Re: [ozmidwifery] 32wks & SROM

[Joy Cocks]

Hi Kelly, It seems to me that the medical treatment for this woman was fairly appropriate but the communication (or lack of!) wasn't!  I'm surprised that she was "allowed" to go home. There's still nothing that beats a midwife's hand on a woman's tummy to actually feel if she is contracting and listening to what the woman says she is feeling.  Not doing a VE is appropriate for the reason stated.  I don't know what the protocol at Shepp is, but I would have thought that there would probably be a cut-off point of 34/40.  For threatened prem labour before that time, a tertiary hospital would probably be more appropriate, due to NICU facilities. My daughter had SROM with twins at 26/40 and was air-lifted to RWH from Bright, where they were born 5 days later.  Despite antibiotics an infection developed and we lost our little girl at 2 days of age.  Our boy (Reuben) is going on 4 now and a healthy "terror".  However, in those 5 days she/they were subjected to CTG's every day and, because they could never pick up 2 heartbeats at once, ultrasounds just as frequently to locate both babies.  I can't help wondering if all of that did any good at all, or actually may have caused harm.  Just my 2 cents worth after night duty. I do wish this woman well for herself and her baby. Joy   Joy Cocks RN (Div 1) RM IBCLC BRIGHT Vic 3741 email:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: Kelly @ BellyBelly To: ozmidwifery@acegraphics.com.au Sent: Sunday, April 30, 2006 21:24 PM Subject: [ozmidwifery] 32wks & SROM Hello all,   A mum on my forums had her waters break at 32 weeks on Friday. She’s been going to Shepparton hospital but is not happy. Basically they tried to stop her contractions and she had said she didn’t want them stopped, but they did it then sent her home. It’s all a little confusing but anyway, she said this:   I got to the hospital at 8.30 and saw the resident on duty. She asked me what had happened and my reply was, my waters have broken! She then went out of the room and came back with all these tests. She read the tests and then had to get my husband to help her to do them; there wasn't a midwife in the room at this time! She did the tests and then wouldn't check how dilated I was because of the risk of infection, but her guess was about 1 cm. They hooked me up to the CTG, gave me the adalat tabs, and steroids and that was the last time I saw anyone for the next couple of hours, besides the first 45 minutes when they gave me too many adalat tabs! The midwife came in every couple of hours to check the trace, and then gave me her diagnoses of what the contractions were. They weren't contractions at all, just an irritable uterus! After being hooked up to the CTG all night (very uncomfortable to sleep with!) at 2.00pm yesterday, they finally took it off me! They then decided to transfer me back to the Maternity Ward. I had no money to pay for the TV ($14.00 a day) and no phone! Mum and DH bought me up some clothes to wear and after speaking to them, decided to come home under strict instructions not to leave my bed except to go to the toilet! So, here I am resting. Ringing the hospital in the morning to try and see an OB and get an u/s to find out how bubby is! That is the shortened version, but I got no explanations, no test results, nothing!   She doesn’t know what to do, is upset and says that everytime her baby moves it hurts. She said she doesn’t feel safe at that hospital anymore and is contemplating coming in to the RWH. What do you all think? Best Regards, Kelly Zantey Creator, BellyBelly.com.au Gentle Solutions From Conception to Parenthood BellyBelly Birth Support - http://www.bellybelly.com.au/birth-support