Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Husband's account of wife's miscarriage

Following is an edited version of an account that Dan Bodanis wrote about his wife Kelly's miscarriage at North York General Hospital earlier this year. It was her third miscarriage in 15 months:

In the washroom outside the labour and delivery unit on the second floor of North York General, Kelly suffered the grand exodus of "product," as those in the medical profession call the unborn fetus and supporting tissues, fluids and the like.

As I stood outside the door of the washroom, while trying to entertain our 2-year-old son Sabian and somehow help, a man in his late 50s or early 60s wearing medical scrubs walked toward me.

I asked him if he was a doctor, to which he replied yes. I then asked him if he was an "oby-gyn," to which he also answered yes.

I said, "In that washroom, as we speak, my wife Kelly is having a miscarriage."

He just looked at me. I asked him if he could do anything to help her. He said, "You have to go through normal channels."

I repeated my request for help and he said again, "No, you have to go through normal channels." He then walked away from me, toward the end of the hall.

I told Kelly through the door what had happened.

Then the doctor walked back toward me. As he entered the labour and delivery ward, he said, "Good luck."

Don't get me wrong. I am well aware that the doctors and nurses of North York General, in particular labour and delivery, are by and large extraordinarily gifted and caring professionals who do exceptional work.

This one man's cold lack of caring and effort to help us at a critical juncture by no means diminishes the stellar respect I have for these great professionals.

After all, our son Sabian was born there on June 26, 2005. By all accounts, Sabian was, and remains, an absolute miracle.

Source: http://www.thestar.com/Special/article/286387

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