When you go to the hospital to delivery your baby, you expect your doctor
and nurses to be there during the birth of your child. That is the whole
point of delivery your baby in the hospital to make sure the labor and
delivery go smoothly, and if an emergency arises, staff members will be
there to address and take care of any emergencies to keep you and your
baby safe.
This is why a recent hospital birth story is so shocking and disturbing.
In Florida, a woman recently gave birth to her baby with the help of only
her husband even though she was in the hospital waiting to deliver her
baby. The woman told her doctor she was having contractions and she believed
she was started to go into labor. However, her doctor had to leave her
room to attend to an emergency Cesarean section for another patient. Instead
of finding another doctor to help her with the delivery, the doctor and
nurse both left, leaving the woman to go into labor with just her husband
there to help.
The woman’s labor was very short, and she ended up delivering her baby
within a matter of minutes with the help of her husband. The nurses returned
after the baby was delivered and cut the umbilical cord. The husband told
reporters that after the doctor left, his wife told the nurse she had
to deliver the baby now and couldn’t wait any long. However, he claims
the nurse told her to wait and left the room.
Fortunately for the couple, the woman and baby are both doing well. However,
the outcome could have been disastrous since no nurses or doctors were
present during the woman’s delivery. The woman told the nurse she
was going into labor and couldn’t wait, but the nurse ignored her
and left her alone with her husband.
If this case had resulted in a birth injury or complication to the mother,
the hospital could have faced legal action for their negligence. What
if the woman had excessive bleeding during the delivery? What if she had
a stroke? What if the baby had
fetal distress and she would have needed an emergency C-section? These are all questions
that should be answered by the hospital to make sure something like this
doesn’t happen again.
Source: Sun Sentinel, “Dad delivers baby himself – inside a hospital room,” Attiyya Anthony and Eric Roby, Feb. 26, 2014