According to the CDC, black women are three times more likely to die during pregnancy than white women. We’ve heard plenty of horror stories from black women having horrific experiences in the hospital. On top of that, they are so rarely listened to by their providers, even when there’s real health issues at play. One woman is now speaking up after she was mistreated horrifically by a Texas hospital when giving birth. Some of the things she says definitely makes you feel so much anger for her during a time that was supposed to be so happy.
Paloma (@lucio.fam8) is a mother of 6 but a prior birth experience was both disheartening and horrific. It forever changed how she looks at the birth process. One Texas hospital completely ruined her birth experience and made her question them about the treatment she received. Paloma went to the hospital because she was having contractions every five minutes and knew the time was coming. Unfortunately, because her husband had to watch her other children for the time being, she had to go to labor and delivery by herself. She was, reasonably, feeling scared about the process and the nurses didn’t make her feel any better about that.
Paloma said she wasn’t given a wheelchair. This made her upset because she was having excruciating pain and was left to stand while she waited. This was the first red flag. Another horrendous thing that happened to her included being gaslit by a nurse, who told her there was no way her contractions were as bad as she said they were. She was also kept in a room with a broken curtain, so everybody could see her even though she was in so much pain that she wasn’t overly concerned about that.
The worst thing that happened to Paloma, however, was her cervical exam before giving birth. She said, because of the broken curtain, everybody walking in and out could see her. Paloma asked the nurse for a towel to clean herself off. The nurse turned around and grabbed a box of Clorox bleach wipes. She then told Paloma that she would have to use those. Paloma was astonished that a nurse would ask her to “degrade” herself and put herself in danger by using literal bleach on her pregnant body.
Luckily, Paloma knew this was incredibly dangerous. She told the nurse she wanted to talk to someone and believed that the situation took a turn for the sinister at this point. Paloma felt in danger at the hospital and knew that she had to leave instead of having her child at this hospital. On top of that, she wanted to be with her husband so he could help her advocate for herself. Since the experience, Paloma tried to speak with those in charge at the hospital. She claims they acted like “they didn’t care.” Now, she said the only thing left to do may be to seek legal help for how she was treated.
When you really think about it, it’s disgusting what actual people in the medical field will try to get away with. One commenter said, “This is despicable behavior at a minimum.” Another person shared their personal story, “I almost died in childbirth and hemorrhaged, had surgery, could barely move, unable to walk, all IVs blew my veins and still they treated me with absolute disregard. BTW I’m white, but an immigrant. I’m still thinking about how traumatic it was 25 years later. Shame on them.” It’s disturbing how many women, especially black women, have horror stories to tell about their delivery experiences. Unfortunately, some don’t even live to tell the story. We definitely need more regard for women in labor and delivery. We also need to believe them when it comes to what they’re feeling along the way.
