2014 - I was in labour for 2 days and I had a wonderful experience at Mount Sinai delivering my baby but the aftercare was lacking. I’m not sure if they were short staffed but I was told I had to hold my baby in my arms all night after not sleeping for 48 hours as she had a lot of mucous. I told the nurse I wasn’t comfortable with it fearing I’d fall asleep and she’d roll into the blankets and potentially suffocate. I was told I didn’t have an option. They propped me up with pillows and laid her in my arms for the night. Fast forward over a year later, I was still waking up almost every night frantically checking the blankets for my daughter (who had never slept in our bed). I even had a night where I begged my husband to check the bed to make sure she wasn’t there even though she was in my arms... I ended up with Post Traumatic Stress and luckily worked through it with a wonderful psychologist but it returned when I had my second child. It’s shocking to me that a nurse can make a call like that despite what could have happened and how long I suffered afterward. It’s so disappointing how little support and understanding there is for new moms after delivery. Giving birth is enough of a shock to the system. Women need support not added stress postpartum. It’s a definite trigger for me still. I still burst into tears when I have to talk about it.
I didn’t provide feedback but I wish I would have. There are so many other things to worry about after having a baby, filing a complaint ends up at the bottom of the list, unfortunately. Thank you for letting me share this somewhere.
Submitted by R
