It was just 8:30 p.m. when I got ready to witness a surgery at Christus Spohn Hospital. As I scrubbed in, the obstetrician informed me about what my eyes were going to observe – childbirth. He told me about the woman’s experience with labor: “I am about to perform cesarean-section on her and I want you to know, that her womb may be empty”. I was shocked to hear such words come out of Dr. Shelton’s mouth. Thousands of questions immediately came to my head. Why would her womb be empty? As we walked into the operating room, healthcare professionals reminded me to stay two feet away from the patient. Nurses, doctors, and the patient herself along with her husband were present in the room. The alarming statement that Dr. Shelton uttered revolved in my head. Surgery was about to begin, so I figured there was not enough time to ask questions due to my extreme curiosity. Nurses and doctors were assisting each other during the woman’s surgery, using effective teamwork. I watched closely as Dr. Shelton pierced the skin of her lower abdomen. Shortly, the room got bloody. Midway through the operation, the two doctors looked at one another. “I knew it”, Dr. Shelton whispered. Instantly, I understood what he was talking about, but the questions remained. How and why did this happen? Why would the doctors perform cesarean- section if they knew her womb might be empty? I found out after the surgical procedure that the woman had gone through a false pregnancy.
I arrived at the hospital
On November 23, 1993, Doe was seen by an obstetrician, Dr. James Meserow, at the St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chicago. This was the first time Doe was seen by Dr. Meserow, but she had been receiving regular prenatal care throughout her pregnancy. Upon giving Doe the usual check-up, he determined from a series of tests that the baby was under duress due to an issue with the placenta. At this point, it is important to recognize that Doe is a mentally competent woman carrying her first child, and the fetus is currently around 35 weeks. It also important to recognize that Dr. Meserow is a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist. Dr. Meserow informs both Doe and her husband of the diagnosis and highly recommends either an immediate cesarean section or to induce labor in order to prevent any further potential damage to the fetus due to the lack of oxygen from the compromised placenta. Doe refuses both of the recommendations based on her religious convictions that God will heal her child and keep it safe from any harm, and will, therefore, wait to have a natural childbirth.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Habersham County, Tom was feeling slightly nervous as he exited the staff lounge and entered the hustle and bustle of County Hospital’s ER to begin his first shift as an RN. The first few hours of his shift passed slowly as Tom mostly checked vital signs and listened to patients complain about various aches, pains, coughs, and sniffles. He realized that the attending physician, Dr. Greene, who was rather “old school” in general about how he interacted with nursing staff, wanted to start him out slowly. Tom knew, though, that the paramedics could bring in a trauma patient at any time.
“If a sweeping pestilence struck down as many women in a community as are taken in childbirth we would immediately be aroused,” claimed Beatrice E. Tucker, Director and Associate Obstetrician of The Chicago Maternity Center. Beatrice was determined to helped needed women, in a needed community, in Chicago. (Tucker, Beatrice E., and Harry B. Benaron, 1) The Chicago Maternity Center was founded in 1895, by Dr. Joseph DeLee. However, it was led and directed by Dr. Beatrice Tucker, accompanied by her partner Dr. Harry Benaron. The center was opened from 1932 until 1973. The center provided free obstetrical care for poor women while at the same time helping doctors train for the latest methods to as well provide safe delivery for these women (Simpson, 1). The center wasn’t such a famous hospital or clinic as the time. It also wasn’t located by means of a medical school, such as the University of Chicago. Instead, the Chicago Maternity Center was located at 1334 South Newberry Street, centered at Chicago’s West Side. The reason for this was because, when Beatrice Tucker became the Chicago Maternity Center’s leader, the community was trapped as a desperate poor immigrant working class (Simpson, 1). Therefore, the center had two purposes. The first, was to care for and treat poor women, in childbirth, right at their homes. Second, was to teach doctors, medical students, and nurses “the science and art of obstetrics” (Tucker, Beatrice E., and Harry B. Benaron, 1). Through these
Even though I didn’t speak a word of Spanish and the patient didn’t speak a word of English, his moans were clear enough. He was in agony and all I could do was try and hold his massive gash closed long enough for someone to inject pain medication. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” I kept reassuring, not knowing if he understood what I was saying. After what seemed like an eternity that went by in a flash, more people filled the room and the man was wheeled under the surgical light reserved for those with serious injuries. A doctor turned to me and said, “Can you please take off my watch?” I jumped to the command like a seasoned pro and changed my gloves to help with the next procedure.
Even though I did not see or hear the nurse bring up an issue about the patient’s safety before, during or after the procedure, I am sure she was actively monitoring the patient and the surrounding situation for harm. As a future nurse, I have been made aware of the need to identify and correct unsafe practices or procedures in order to improve the patient’s experience and prevent unnecessary harm.
