When my daughter was born, the nurse in the hospitol apparently had no experience with neo-natal.in an attempt to draw blood, she stabbed the little 5lb8oz infant approximately 20 times with a needle. The baby stopped breathing. She was sent by ambulance to All Children's Hospitol in St Petersberg Florida. They refused to release me from Peace River Hospitol in Port Charlotte, Florida (approx. 2 hours away). I had to wait to be released until the next day. My husband could not go because he had to work. He can't lose his job, we have children.
I called All Children's on my way up, they told me the baby had NO problems breathing since they got her & was taken off of the oxygen. I immediately got a ride to St Pete where I stayed in a Ronald Mcdonald House. When I arrived at the hospitol, I was treated like I was not wanted there. The doctors refuse to have anything to do with the parents and the nurses are rude. One nurse NEVER got out of her chair the entire 8 days we were there, She just wheeled around the floor on a stool.
I was told by 1 nurse that the the reason why I was the only parent there (with about 12 infants in the room) is that most of these babies were crack babies or abused or not wanted. She said most of the babies NEVER get a visitor and will eventualy die. I witnessed several babies die while i was there.
My husbad talked to his boss, found a family member to take our other daughter, and came up. The hospitol REFUSED to let me nurse the baby. I was told if I pumped breast milk, they would feed it to her. They did NOT. Every time we arrived, she had been given formula - which she wouldn't eat. Her mouth was to tiny and could not work the bottle. She was NOT eating from the bottle and continued to lose weight. Still they REFUSED to let me feed her.
After I FINALLY found a doctor who would talk to us (we were thrown out of the NICU wing when doctors arrived) I was FINALLY allowed to nurse her. This was after 5 days. Don't forget we had another child 2 hours away (we missed her losing her first tooth). All we wanted was to take our baby home where she could nurse & sleep in a relaxed environment. She had NO physical problems. They were keeping her because she wasn't eating, but not letting me breastfeed her. As soon as I was allowed to - SHE ATE! Go figure! However, they made it very difficult for me.
They placed my daughter by the window and the sink so anyone walking by or washing their hands is basicly looking at us. It made me and the baby nervous. They made us feel unwelcome and like nursing the baby was an inconvenience to them. They even went so far, after I asked for some privacy, to move her to a room with a male nurse. A male nurse, who STARRED at me while I nursed the baby. Now that's privacy. I believe there's a law in Florida that says you can breastfeed anywhere. I guess there's not one saying they can't make you feel nervous & uncomfortable.
Every time we wanted to leave, they came up with another excuse. We hadn't had a carseat check - got it, hadn't had a CPR course - took it, She needed an eye exam - Oh, they can't find the eye doctor -after 6 days??!! My husband asked if we could take her to the doctor's office (IT IS IN THE SAME BUILDING!)
At this point, they called the police and reported us for trying to remove our daughter from the hospitol "Against Medical Advice". Not true - the doctor is in the same building. We were trying to help them and expedite her release.
A child Protection Officer from the Sherriff's Department arrived and informed us we could not take the baby until an investigation was performed. The hospitol's input was needed.CO-INCIDENTLY the hospitol gave their input the same day the authorization from our insurance company ran out. When we got home we found out from Cigna that the 1st day she was there, the hospitol requested 10 day authorization, Cigna said 5, they settled on 8 days. They made damn sure they kept her all 8 days.By starving her & fiing abuse harges against us.
She should have been sent home after 24 hours of observation after being taken off the oxygen. They said she wasn't eating - they weren't feeding her! Or allowing me to feed her!
We are being charged for hospitol care when she was not receiving care, they were holding her due to the ongoing investigation.
We would be happy to hear from any attorneys who think we have a case against:
All Children's Hospitol
Dr. Sandra Stone
Debbie Kovotch - hospitol social worke
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