Episiotomy Post Op Major Problem Found - Help!

[JayJayBump]

Wonder if anyone else has gone, or is going through the same as me.

My GP today at my 6 week check found why I was in so much pain and can not even insert a finger into my vagina. The hospital has sewn me up so well that they havn't left any room basically.

My GP is going to contact the hospital immediately for them to rectify the problem. My GP also said that they will have to examin me under general anesthetic as the opening they have left me with is extremely small and would be impossible to look at and very painful.

Help! What should I do? Should I go back to the same hospital that did this to me? Should I get legal representation? It could be months until I am able to use tampons, let alone have sex.

Really amazed that this could happen!!

Claire.

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Goodness!

Invoke the formal complaints procedure (by writing to the Chief Executive) and ask for a meeting to discuss how this happened with the Consultant in charge of your care. The Complaints Officer will join the meeting to chair it. A two way conversation where you can ask questions and demand answers, and then form new questions on the basis of what you are told will be more productive IMO then just putting pen to paper.

The hospital will provide you with a transcript of the meeting notes afterwards.

yes, get a solicitor - definitely. Poor you Claire. Do not let them get away with this.
Sure another legal wizz mumsnetter can advise you about best way of getting decent solicitor.

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Please be warned, though, that it is extremely difficult and long-winded to take legal action against the medical establishment. It could end up very distressing for you. I'm not saying don't go down that route, just don't expect quick results. Check your household insurance, you may have legal representation on it, or at the very least, access to a legal helpline who may be able to advise.

Definitely insist on seeing a senior consultant, I should think your GP would be sympathetic to such a request.

I had to have my stitching repaired months after my first child was born. It's distressing, I know, but please try not to let it overwhelm you. These things can be repaired, at the moment you have to live with it but it won't be for ever. I have had another child since.

You need a solicitor who specialises in medical negligence. You can either go on to the Law Society's website and search for a member of the Medical Negligence Panel or alternatively you can contact Balmorals (a friends firm) on www.balmorals-solicitors.co.uk. All claims are dealt with on a no win no fee basis and if you have legal expenses insurance with your home insurance it will simply take away the need for you to but "after the event" insurance. You should make sure you contact a LAWYER and not a claims company. You will be entitled to keep 100% of your compensation if awarded. Don't be disheartened if it takes a while as your lawyer (if he/she is doing their job right) will need to establish that you are completely back to normal before concluding any settlement as you cannot return for more once the settlement has been reached.

JayJayBump, before you start suing, decide what it is you want from the hospital, and bear in mind that this may have been an honest mistake on the part of an inexperienced doctor or midwife....

Do you want the process investigated, explained and then put right?

Do you want someone hauled over the coals?

Do you want financial compensation?

If you take HMC's advice, and ask for a meeting with the Consultant responsible for your care, you should get answers apologies and an offer to put it right pdq! This does not prevent you from taking legal action at a later date if you want to, but is a much easier route than launching in with guns blazing- it just makes people much more defensive and less likely to be open and honest.

I think I'm right in saying that, if you were to take legal action AND win, you would be unlikely to receive much of an award. This is because compensation is linked to the loss you have suffered. So if something has been done that can be put right, without leaving you horribly traumatised, IMO you are better off just getting it sorted out. I think it's only worthwhile attempting legal action if you have suffered either permanent damage or such subsequent trauma that your life will never be the same again. If you have then go for it - if not then go through the hospital complaints procedure and get everything sorted out as quickly as possible. Go down the legal action route and, if you manage to prove that you have a case (and that in itself is hard enough as you have to prove that no other suitably qualified doctor would have acted similarly) you will have to be prepared to be examined by numerous "experts" working for the defence and have your "bits" discussed in an open court (front page of the Daily Mail anyone?) I have tried to sue the medical establishment, it is xxxxxxx impossible - unless your life has been changed beyond all recognition as a rsult of its incompetence I really wouldn't recommend the stress.

Hope you get everything sorted though - and if you do want to contact a lawyer get in contact with Leigh & Day in London. They know their stuff.

JayJayBump I agree wholeheartedly with Willow2 - my dh is a clinical negligence Lawyer and I know for a fact that it would take ages and you would get such a small amount of money that litigation would really not be worth it. I would take the complaint to the hospital route - they will investigate as obviously they want to avoid litigation where possible.

If you want to know the exact quantum I can ask dh for you.

(value of the claim that is)

Hi jayjaybump, I kind of know how you feel, as I was sewn too tight too, but my case was borderline - I can just about live with it and I can use tampons. I didn't want another operation, so haven't done anything about it, but I can sympathise.

This is much more common than you think, and the "sewing up" procedure is actually quite complex. Don't read on if you are squeamish. I have a friend who is a doctor, who decribed to me what she was faced with on her first night "delivering" - she took a tomato from my fridge, put it on the table, smashed it with her fist, and said - "There. Now you tell me how to sew that up?" She said it never got any better or easier over the next two weeks that she was expected to deliver and repair. She has decided not to have children herself, partly as she was so traumatised by the whole thing. Have to say though, I would never tell anyone who has not yet had a baby the story. Claire, I would ask quietly and insistently for the problem to be sorted, and only use legal or publicity threats if it isn't done to your satisfaction and within a reasonable time frame. It can be fixed, but it does need a specialist. You have my sympathy. It can't be pleasant.

Very interesting jan. Not surprising really, when you think about what those 'parts' go through. !

Blimey Janinlondon,

I've only got 7 weeks to go until number 2. Maybe the elective c-section I have been offered might not be such a bad idea!

Thanks for all of the advice given. Also thanks to janinlondon. I am due to have corrective surgery tomorrow. Don't trust the consultant doing the job though. Not sure if I should go though with the procedure. He thinks I should have councelling because of a "traumatic birth". I told him the only thing that has traumatised me is the imposibility of having a normal life and the pain that they have left me in and nothing to do with the birth. After all giving birth, is giving birth.

I feel that this consultant was very condisending.

He also said that there is a chance that the nerve endings will not grow back together properly, as he will be recutting along the same area (nerve endings). I have spoken to another (well respected in this area) consultant who thought that if the job is done properly he could see no reason why I shouldn't have a normal life ahead of me, and also wondered why they are doing the procedure under General Anes. when he would have used a Spinal Anes.

Basically, I want the procedure done, but I just don't trust the person doing it.

I can have it done privately costing the maximum of £1400.

Don't know what to do. I just don't trust the person (consultant) doing it.

I had my surgery done under GA. I also queried it and the consultant said she would do it under a block if I insisted, but that it would be much less distressing for me if I was asleep. Considering the amount of distress the whole business had caused me, I didn't have to think for long to agree to the GA.

I don't know what to suggest about your feelings about the consultant. My gut instinct is always to find a consultant that you trust, but I don't know what you can do at this late stage, other than make sure you get a chance to discuss your fears with him, and what the other consultant told you. Do you have an option to cancel or defer, or would it be prohibitively expensive?

The suggestion of counselling may have sounded condescending, but it may well be a good idea. Until I was nearly at the end of my second pregnancy I didn't realise how upset I was by the events surrounding ds's birth, though I do remember the stitching as the most distressing and traumatic aspect. I ended up talking to a liaison midwife at my hospital, and it did make a world of a difference. Do think about it once the op is over.

Good luck whatever!

I just reread your post - are you scheduled for NHS surgery tomorrow? In which case I'm sure you can defer, though I don't know what would happen to your position on the waiting list.