"Maternity care"

Throughout my pregnancy I attended the WHIMS clinic to see the obstetricians there.

I felt as though a certain clinician would push for me to have a c section and when I told them my birth plan was to have my baby naturally, they didn't seem to want a bar of me any longer.

I ended up having my baby a month early. My birth was messy and stressful. My waters broke on their own and I had to be induced to get my baby out. It ended up working after about 15 hours and we got my baby out. I recall the nurses were concerned about my baby so we got them out in time. I tore, and lost a lot of blood. My baby was blue with the cord around their neck when they were born. But they took their first breath and everything was fine.

I tell my birth story because it needs to be mentioned in order to understand my unhappy treatment with the clinician. I had my 6 week check up with them. I told them I had been having pains which had been there since the birth. I recall they took my blood pressure and told me it was probably period pains... what! The clinician didn't ask me to lay down, they didn't do an examination, they didn't touch me or check that everything had healed properly despite the tear and needing stitches and the pain I had expressed. They pulled out a dictation recorder, recorded a letter to my usual gp saying I was fit healthy and to return to their care. I was so angry and upset and when I am like that, I shut down! I felt I’d been in the waiting room longer than I had been in their office. I was still confused and so upset that I hadn't been properly cared for! I spoke to my baby’s maternal health nurse about it and I believe they said it wasn't right that I hadn't been checked. I'm only sharing this story because I have heard so many similar ones about the same clinician and I believe if we don't say anything, nothing will change for future mothers.

Please address this issue.