water bag on Friday, March 16, around noon, and was checked in efficiently to prepare to have my baby. I labored until well after midnight only to have my baby not descend, which led to our decision to try to help her along with Pitocin. I continued to labor until around 10:00 AM Saturday, March 17, at which point my daughter still had not descended and my cervix had barely dilated past 3 cm. Due to my hope to avoid a cesarean section, I opted for an epidural, planning to labor a bit longer and work toward full dilation and a descended baby.
The epidural took quite a while to place and it began to wear off within just a couple of hours, at which point I began to feel the intensity of my contractions once more. I am sorry to say, I do not remember the name of the anesthesiologist; I was in so much pain. My doctor finally declared that a cesarean section would be the best option at this point and explained to me that I would be taken to the operating room and given an increased dose of epidural, and that possibly the epidural would need to be replaced, but that it was highly unlikely that I would undergo general anesthesia as this was not an emergency procedure and we were in no rush. My husband was given scrubs and told that he would be brought into the room in about 5 minutes.
I was wheeled into the operating room and given an additional dose of epidural. Unfortunately, upon testing my abdomen, I could still feel everything. I was then given another dose, and again, I could still feel everything. At that point the anesthesiologist told me I would be put to sleep, he placed a mask over my face and I was unconscious within seconds.
From what I understand, I was given Ketamine, it took 6 minutes to get my daughter out of my womb and she was born unable to breathe on her own. She was intubated and Children’s Hospital of Oakland was called to transport her there. My husband sat in my labor room waiting for someone to come get him for 30 minutes, with no clue as to what was happening with his wife and daughter. When he finally did hear something, the anesthesiologist led him to a window on the other side of which he saw his unconscious wife being worked on and the body of his lifeless daughter being attended to. When I woke up I was told my daughter was being transferred, she was wheeled into my room in an incubator and sent off to Children’s. Shortly after she arrived at Children’s, she was breathing fine on her own and had no other health problems of which to speak aside from slight jaundice.
It is my belief that my daughter’s complications were the result of the drugs that were heavily administered to me without thought or concern for the well being of the infant inside me. I had a completely uncomplicated pregnancy and labor and my daughter was, by all accounts, perfectly healthy until the cesarean procedure began.
I was unable to hold my daughter, or even touch her, until Monday, two days later, when I was checked out of Eden a day early. I was so drugged still after my cesarean section I could barely keep my eyes open until the next day. My daughter remained in Children’s Hospital for observation until Wednesday, for a full 4 days, despite being a perfectly healthy baby. She was fed from a bottle, given a pacifier, and without the constant attention of her parents for 4 full days. These are all circumstances which I had been adamantly against in planning for the birth of our child.
The end result of this blissfully planned for event was that my husband and I lived a nightmare for days on end, all because, in my opinion, the anesthesiologist decided to administer Ketamine and put me under, instead of taking the time to replace my epidural. I place the blame fully on him, and I hold the hospital responsible for having such an irresponsible, unprofessional employee on staff.
I will be writing a letter to my local newspaper. I have never posted anything on Yelp, but you can rest assured, I certainly will now. I will include this in my online blog, and I will spread this story as far and wide as it will travel. This never should have happened to me, and it was entirely preventable. I hope to help ensure it does not happen to anyone else.
Shanna Mathews-Méndez
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