To complain or ask for medical records?

[PRC]

I wondered what people thought of this and whether I should just leave it or ask for medical records/ complain to PALS.
I went into premature labour at 37+6 so not that early but still before my planned C section. It was a Saturday and the Dr in charge kept telling me I wouldn’t be getting my C section until at least Sunday even though when I arrived at hospital I was 4cm dilated. At this point I was happy to try naturally but they didn’t want me to due to complications last time. She kept acting like I was a major inconvenience even though I was having crazy contractions. Long story short 4 hours after arriving at the hospital I was sent for a CAT 1 C section after I started bleeding and baby was distressed. Which we only found out about because I screamed to be put back on the monitor as I didn’t feel well and felt in my gut baby was poorly.
The bit I’m confused about is that she made me have the steroid injection for babies lungs which absolutely killed - I felt like she almost took joy in it! But everything I have read since suggests there was absolutely no need for me to have it as baby girl really wasn’t that early!
Baby turned out fine and I kind of left it but I’ve started to think about that injection and the Dr a lot! Maybe it’s because I know if I hadn’t kicked up a fuss the story could have been different.

thanks if you’ve got to the end of this!

Sorry you had such a rough time 😔 I'm getting a planned c section at 39 weeks, I did ask if they could do 38 and they said they could but would have to give me steroids as that is now policy for babies born before 39 weeks. It shocked me a bit as that definitely wasn't the case when I had my daughter 16 years ago at 38 weeks. So it seems that's just what they do now but there's definitely no excuse for how they treated you in the hospital, I would definitely complain!

It sounds like you had a horrible time but it is NICE guidelines to provide steroid injections to women who have a planned (or unplanned but foreseen) c section before 39 weeks gestation, based on research into incidences of babies having difficulty breathing after c section before 39 weeks vs after.

It sounds as though your care was suboptimal and things should have been explained to you better.

Does your trust offer birth debriefs? This might be a useful thing to do initially to see what medical notes say about events that took place and why certain decisions were made. Then depending on that you could make a complaint with more information to back it up.

It sounds like a debrief to understand exactly what was going on might be helpful - reading between the lines it sounds like there was a lot going on. It isn’t routine to offer steroids at that gestation, but iirc there are some indications that may still make it useful (and the steroid injection is notoriously painful).

I had a c section at 36 weeks and wasn’t given steroid injections

It sounds like you've had a rough time OP but you weren't in premature labour. You were full term at 37 weeks. It's NHS policy to give the steroid injection with babies being born at 37 weeks. C section babies can be grunty on their lungs as they're not being squeezed through the birth canal. It's standard practice. But if you feel you were treated poorly then you're working your rights to complain. Congratulations!

edited for typo

Thanks all for the advice! I think I’ll ask for a debrief, it might just put my mind to rest and allow me to let go of it all!

@Pennyroses I asked for an earlier section date too as my first baby was also early but they wouldn’t budge!

Hey, sounds really traumatic. I got given the steroids as same time as you. It was a semi emergency c section. It was so painful! However the babies didn't need any help with breathing which they might have done without steroids so that sounds normal.
The thing that doesn't sound right is lack of monitoring until you kicked up a fuss. I was monitored throughout

I’d definitely ask for a debrief, to try and understand what happened. Once you’ve got some clarity about why decisions were made you could always still put in a complaint if you’re not happy with the explanation.

After 35 weeks, steroid injections aren’t routine and normally are only given after a risk vs benefit discussion. Different units have different policies, so it might be a local policy, or there might have been extra reasons they wanted to be cautious that weren’t properly explained to you at the time, but should have been. It does all sound chaotic and stressful. I’m glad you and your baby are ok but it’s totally understandable that you want some answers!

This.

Thanks for validating my feelings all, I am going to request a debrief. I certainty don’t want to get anyone into trouble if the right decisions were made. I got the impression I was moved from labour ward to the ward upstairs due to low staffing levels which I think is perhaps not where I should have been. I really think they just wanted me and baby to wait until they had more resources but we all know labour doesn’t work like that!
Thanks again!

I had planned section at 37+2 didn’t need steroids. Baby was born perfect.