"Nightmare after giving birth"

I am a mother of 3 and 2 of them were delivered at the Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital (RBWH). Each time I gave birth, I've been left scarred and traumatised with some of the nurses and midwives. There were only handful that were great but the majority were awful and I felt they didn't understand how important it was to have empathy and patience.

Giving birth and transitioning with a newborn is not easy. My partner and I didn't have a choice to give birth at a different hospital as we lived in the North side and we couldn't afford the private system.

My recent RBWH experience was appalling and I'm still trying to recover from it. And this was worse than the treatment I received after giving birth to my first child there (over a decade ago). After giving birth to our 3rd child recently, the nightmare started and I had to request and sign a 'discharge against medical advice' (DAMA) to be released from the hospital. I was made to stay there for 5 days and if I didn't sign a DAMA, I was expected to stay there another 2 days. I understood the risks and weighed my options to go home where I felt safe and not judged.

I was forced to stay in a room with 4 other women who were pregnant with high blood pressure issues, women that had preeclampsia and mothers who just recently given birth. It was rough as I didn't sleep for 4 nights straight, I struggled to feed my 38 week old baby (who had jaundice) with my colostrum, they examined me practically every hour (due to me having preeclampsia) and my blood pressure medication changed so many times (which meant my readings were all over the place). So I spent about $200 on these new medications that I didnt need after leaving the hospital and refunds were not accepted. This all happened on top of making sure my baby didn't have anymore jaundice. I also had to request for an iron infusion and demand for my blood test (iron) results, which was finally given to me on the 5th day. I asked for the results because I lost about 600g of blood during and after giving birth, I have alpha thalassemia and I couldn't sleep at the hospital that resulted to high blood pressure readings. So each new medication they gave me, it meant staying another 24 hours at the hospital. That made me feel me more anxious and exhausted so I lost my appetite and I couldn't sleep. All I wanted to do was go home with my newborn baby to my family because I felt more safe at home and was happy to be treated by my GP, rather than the hospital staff. I felt like I was forced to stay there against my will.

Each time I pressed the bell for help, it would take up to 30 minutes for someone to assist me when I was in pain or concerned about my baby.

Overall, the nurses and midwives made me go through several tests but they didn't explain why it was required. When I asked what the purpose was for each new test, I felt they were annoyed. As a result, I didn't go through another test until my partner arrived the next day. For example, they made me strip 3 times down to my underwear for an ECG and about 4 midwives couldn't use the 2 different ECG machines! The curtains were not closed properly so other patients and their partners saw me naked. I felt unheard, confused and mistreated. And this was in addition to inserting 2 painful cannulas (for an iron infusion) because the 1st person who put in the first cannula placed it incorrectly on the left side of my right first on my right wrist so it was difficult and painful to move (sign paperwork, carry my baby, eat, shower etc.). The many attempts of inserting the cannula on me resulted to a long and dark bruise on my right arm that was visible for up to 2 weeks. I also requested for a copy of my teat results at least twice a day and it wasn't given to me until I signed the DAMA. Also, their discharge paperwork were not accurate and I had to explain to my GP what happened.

In addition, I requested several times for the Registrar or the 'doctor on call' to discuss my concerns and it seemed they were too busy to talk to me or it wasn't critical enough. What hurt the most was that each time that the midwives/nurses shift changed, I heard them describing me (during their debriefs) as a 'difficult patient' so a pair of midwives kept coming to see me because it seemed they labelled me dangerous or unsafe to be around. I even heard them making jokes that they broke me and I feel I will never be released. Each time a new midwife or nurse came, it was frustrating that I had to remind them each time what gender my baby was, I had preeclampsia and explain my dosage to my new medications. I felt it was unprofessional or it just pure incompetence because they didn't bother reading my chart.

It was clear to me that my mental health was not a priority, which was declining each day and I've never had postnatal depression. I feel I was treated unfairly and labelled as a ‘difficult patient’ at RBWH. It seemed my concerns or request for help wasn't taken seriously. I felt I was gaslighted and it was truly a nightmare. The lack of care, empathy and support was consistent throughout my stay each time.