“I was, and am, resolute in my decision to never have children, I know other people seeking reproductive care have experienced far more overt attempts at manipulation, but from this experience, I am still more guarded and defiant with health care providers.”
“This was the first time I was mistreated in emerge when presenting with a women's health issue... so honestly I don't know why I expected anything different. My experience caused me to not seek medical attention with my second miscarriage and I chose to do the third one at home with the help of medication. We are pregnant again and planning a home birth, I am terrified we may end up in hospital as it is the last thing I would want.”
“No doctors came to check on me while I was recovering after surgery, I was in lots of pain that did not feel normal. I told nurses but they ignored me. I asked for pain meds and 8 hours later they brought me Tylenol! They also discharged me at 8pm with out being checked over or seen! I went and stayed as long as I could with her in the NICU after being discharged and I even started to pump and bring her milk.”
“At one point I had bled through an entire pair of their maternity underwear - I'm talking no white left on them - and I sat in a puddle of my own blood. When I asked if I could have another pair to clean up, she told me I could go rinse mine in the sink and put them back on."
“I asked for a picture from the ultrasound. He crumpled it up and tossed it away telling me I didn't need it, that it was a picture of nothing anyways. My baby's heartbeat stopped the next day and I lost it, leaving me with not so much as an ultrasound picture to hold onto.”
“The next day I went for the ultrasound. The tech wouldn’t tell me anything. They had me wait for almost two hours for the result, sitting in the ER anxiously waiting among sick people. Finally the doctor called me in. She jumped up on the exam bed and nonchalantly said, “You had a miscarriage” - just matter of fact with no feeling. She then began talking to me about it but kept using the word abortion, “You had your abortion yesterday."
“After a year of trying I was sent to ONE Fertility. They gave us the options and we wanted a baby right away so we went straight to IVF. When I was having ultrasounds, they would always hesitate on my left ovary but they told me I was completely fine and that my husband's sperm was not great. I had three failed cycles, one fresh and two frozen, and nothing happened. I was shocked. “
“As soon as I had my first exam with [a different doctor], he told me I had endometriosis as my uterine ligaments were painful and it was a clear sign. I went on to have stage 4 endometriosis with large endometriomas on my left ovary.“
"My first child, I was 18 years old. I told the doctors I felt I needed to push. My body just took over. A nurse held her hand over my mouth and pinched my nose so I would stop. I was also told by a nurse that if I cried while in the maternity ward, they would label me as unfit and would risk intervention by CAS as I was young."