I was pregnant with my first child and opted to have a natural childbirth, barring any complications. I chose not to have an epidural or any other pain medications, and the birth of my son went smoothly. I felt great and thought the hardest part was over. Then I felt the worst pain of my life...the doctor had apparently decided that she didn't want to wait 10 to 15 minutes for the placenta to detach by itself. She had both hands inside me, tearing the placenta out. I had significant bruising on the outside of my vagina and anus, and tears both inside and outside of my vagina. I didn't tear on the most sensitive and delicate area (the perineum), but on the left side of my labia. (I still don't know how that is possible...all of my tears were on the outside of my body so there is no way that my child's birth was responsible for them.) Then the doctor put 4 stiches on the outside of my labia...with no pain medicine. So much for having a natural birth. I might as well have had a c-section because of the time its taken me to heal. Its been 2 weeks since my son's birth and I have had severe burning and itching the entire time since then. I called the triage nurse who scheduled me an appointment with another doctor at Grace Maternity. She rushed me through the appointment (I was there less than 20 minutes) and said I was fine. She stated that I just had several tears inside my vagina and a ""dog-eared tear"" on the left side of my labia where ""the stiches must have come out"". She suggested that I wait until I have another pregnancy and if I get an epidural next time to ask the doctor to fix the 'dog-eared tear' then. Seriously?? It never occurred to me when considering a birthplan that I would need to get in writing that the doctor would let the placenta naturally detach (by waiting a few minutes) instead of manually and forcibly ripping it out immediately following the birth of my son. I would NEVER recommend Grace Maternity to anyone and I would caution women to find a physician who genuinely cares about the health of the patient and of the infant under their care. I am going to share my experience with as many people as possible so that they don't have to go through the same physical and emotional pain that I did. I sincerely hope that the doctors at Grace Maternity and their families are shown the same care and consideration from their physicians that they show to their patients.
more