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| - It is difficult to write this review. Although a couple of years have past, this experience is still hard to deal with. I wholeheartedly wanted an all natural birth with no interventions- a.k.a. DRUG FREE- but got the opposite experience at Blossom Birth Center. I am writing this because I believe it is important to let others know so you can be a better advocate for yourself than what I was.
The disappointments began during the beginning of my labor. First intervention started with a drug to keep my food down (since my stomach was rejecting it). After it did not work, came the IV. Mary, her assistant and the person subbing for Nichelle did not know how to properly insert it in my vain. This caused blood to squirt and all 3 were laughing about it (mind you at that point I am in full active labor and just focused on managing the pain). Later this was followed by a dosage of antibiotics. Yes, antibiotics. After being checked multiple times wether my water had broken or not and told that the sac was intact, I got into their tub and lo and behold, my sac was not intact and now baby ran the risk of infection.
My biggest disappointment was what felt as an ultimatum and lack of support from Mary's part. At this point we had been at Blossom's for 16hrs plus (arrived around 10am on Dec. 26). Around 3am the next day (Dec. 27) Mary came into the room and said we had to make a decision because I was stuck at 8cm for several hours. Mind you this is my first birth and my daughter was facing the wrong way- sunny side up- so I expected it to be a long labor but apparently I was in the wrong. Mary gave us 3 options. 1) Use an enema with a homemade recipe to motivate baby to come down cervix. 2) Rest and/or sleep for a few hours to regain energy (yes, I was in full blown labor with non-stop contractions and Mary suggested for me to sleep; I do not know how anyone can sleep while experiencing excruciating pain so this suggestion still boggles my mind. 3) Go to the hospital. Once she said those things I felt that she had given up on me. I feed off people's energy and being that I was exhausted, sleep deprived (24 hours with no sleep) and in tremendous pain I needed support and encouragement. Mary failed to provide those things at my most vulnerable time.
We opted to go to the hospital which led to even more interventions. As soon as we arrived everyone, including Mary, were insisting I get an epidural. Eventually, I agreed. That resulted in the dropping/slowing of my baby's heart rate, way below standard, which led to an emergency c-section.
After the birth, I sought Blossom's support for breastfeeding but was a let down as well. I felt more stressed after I spoke to Mary, especially because my baby's weight became a misguided issue. During her birth I received a total of 4 IV bags making my daughter's birth weight heavier and erroneous. Everyone used this wrong measurement to asses her development. Needless to say this was very stressful on top of having the normal challenges of breastfeeding. The one person that was compassionate , sympathetic and knowledgeable about breastfeed was Michelle Hottya from Arizona Breastfeeding Center in Tempe. Unfortunately, I saw her a little too late once I had decided to stop breastfeeding.
Needless to say, my baby and I ended up with many drugs in our system. This is what upsets me the most. Also, having the c-section led to a whole other set of challenges. I also missed out on the immediate bonding that happens in a natural birth. Mary did stop by the hospital to see me which was a nice gesture. I am still wrestling with this experience since pre-labor care was okay but during labor (which is most important) was full of bad guidance. My hope is that whoever reads this can avoid the mistakes I made and be your own spokesperson.
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