- Jurisdiction
- Maryland
Hello! I'm not exactly sure as to whether or not I have a case, but here's what's happened.
Two weeks ago I went to a hospital near my apartment, because I was pretty sure I was going into labor. I wasn't a patient at the hospital when I went in, but it was the closest one. It was half past 3 in the morning. I was first sent to labor and delivery, registered, then told I would have to be sent down to the ER to be discharged and readmitted. I hadn't had any prenatal care until then (I know). Was finally admitted and put into a birthing suite after having to wait for an ultrasound to see how far along I was (again, no prenatal care before then. My boyfriend and I were about a month off on when we thought I was due, because there were two instances that could have resulted in the pregnancy).
It was around 6 in the morning when it was finally determined that I was both pregnant and in labor. The doctor at the time asked why I hadn't had any prenatal care and I responded. Most of the staff were pleasant, minus one nurse who said "Ugh. Excuses!" upon hearing why I hadn't gone to the doctor. I had been polite to everyone until that point, when I told her "If you don't want to be here, you can leave." I was in a fair amount of pain (turns out I had arrived at nearly 8cm dilated), but she was cordial with me after that. The nurses started to draw blood for the standard testing, including testing to make sure I didn't have HIV.
Ended up getting the epidural after the staff trying to scan a wrist bracelet and calling me by a name that wasn't mine. I said it wasn't my name and was given another bracelet. Asked to verify the information again (was asked initially, information checked out, but I think it was mixed with someone else's in the system, but I'm not sure.) and it was accurate. After the blood came back from the lab, the doctor came in with a nurse and asked everyone to leave the room. They had given me magnesium for high blood pressure. That coupled with the epidural, I was told I wouldn't be permitted to walk for at leas 24 hours. I was also told that my HIV lab had come back positive. I was then instructed that "It isn't a death sentence like it used to be. Many people with HIV lead very fulfilling lives." As if that somehow softened what I had just been told. I was asked about my routine, did I do drugs, did I have multiple partners. All no. I'm terrified of needles and I don't even like taking pills. I go to work and I come home. That is my routine. I couldn't believe it still. I was in shock. My partner was outside completely unaware and I had to tell him that I allegedly had HIV and that he could have been exposed as well. Not only that, my unborn child also.
I asked them "Can you do the test again?" to which the doctor goes "I guess we could." So, more blood work. That was then sent off. My partner came back into the room and I told him of what the initial blood work had said: I was HIV positive. It hit me then that my life was going to change dramatically, his might also. I cried, he cried. We went over what we were going to do, was asked to make a decision between vaginal delivery and a c-section. I was terrified of having a c-section. We went with vaginal delivery. She was born a healthy 8lbs even and 21" long. I was asked to verify the information on the bracelets she and I would wear- the name didn't match and neither did anything else. I told the nurse that. She said "Whoops!" and printed off new ones. Had my blood work been mixed up? Did the person's name I saw have HIV and not me? That was the sliver of hope I had. Then they took her from me for four hours to 'clean her'. Four hours I had to wait to see my daughter again.
The doctor came back in the meantime saying that the second round of testing had come back negative for HIV, asked if I worked with livestock, and said there would be more blood work to determine if I 'really had HIV'.
After my daughter was brought back, we stayed in the birthing suite for a while, then moved to a room that looked like it had been used for storage. It was roughly the size of a single person restroom, had nurses peeking in from time to time looking for extra supplies, was sweltering (it wasn't just that I was on the magnesium stuff, my partner was sweating profusely), and was next to a hallway where extra beds and monitors were stored. My nurse was rude for several reasons (refusing to let me have the bed raised enough so that I could reach my daughter to feed and change her, although the nurses in the birthing suite were more than willing "Well, *I* am uncomfortable with having the bed that high. So, *I* am not going to do that. If you need to reach her, you can call one of us." I asked to speak to another nurse and was seriously relieved when it was one of the nurses who was there when I delivered. After some conversation, the grumpy nurse comes back and raises the bed high enough for me to reach my daughter in the infant cart. When I was changing my daughter out of the hospital shirt and into a onesie, she threatened to take my daughter from me. "If she gets too cold, we are going to have to take her to the nursery" and tossed a receiving blanket onto her, which I removed, continued dressing her while explaining "I have every intention of swaddling her again." and I did. I then asked if there was anything that could be done about the temperature. I was brought a bed fan that was roughly the size of one you could purchase at a gas station, then told not to point it at my daughter so she didn't get too cold, was told they would contact maintenance about the AC that was in the room, was never spoken to about it after that, and decided against using the fan, because I was going to hold my daughter every chance I got and I didn't want her to get too cold either. It was miserable until shift change. A lot happened with that nurse and that closet I was moved to. I ended up apologizing to her for being upset, even though she was far from friendly and caring at all, because we both still had to deal with each other.)
I finally met with the infectious disease doctor the next morning when they were about to move me to yet another room (where I could shower! I was on day two of no shower after having given birth, bleeding, the lot- I was gross). This was around 8-9AM. I was FINALLY told that I did not have HIV and that I could breastfeed my daughter. I was SO relieved. I could have kissed that man.
But for 24 hours, I thought I had HIV, had to ask to be retested- there was just no way I had done anything to contract it, pretty sure I was nearly given the name of someone who possibly DOES have HIV/may have been who my blood got mixed up with initially (if that's what happened), thought my life was going to be cut short later on because of said initial diagnosis, and was given a very difficult time from the second nurse in a room that wasn't yet ready for someone who had just given birth to enjoy the first few moments with their newborn.