Not only did the citizens look to gain information on the human aspect of pregnancy, so did the medical field. Much was left unknown prior to the 19th century about the obstetrical prowess of the human body. Speaking from a gynecological point-of-view, medicine knew very little about this aspect of the human being. Strictly from an objective view, doctors were thinking along the train of thought that when women had medical problems, they were centered in the womb, and it was only their energy that was misdirected. Also, women’s menstruation was not studied well until
Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) is an evolutionary step in the nursing model of excellence in professional practice. A healthcare culture focused on excellence and world-class patient care requires that nursing research and EBP are integrated into the professional practice model and nursing care delivery. (Promoting Evidence-Based Practice and Translational Research, July-September, 2010)
“Out of desperation, they [women] may seek help from unqualified, unregulated providers who work in unsanitary conditions and provide no post-surgical care. Equally dangerous, women may attempt to induce
It is important to understand the process of medicalization and how childbirth has undergone that process. According to Riessman in the medicalization article, he defined medicalization as a process in which ‘medical practice becomes a vehicle for eliminating or controlling problematic experiences that are defined as deviant, for the purpose of securing adherence to social norms’ (Brubaker and Dillaway 2009). This meaning that medical intervention becomes an instrumental tool to control what is seen as deviant experiences with the intention of creating a norm for society. The professionalization of medicine and science shows a history of efforts in attempting to control populations and solve what was thought to be social problems (Brubaker and Dillaway 2009). Therefore,
The parking lot was covered with puddles from the lingering rain drops and the smell of wet concrete was dominant in the outside aroma as both Rhonda and her husband came near the entrance of the white colored hospital with countless amounts of square windows. After the quick thirty second walk to the hospital from their car passing many evergreen colored trees, Rhonda and her husband approached the main hospital sliding doors which swished open as they came near letting all of the chilled Seattle air flood lobby. After the hospital doors closed shut, Rhonda released her grip from her husband’s hand and wobbled over to the check-in desk where they both were greeted by a female receptionist in her mid-thirties with long brown hair pulled back into a tight ponytail with deep brown eyes. “Hello! How may I help you today?”, the nurse asked in an upbeat manner. “Hi! My name is Rhonda Crane and I am here to check into my appointment with Dr.Harvey at 9 o’clock who will be delivering my baby. I received a phone call from the nurse this morning and she told me that Dr.Harvey requested that I come in today to have my baby
In the early 20th century, situational blindness was again a key factor for postponing success in modern medicine when it came to childbirth. In New York City alone, the New York Academy of Medicine’s records showed that 2,041 women died during childbirth in 1933 as recalled in an essay in Dr. Atul Gawande’s book, Better: A Surgeon 's Notes on Performance (Gawande 179). This number has been shocking since in the 19th century, doctors and scientists discovered through works lead by Ignac Semmelweis and
Beginning in the 1900’s, pregnancy and childbirth have become increasingly medicalized (Mullin, 2005). In her book, Reconceiving Pregnancy and Childcare, Amy Mullin states the medicalization of birth
The medical system has changed tremendously in retrospective to women and childbirth. It was interesting to compare in the article how the birthing process was hundreds of years ago and how much it has evolved. Centuries ago C-section were performed on women as a last resort. Often they were already dead when the surgeries were performed in unsanitary conditions. If the woman was still alive the risk on infection made C-sections not progressive during that era. C-sections today are regarded as a surgical procedure that often have success for the mother and the child. In addition to the birthing process, women have gained great strides in the medical system. They now occupy positions of nurses, doctors, surgeons and specialists. Before, women
I thought my greatest and overwhelming nightmare that tormented me unremittingly throughout the duration of my pregnancy had become a horrible reality. It was 9:00 on a Tuesday morning, when I experienced the initial intense labor contraction. Without hesitation, I instantaneously grabbed my cell phone to communicate with my loving husband, but to my surprise it went straight to the most dreaded voicemail. Unfortunately, I had no viable means of reaching him, because Shaw Air Force Base was partaking in a quarterly, scheduled, week long war readiness exercise. Thus, my severely distressed mind had to nippily acknowledge the reality that my magnificent bundle of joy was making his long anticipated entrance into the world eight days early, according to the estimated due date. This delightful narrative will take the reader on a breathtaking, yet frightful journey through pre-labor, active labor and the delivery of my son, Dorian Josiah Heffner.
When Sims saw Mrs. Merrill in great pain, he instantly went to work. With no prior experience in the field of gynecology, Sims proceeded to place the patient on her knees and elbows and covered her with a large sheet, then placed his middle and index fingers into the vagina, immediately coming into contact with the uterus, and began, with great force, pushing his palm upward, then downward, until he couldn’t feel anything at all. Sims described it as “if I had put my two fingers into a hat, and worked them around, without touching the substance of it”( Sims 233). The patient suddenly felt relieved, so Sims removed his hand, causing air to escape from the vagina. When Sims had begun to push with his palms, he created enough pressure to force the vagina to its greatest extent. When he removed his hand, the air rushed out, returning the retroverted uterus to its normal