An Ontario couple is criticizing a Mississauga medical facility after they gave her an enema for constipation and sent her home while she was is labour.
In August, Iram Daudi-Mohamed was eight days overdue with her son when she went to Trillium Health Centre in Mississauga, Ont., with pains. The hospital staff told her that she was constipated, gave her an enema and sent her home.
About two hours later, the 27-year-old gave birth to her baby in her bathroom.
The hospital informed the family Tuesday that as the result of their case, staff members have tabled several recommendations to improve their practices.
“It was extremely traumatic,” Daudi-Mohamed said. “I don’t want any other women to have to go through this.
The Mohameds said they are disappointed that it took four months for the hospital to address their concerns. Their four-month-old child is healthy but Daudi-Mohamed has still not recovered. She suffers from discomfort and bleeding, possibly from pushing before she was fully dilated, her obstetrician has told them.
On Aug. 9, Basheer Mohamed and his wife visited the hospital at about 9:30 p.m. because she was stricken with severe cramps in her back, abdominal and pelvic area. After she was assessed by the medical staff, told that she was in early labour but was not ready to give birth.
The Mohameds asked to stay because they were scheduled to be induced at the hospital at noon. But they say the hospital told them to either go for a walk or go home. They left at about 3:30 a.m.
At home, Daudi-Mohamed could not sleep. She had been given an enema at the hospital so she went to use the bathroom. On the toilet, she pushed.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, what’s going on?”’ She reached down and felt her baby’s head.
“I pushed when I was half standing and the rest of him, literally shot out into my hands. At the time, I was in complete shock. I had no idea what was happening. He missed the toilet by an inch or two. I looked at him. My baby was here.”
They named him Ayaan, which means gift from God in Arabic.
The Mohameds want to know why the hospital did not keep Daudi-Mohamed under observation.
“The nurse made it seem that we didn’t have a choice,” he said.
Trillium Health Centre spokeswoman Roula Giannidis said she could not discuss the case because of patient confidentiality.
The hospital staff had a “reflective learning session” and devised eight recommendations, Mohamed was told Tuesday. They include creating a clinical leader’s role, such as a nurse, who must be consulted on any discharge decisions and establishing a guideline for alternatives to admission.
There is no way, if I was 8 days overdue, they would get me to leave that hospital. The hospital staff,that deliver babies all day every day, should have known better than to send her home. You trust that the “professionals” know what they are doing and that they have your best interest at heart.
SOURCE:CANADA.COM
A couple of decades back, (and even today in some parts of the world) it was a standard practice to give an enema to a woman who was overdue, since it helped induce labor. That being the case, it was strange that the hospital staff gave her an enema and then sent her home instead of checking her in. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that enemas prior to labor are very seldom given today and the nurses did not know that they were committing what nearly amounted to culpable homicide.