My husband and I were patients of Kathy Puhls and Susan Warner's for the birth of our first child 13 years ago.
We were looking for a midwife with the benefit of a hospital and OB GYN. Kathy Puhls came recommended to us by friends.
At 36 weeks our baby was diagnosed with a birth defect, we were never given a consultation with Dr. Warner to discuss our birth plan or adding extra screening to ensure our babies health.
At my 38 week appointment my baby had no heartbeat.
I delivered her at Evanston Hospital the next day.
I found Kathy Puhls to be out of touch and unable to lend us support during our tragedy. As we were leaving the hospital without our baby she smiled at us brightly and said ""enjoy the beautiful day!"".
Dr. Warner gave me a brief examination after the birth which was the first time she had seen me as a patient. She told me it was nothing I did that caused the baby to die and left.
I do not believe that Nurse Puhls or Dr. Warner caused our baby to die, however I do believe that they did not do all they could do to ensure our babies safety.
Nurse Puhls should have scheduled us to be seen by Dr. Warner immediately after our babies complication was discovered. Dr. Warner should have sent us to the high risk practice at Evanston (which is EXCELLENT by the way).
We were young and it was our first baby and we didn't have know to ask and we trusted them to take care of us.
I wanted a midwife because I thought I would be given support and understanding above and beyond what I could expect from a regular OB GYN, unfortunately this was not the case at a time when support was crucial.
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I would like to add my two cents to what my wife wrote above. I would say that Kathy had no idea how to deal with the situation in a way that was helpful. As I look back at it after the birth of four more children, I am quite frankly stunned that she didn't make sure that we saw Dr. Warner in person or immediately transfer us to the high risk practice.
I accept that it was our responsibility to ensure the health of our child, but we also were inexperienced and placed our trust in Kathy and her practice. Whatever their responsibility was they completely dropped the ball. I regret having trusted them every day of the last 13 years.
Kathy never should have continued to treat us. And I would caution anyone that midwives, no matter how wonderful, are not doctors. I assume most have the good sense to understand when they are out of their depth. Kathy did not.
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