Do I have a case against the hospital?
Two weeks ago I went to a hospital near my apartment, because I was pretty sure I was going into labor. I wasn't a patient at the hospital when I went in, but it was the closest one. It was half past 3 in the morning. I was first sent to labor and delivery, registered, then told I would have to be sent down to the ER to be discharged and readmitted. I hadn't had any prenatal care until then (I know). Was finally admitted and put into a birthing suite after having to wait for an ultrasound to see how far along I was (again, no prenatal care before then. My boyfriend and I were about a month off on when we thought I was due, because there were two instances that could have resulted in the pregnancy).
It was around 6 in the morning when it was finally determined that I was both pregnant and in labor. The doctor at the time asked why I hadn't had any prenatal care and I responded. Most of the staff were pleasant, minus one nurse who said "Ugh. Excuses!" upon hearing why I hadn't gone to the doctor. I had been polite to everyone until that point, when I told her "If you don't want to be here, you can leave." I was in a fair amount of pain (turns out I had arrived at nearly 8cm dilated), but she was cordial with me after that. The nurses started to draw blood for the standard testing, including testing to make sure I didn't have HIV.
Ended up getting the epidural after the staff trying to scan a wrist bracelet and calling me by a name that wasn't mine. I said it wasn't my name and was given another bracelet. Asked to verify the information again (was asked initially, information checked out, but I think it was mixed with someone else's in the system, but I'm not sure.) and it was accurate. After the blood came back from the lab, the doctor came in with a nurse and asked everyone to leave the room. They had given me magnesium for high blood pressure. That coupled with the epidural, I was told I wouldn't be permitted to walk for at leas 24 hours. I was also told that my HIV lab had come back positive. I was then instructed that "It isn't a death sentence like it used to be. Many people with HIV lead very fulfilling lives." As if that somehow softened what I had just been told. I was asked about my routine, did I do drugs, did I have multiple partners. All no. I'm terrified of needles and I don't even like taking pills. I go to work and I come home. That is my routine. I couldn't believe it still. I was in shock. My partner was outside completely unaware and I had to tell him that I allegedly had HIV and that he could have been exposed as well. Not only that, my unborn child also.
I asked them "Can you do the test again?" to which the doctor goes "I guess we could." So, more blood work. That was then sent off. My partner came back into the room and I told him of what the initial blood work had said: I was HIV positive. It hit me then that my life was going to change dramatically, his might also. I cried, he cried. We went over what we were going to do, was asked to make a decision between vaginal delivery and a c-section. I was terrified of having a c-section. We went with vaginal delivery. She was born a healthy 8lbs even and 21" long. I was asked to verify the information on the bracelets she and I would wear- the name didn't match and neither did anything else. I told the nurse that. She said "Whoops!" and printed off new ones. Had my blood work been mixed up? Did the person's name I saw have HIV and not me? That was the sliver of hope I had. Then they took her from me for four hours to 'clean her'. Four hours I had to wait to see my daughter again.
The doctor came back in the meantime saying that the second round of testing had come back negative for HIV, asked if I worked with livestock, and said there would be more blood work to determine if I 'really had HIV'.
After my daughter was brought back, we stayed in the birthing suite for a while, then moved to a room that looked like it had been used for storage. It was roughly the size of a single person restroom, had nurses peeking in from time to time looking for extra supplies, was sweltering (it wasn't just that I was on the magnesium stuff, my partner was sweating profusely), and was next to a hallway where extra beds and monitors were stored. My nurse was rude for several reasons (refusing to let me have the bed raised enough so that I could reach my daughter to feed and change her, although the nurses in the birthing suite were more than willing "Well, *I* am uncomfortable with having the bed that high. So, *I* am not going to do that. If you need to reach her, you can call one of us." I asked to speak to another nurse and was seriously relieved when it was one of the nurses who was there when I delivered. After some conversation, the grumpy nurse comes back and raises the bed high enough for me to reach my daughter in the infant cart. When I was changing my daughter out of the hospital shirt and into a onesie, she threatened to take my daughter from me. "If she gets too cold, we are going to have to take her to the nursery" and tossed a receiving blanket onto her, which I removed, continued dressing her while explaining "I have every intention of swaddling her again." and I did. I then asked if there was anything that could be done about the temperature. I was brought a bed fan that was roughly the size of one you could purchase at a gas station, then told not to point it at my daughter so she didn't get too cold, was told they would contact maintenance about the AC that was in the room, was never spoken to about it after that, and decided against using the fan, because I was going to hold my daughter every chance I got and I didn't want her to get too cold either. It was miserable until shift change. A lot happened with that nurse and that closet I was moved to. I ended up apologizing to her for being upset, even though she was far from friendly and caring at all, because we both still had to deal with each other.)
I finally met with the infectious disease doctor the next morning when they were about to move me to yet another room (where I could shower! I was on day two of no shower after having given birth, bleeding, the lot- I was gross). This was around 8-9AM. I was FINALLY told that I did not have HIV and that I could breastfeed my daughter. I was SO relieved. I could have kissed that man.
But for 24 hours, I thought I had HIV, had to ask to be retested- there was just no way I had done anything to contract it, pretty sure I was nearly given the name of someone who possibly DOES have HIV/may have been who my blood got mixed up with initially (if that's what happened), thought my life was going to be cut short later on because of said initial diagnosis, and was given a very difficult time from the second nurse in a room that wasn't yet ready for someone who had just given birth to enjoy the first few moments with their newborn.
Do I have a case against the hospital?
