I have been asked to complain about my midwife :(

[rolypolypudding]

(Sorry have name changed)

To cut a long story short, my midwife was quite a hippy and I had a drug-free birth. At the end I had a second-degree tear and the midwife implied that it wouldn't matter if I had stitches or not - that it was recommended in some hospitals but not in others. So I didn't.

I was in a lot of pain for several weeks and several months down the line I am seeing a gynaecologist and have been offered reconstruction etc. etc.

I have been told that my midwife's advice was wrong - and that a second degree tear should always be stitched and that should always be recommended and encouraged. I have been told that she should have told me the problems that might occur if stitching wasn't done.

I have recently met another mum who has had EXACTLY the same experience - with the same midwife.

Should I take this further and make a complaint?

Yes.

I had a second degree tear with DS1 and cannot imagine not having it stitched.

If she's routinely going round not stitching women

Yes.

Yes. Sorry - tears without stitching? Per-lease.

YES.

I would be angry that I had been given incorrect advice, and that most likely that poor advice had led to future problems. In which case I would want an apology at the very least.
I would also want to prevent anyone else having to go through that (as you obviously aren't alone).
If you are clear what you want you can also include that in the complaint.
If you don't complain, or at least make her employees aware of this, she will carry on practising in the same manner.

yes

Yes
No question

I had a second degree episiotomy. It was not stitched. I had an open wound for 3 months and it was very painful. Am in the same situation and am waiting for reconstruction. Each of the 4 midwives & the doctor I had made errors ranging from minor to serious. I complained about them all. I could not bear what happened to me to happen to someone else. The hospital have promised to make changes and the worst midwife (who has left the hospital) is subject to a supervisory review if he wishes to return.

Yes. I reported mine (for something different) and am glad I did.

Mine did something that was not recommended - another midwife's 'tip'.

The health authority took it very seriously - probably scared they were going to be sued.

A second-degree tear doesn't always have to be stitched. At least, that's certainly what I've been taught and it's what a number of the mws I work with practice - in certain cases.

However, it's certainly not enough to say that 'it wouldn't matter if I had stitches or not' and it does depend on the tear, how big it was, how much bleeding there was, etc. You certainly should have been able to have a proper discussion with her about the possible implications of not stitching - problems with healing, misalignment of the tissue, etc etc. It's extremely bad practice of her to imply it wouldn't matter at all.

In your shoes I would still make a complaint, based on the fact that you were given incomplete information about the risks of not having the procedure done.

Sorry to hijack rolypolypudding, but how do you know what sort of tear your had? Sorry to be thick! I tore and was stitched, but have no idea what sort of tear it was.

It's written all over my many pages of notes :)

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and advice

What are the different degrees? Is it to do with the size of the tear?

I should add, that I'm interested because I still don't feel "quite right" where the stitching was done, and I'm not sure what to do about it.

More info \link{http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vaginal-tears/AN01047\here}

Thanks Gem - and once again, sorry to hijack.

definitely complain! trained professionals should know better than to make simple mistakes like these.

my midwife and doc did the exact opposite, had two tiny tears, described by the doc herself as 'grazes'. as they were bleeding they spent half an hour debating whether to stitch or not.

i repeatedly asked them not to as i tend to bleed for a long time with any cut i get and it doesn't mean much. they ignored me and stitched, one stitch either side of my labia. they told me at the time the stitches were disolvable. they weren't.

i was in agony with them and had alot of swelling which pulled the stitches very tight and was in tears several times over the next few days as i couldn't sit, stand, walk or lye in any position other than on my back with my legs apart without feeling like my bits were going to explode. i probably sound over dramatic but keep in mind i hadn't slept for days and was trying to bf dd.

one of the stitches tore after three days and the pain in that side eased but three weeks later the second one still hadn't come out, had to pick at it with nail sissors, practically bit through my lip with the pain. 2 days after doing this i could sit without yelping again.

really wish i'd complained at the time but didn't have the courage.

Hi all,

I am a midwife in one of the London hospitals, and seems that the protocols for repair of 2nd degree tears is forever changing!.....One set of research comes out saying 'repair', then we are told to leave alone.......difficult to say, I guess it all depends upon which set of research this midwife was basing here practice on!

I manage complaints for a Primary Care Trust, and although they are difficult to manage (they can take up a huge amount of time, sometimes for very trivial things) it is really important to raise issues when you have a concern. It may be that the midwife just made a wrong call on this occasion, and is usually excellent, or it may be that she really is a risk to patients, and that your complaint will be the final piece of a jigsaw that will allow the hospital to take action (it can be very difficult to get the registration bodies to suspend or strike off poorly performing clinicians). At the very least the issue will be raised, and awareness increased, and you should find out a bit more about why the advice you were given was given to you. On the other hand you may find it very stressful, feel that the hospital doesn't react in the way you want it to, and be disheartened (just to present both sides of the case). One alternative is to ask to meet with/speak to the senior midwife in charge of the unit. Often a face to face conversation is much better than lots of letters flying all over the place.

Funnily enough I was asking DP about this the other day. I had a second degree, and couldn't remember if i ASKED it to be stitched. He said no, I didn't have a lot of choice. See I enjoyed the gas and air so much I was unsure if the promise of that swayed me somewhat...

Definately complain. It sounds as though she was negligent.

I would complain, you can send a letter just to start the investigation and forget about it (if that's what you want). The hospital will take it from there and investigate the incident further and determine if something needs to be done with regards to this midwife. If you and your friend send the letter together, you are less likely to be ignored (although I very much doubt that a complain letter gets ignored)