Response to Sheena
Cynthia Faullin (cfaullin@uiuc.edu)
Tue, 26 Mar 1996 16:23:30 -0600
With my first pregnancy I was told repeatedly by nurses in my OB's office
that the upper-gastric pain I was experiencing was either heartburn, ribs
spreading or the baby's foot hooked in a rib. I let the pain go on for a
week and the cause turned out to be a greatly enlarged liver (H.E.L.L.P.
Syndrome). Because it was my first pregnancy I didn't know how much
discomfort to expect and I didn't want to be a whiner so I put up with the
pain until I just couldn't stand it any more. In fact I came close to death
and obviously Trevor's well being was compromised too. Although the only
cure for H.E.L.L.P. Syndrome is to deliver the baby, I did feel that I
wasn't taken as seriously as I should have been by the people on the other
end of the phone. I was so convinced that there was nothing seriously wrong
with me that when I did phone L&D late Halloween night to tell them about
the pain, the nurse had to do a lot of talking to convince me that I did
need to come to the hospital right away. I will always be grateful to her
for insisting that I come in because otherwise Trevor and I probably
wouldn't be here now. Chokes me up to talk about it even now. With my
second pregnancy they gave me a crash course on preterm labour because they
were sure that I would deliver early again. This time every time I felt a
twinge I would go to Emergency and twice I ended up in L&D in early labour.
So, my answer to you, Sheena, is a resounding YES!!! I think that better
advice, more education and better listening skills on the part of OB nurses
could help to prevent early delivery or at least help to catch pregnancy
diseases and complications in earlier stages of development.