Medical Neglect During Pregnancy: A Critical Case Analysis

Question
AT MY 32NDWEEK OF PREGNANCY WITH MY TWINS I WAS IN AND OUT OF LABOR AND DELIVERY WITH CONTRACTIONS,DIAREA,&I HAD DIELATED3 THEY GAVE ME PILLS. TO STOP MY LABOR THEN 1 DAY LATER I STARTED LEAKING FLUID THAT THEY INSISTED WAS URINE BUT THE LEAK GOT HEAVIER BY THE DAY THEN MORE CONTRACTIONS CAME &NO TREATMENT WOULD STOP THEM I WAS SENT HOME ONCE AGAIN THIS TIME WITH TYLENOL&AMBIEN(SLEEPING PILLS) 30MINS. LATER MY FIRST TWIN WAS BORN IN MY LAUNDRY ROOM & MY SECOND @ A DIFFERANT HOSPITAL BY EMERGENCY C SECTION

Answer
This is outside of my area of expertise in all honesty, it would almost be a conflict of interest. This is what I can tell you from my own personal knowledge.

It is very common, especially with twins, to exhaust all possible resources to sustain a pregnancy while the mother is pregnant with multiples. This gives the baby a much better survival rate. I have seen many women, dilated up until 4 centimeters, sent home after being given medication to cease contractions. When someone comes in and we are looking to see if their water has broken, we will do one of two things. We will either do what is called an amnio strip test (this strip checks for amniotic fluid) or an ultrasound. It sounds as though they had a very valid reason to think that your water was not broken if the amnio strip came back negative. This is just from my personal knowledge. This may or may not help you to better understand how things happened. It is always unfortunate when someone is forced to have an emergent delivery, however it is sometimes the safest route for delivery, and in your case it sounds as though a cesarean would have been a wise decision. If you want to go into more detail or want anything else explained, please feel free to follow up with me.

If you still have concerns, please seek legal advice.

Best Wishes,
Cheryl A. Hetherington