Pharmacy News EU

July 27When you’re constantly fighting for people to do the right thing, something is terribly wrong. One of my best friends called the other day in a state of despondency. Her patient needed to have a C. Section and the anesthesiologist was acting like a jerk. The patient had two previous successful VBACs but this time had a placenta previa which meant the placenta was covering the opening to the womb. A vaginal delivery was impossible. The patient was 38 weeks and my friend instinctively felt that she needed to be delivered. Gratefully, she wasn’t bleeding.
The anesthesiologist refused to give the patient an epidural, citing her "high-risk" status and was also rude in the process. He felt the main hospital operating room was a more appropriate arena for the delivery as opposed to the labor and delivery suite. My friend had had problems with this physician before. He would play the "dumping" game using any excuse to postpone performing a case until the next shift took over. My friend was not about to play Russian-Roulette with the patient’s baby and refused to send her home. "What should I do?" she asked in frustration. "I’m trying not to lose my composure and I’m not in the mood to fight."
My friend needed encouragement. I reminded her that she was a brilliant physician whose calling was to heal women and save babies. I suggested that she get the hospital’s administrator and ob-gyn chairman involved to deal with the anesthesiologist directly and document on the patient’s chart why she was unable to deliver the baby. Above all, she must trust her instincts.
The high-risk specialist agreed with my friend’s assessment and wrote a note on the chart as well. My friend shared her dilemma with the nurse-in-charge who then took control of the situation and forced the hand of the anesthesiologist.
The baby was ultimately delivered and had a low APGAR score at one minute although there was nothing on the fetal tracing to suggest why. Had my friend not intervened, the baby could have possibly died.
My friend scored a moral victory with this delivery. But what will happen the next time?
Linda Burke-Galloway, MD, MS, FACOG is a board-certified ob-gyn physician who is a champion of patient safety and is on a mission to keep pregnant women from falling through the cracks of our imperfect healthcare system. For over twenty years she has provided clinical services to high-risk pregnant women in medically underserved communities. She served our country through the National Health Service Corp, is a medical malpractice consultant for the U.S. Human Health Services and the federal government has also sought her expertise in reducing obstetrical malpractice cases in high-risk communities. Dr. Burke-Galloway has worked for the State of Florida Department of Health for over thirteen years in direct patient care. She is the author of The Smart Mothers Guide to a Better Pregnancy and is the Pregnancy Expert for LifeScript.com. She is a graduate of City College of the City University of New York, Columbia University School of Social Work and Boston University School of Medicine. She lives with her husband in Central Florida and is the proud mother of two sons. Dr. Galloway is the author of The Smart Mother’s Guide to a Better Pregnancy (Red Flags Pub/ 2008). You’ll find Dr. Galloway online at www.smartmothersguide.com
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