"Visit to Emergency Department 3 days post-partum"

I birthed my second baby at KEMH recently. It was a very straightforward and uncomplicated birth and we were discharged later on the same day. An episiotomy scar from my first birth did tear during the birth and required stitches, but everything else was perfect.

As the days went on, the area with stitches became more and more painful, despite me continuing with the Panadol/nurofen/ice schedule suggested by the midwife. One morning (3 days post-partum), I was in constant pain - a constant stinging on the site with sharp shooting pain whenever I moved in certain ways that put pressure on the wound. I would consider myself fairly tough/resilient - I had a vaginal delivery with only a few puffs of gas, but this pain was excruciating so we headed into ED.

The triage nurse and Dr were generally lovely, but this story is feedback on the less positive aspects of my care - specifically the nurse who saw me before the Dr, who was extremely cold and dismissive. As soon as I went in to be assessed I felt they were was brusque and quick to judge - eg, they asked if I had been icing the area, to which I replied “constantly” - they jumped in and began to tell me off before I had the chance to explain that I meant by changing ‘padsicles’ 2hrly & the occasional ice pack in addition to this.

When we went into the room, they had a very brief/superficial look at the area before announcing that everything was fine and I just needed a donut pillow to sit on. At this point, given my pain and lack of empathy received I started to cry and they reassured me that donut pillows weren’t expensive (this was not at all my concern) before sending me back out to the waiting room.

During this consultation the nurse referred to the positioning of the wound from their  perspective (on the left - when it was on my right labia and at 5 o’clock - when it was at 7 o’clock on my body). Whilst this might sound like a small detail, them removing the wound from my body felt dehumanising. They were also extremely condescending in how they explained this to me and scoffed that I couldn’t understand their explanations. Surely when discussing a patients wound, you need to use their anatomy? Eg, I imagine we would refer to a patient going in for knee surgery by which knee was the problem geographically by the patient’s left/right, not by which side of their body it was on when we looked from the opposite direction?

The Dr who next saw me was of the same opinion as my original midwife - that I had a hameatoma behind my stitches. They prescribed antibiotics and stronger painkillers, much to my relief. (I’m pleased to say that a few days later this pain and swelling has mostly resolved with the antibiotics).

After the Dr left, the same nurse re-appeared and started talking about where I could buy donut pillows irrespective/independent to the Dr’s advice. I don’t understand why I had to listen to their diagnosis, then a Drs, then they had another chance to intervene again?! There seemed to be no communication between the nurse/Dr?

We waited 3+hrs in Emergency, Following this, we attended the pharmacy as recommended to collect the medications. There was a 20 minute wait for medications, which wasn’t ideal but I used this time to breastfeed my baby. After this, my spouse watched my baby in the car while I went back to ‘quickly’ collect my medications. There had been a mix-up with the Dr, as they had written MR (modified release) after the tramadol prescription, but given dosage instructions for IR (immediate release). They had been trying to call them but had not gotten through. 40 minutes later I was still waiting for my prescription. I will add that both Emergency and the Pharmacy only had sit-down chairs and so it was excruciating to sit - and being 3 days post-partum I couldn’t stand for long periods. Eventually I reapproached the counter in tears again and explained that I had to collect my older child from kindy in 30mins. The pharmacist dispensed the medication they thought was correct and took my phone number in case it wasn’t. I’m not sure why I had to wait 40 mins if this was the resolution anyway?

All up, we spent 5 hrs between ED and the pharmacy with a 3 day old newborn and in a lot of pain. I love KEMH generally and always speak highly of my experiences there - but this visit was very bleak, largely due to the nurse I experienced in ED and extremely long wait times, in pain and without a means of sitting/lying comfortably.