"Withholding medication and access to doctor"

The birth of my baby was several weeks ago.  I lost nearly 2L of blood after placental abruption & needed an emergency c-section.  Day 2 after the surgery I began to experience extreme, 10/10 pain.  My muscles would contract in long lasting, excruciating spasms.  Every time I stood up it would hurt to breathe, & I’d nearly faint from pain.

The first two nights my midwife was attentive & kind. The next two nights I would describe as horrific. 

Night three a new midwife was on.  I told them how much pain I was in & it seemed they didn’t believe me, & kept mentioning I should be going home as most women only stay 48 hours after a C-section.  They woke me up in the middle of the night to remove my catheter, which I felt was strange in itself as I’d just had a code green birth & I needed to rest.  I asked them to not remove it as I couldn’t move due to being so weak & in so much pain but they did anyway.  Later in the night I needed to go to the bathroom, my partner tried to help me but I nearly passed out from the pain, screaming in agony.  The midwife popped their head in, I screamed that I needed a doctor & I needed pain relief immediately.  I begged for the IV to be back so I could have the clicky button for pain relief.  The midwife reiterated it was day three & I should be walking.  My partner had me in his arms, struggling & not knowing what to do, & the midwife left.

The next day another pain specialist visited with a doctor.  They reiterated to keep my pain relief staggered with endone & tremadol & keep Panadol in the background.  I do feel doctors also missed signs of sepsis such as intense pain in the abdomen (I made it clear it wasn’t the incision) & pain while breathing, a met call for extremely low blood pressure, & uncontrollable shivering & teeth chattering. I became extremely confused & couldn’t tell if conversations were a minute or a day prior.  However, day staff were trying their best to manage my pain & were certainly attentive, happy to keep me in & encouraged pain management.

Night four I would describe as the worst pain of my life. The pain was horrific & I was unwell.  I believe the night midwife’s care nearly killed me & has left me with ptsd. They again refused pain relief. My partner & I were very clear in explaining the shift prior a doctor & pain specialist told us to keep my pain under control by staggering endone and tremodol, to which they replied that it’s day four now, you won’t be going home with these so I’m not giving them to you.  I was lying in bed screaming in pain to the point someone walking past stuck their head in to see what was happening.  I begged for pain relief & when the midwife refused I demanded a doctor.  Their exact reply was I’m not bothering a doctor with this as there’s nothing medically wrong with you.  I told the midwife they  can’t discharge me like this without seeing a doctor & they said that I do have to go home, it’s day four  & they would try to get a pain management plan for home.

I was pretty delirious. I can remember tears streaming down my face as my body was cramping, laying there thinking to myself that I probably will die soon & that’s ok as the pain will end.  I remember thinking I just need to make it to 7am as that’s when changeover happens & I’ll get help.  I refused to look at my baby as I didn’t want them to miss me when I died.

The midwife must have thought twice about discharging me as shift change had occurred when I started to wake at 7:30ish to no feeling in my hands & feet - they were grey & numb. I remember the midwife doing a metcall & I must have been screaming in pain as there was a rush to see what pain relief I was due for, to which I believe the daytime midwife was shocked to see I could have anything. The midwife asked my partner why the pain plan wasn’t followed & I heard them tell the doctors I could have anything as I’d had nothing overnight.  As I understand it the doctor was shocked & asked why & I told them we’ve been asking for help & I kept being told no to pain relief & that I had to go home. 

The next few days are a daze, on antibiotics, weak & confused, refusing to hold my baby because I was too sick & traumatised. Blood work showed my inflammatory marker was around 270. 

I’m so angry that I had to suffer that pain.  I do not believe a midwife should be allowed to refuse a doctor or to refuse medication which a few hours prior I was instructed to take by a doctor & a pain specialist.  I am now suffering flashbacks & have struggled bonding with my baby.  My partner has done every night feed as when I hold my baby at night I get flashbacks.  It’s like a switch went off in my brain to let my baby go when I was laying there welcoming the possibility of death to end the 10/10 pain I endured for hours while being told there was nothing medically wrong with me.

I truly believe had the midwife got a doctor when I first asked, the doctor would have picked up the sepsis potentially the night before, & the trauma I experience today wouldn’t have occurred.  I truly believe all staff need more thorough sepsis training but more importantly believe it should be mandatory that nurses cannot deny someone a doctor when requested.  I also believe it should be mandatory that a doctor views c-section patients prior to discharge as if this midwife had discharged me on their own, I believe I would have gone home to bed & died.