Waiting on the Midwife





Please don't let your situation ever be like my situation was. I waited to long for a midwife. I trusted my midwifes' judgment. I mean that's what I was paying her for right? To think about it I trusted her judgment to much. The night I went into labor with my daughters I was on my way home from the Blues Fest in Downtown St. Louis Missouri. My husband was driving and my two other children rode in the back seats of out family SUV. My daughter Abayomi 4 years old and son Akin 2 years old awaiting arrival of twin baby sisters Akilah and Aminah. As we continued home I begin to feel different. My lower stomach began to contract very heavily which made me grab my husbands arm and sigh in pain. As he looked over at me he said, " Oh Ohh it's time". I tell him yes. I removed my phone out of my purse and phoned my midwife Joann. She answered the phone. I told her that I was indeed having contractions. She asked me how many minutes they were apart. I replied with 5 minutes. She told me she was on her way and she would be there shortly. I made it to the upstairs of my apartment when the contractions made me drop to the floor. At this point all I'm trying to do is manage through my contractions until the midwife  arrives.


Time did pass and my husband continued to call Joann she answered every phone call. It was after the 3rd phone calls when we realized she was far. My husband yelled on the phone, "THIS IS NOT HOW THIS IS SUPPOSE TO BE HAPPENING JOANN, I'M NOT SUPPOSE TO BIRTH THESE BABIES!" Joann said that she was sending back up. She said she was sending a midwife by the name of Jennifer. When my husband hung up the phone with Joann he started to panic. I walked from the bedroom into my bathroom, I felt a large bubble trying to escape down my vagina. I stepped into the bathtub and put one leg on the tub and  I felt a head.

My husband ran into the bathroom, fell to his knees and said, "Andrea that's the baby's head", he started to cry. I gave a push and my first daughter Akilah came out right into my husbands hands. He handed her to me. He called Joann on the phone she is asking did Jennifer arrive. He is yelling, "Where are you?" She said she was on the highway. At this time an hour had passed still non Joann, No midwife just me and my husband and now an unassisted childbirth on our hands. My husband let a lady by the name of Carol in my home she was Joann's assistant (not midwife) just the extra hands for the birth. (Joann introduced Carol to me as her assistant for births during prenatal visits). She came into the bathroom said that Jennifer was outside and on her way up. By now its after 10:00pm still no Joann. Still holding Akilah while trying not to tug on the cord still connected inside was hard.

FINALLY A MIDWIFE
Meet Jennifer Konkol CPM


If you have read My Home Birth Disaster it explains Jennifer's role in the birth. This midwife was sent by Joann because she was unable to get there on time. She was inexperienced with twins and her actions showed. On many occasions as she was shoving her hands into my vagina trying to deal with the prolapse cord I screamed in pain. It was pain that I had never experienced not even with my other two children in a regular hospital birth setting. Sometimes I think she caused the damage more than the midwife not being there because she absolutely had no idea what she was doing. After that day I never saw this midwife again. Wonder how she's doing?

Where I am getting at is don't wait to long for a midwife 15-20 minutes at the max anything can happen and believe me you don't want to end up with an unassisted child birth because these midwives will walk out your life and you will never have to deal with them again.
So If your midwife doesn't show in a timely manner have someone get you to a hospital ASAP and no one can get you to a hospital quicker than YOU. Don't even wait on the ambulance to get you there.

The Midwife From Hell




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