"Poor treatment of a pregnant woman"

I had to take my wife to the Emergency Department for her morning sickness and being able to keep very little food or liquid down over the last 48hrs. After arriving at the ED we were informed of the 2hr visitor limit. I understand with the current climate so I waited outside and my wife would get me when she would be taken through. She was given Maxalon when she arrived.

I stood by the door so I could see her and she could see me. After 2hrs of waiting, I could see my wife become more distressed and she wanted me to come sit with her. The security guard wasn’t going to let me in initially because the ED was full but he eventually did despite the front room being empty. My wife had sat for 3hrs in ED before being moved to SSU.

She then sat on the bed for another half hour before anyone came to check on her and was then asked, what I feel were, extremely inappropriate questions like if it was a planned pregnancy and questions that I believe should have been asked at triage, such as how far along, have you had confirmation tests, have you had ultrasounds as if it might be in her head.

At the 4hr mark of the visit, they did a urine ketone test and gave her some hydralite. After a while, I tried to follow up with someone and, in my opinion, everyone on the desk ignored me. After returning to the room we could hear the staff talking about us and to just give hydralite.

45 minutes later, when I said my wife is exhausted and uncomfortable and starting to stress and I’m just going to take her home did they actually send a doctor in. They told us that my wife was dehydrated and body in starvation but to try to eat something. When told we want to leave, the doctor said it’s against medical advice despite not giving any actual medical advice. 

Then a nurse came back and suggested I should leave and go get the car. When they used the words blah blah blah when talking about the discharge form, I did leave in disbelief of the apparent unprofessionalism we had experienced during the night. After I left, the nurse then asked my wife if everything was ok at home and if the pregnancy was wanted again. 

Then when my wife pushed back and said their treatment of her and that her relative (who is a midwife) has given completely different advice and timeframes compared to what you’ve done, I believe they passed blame back to ED. As my wife was leaving, I believe she could hear them asking if we had left yet.

I had already looked into what other hospitals in Melbourne do when dealing with these types of issues with pregnancy, and it seems they are the complete opposite and far more efficient than what Box Hill did. For example, giving hydralite and the ketone test when first arriving instead of 4hrs in as well as administrating an IV when determined if dehydrated and ketotic.

I’m disgusted and appalled by how my wife was treated and am so happy we will not be delivering there. I don’t even want her to do her scans there anymore. In my opinion, they shouldn’t be treating pregnant women if they don’t know how to manage the care. Being busy is not an excuse.