Kristen's Story
In 2021 I became pregnant with my first child. I was looking for a provider and someone recommended a midwife to me. I didn’t even know you could choose to birth anywhere other than a hospital. I began to “research” natural birth and midwifery. The first pieces of media I read warned me that if I birthed at a hospital I would experience obstetric violence, lack of autonomy, cascade of unnecessary intervention and birth trauma. And above all else I did not want to be traumatized. That sentiment seems satirical now. I was further brought in with phrases of “you’re built to birth” and “if you just believe you can have a beautiful physiological birth too”. Knowing I didn’t feel comfortable enough to birth at home I looked for a birth center. I wanted something that wasn’t hippy dippy( for lack of a better term) but also wouldn’t force medical intervention on me unnecessarily. I found Origins Birth and Wellness Center in Dallas, TX. They were rated best birth center in Dallas by DFW Child magazine and had hundreds of great reviews. The facility was a beautiful two story Victorian style home with luxurious birthing suites decked with large spa like porcelain tubs. I met the staff and one of the three owners. They expressed that the staff were very experienced professionals and they follow the same standard of care as any hospital and OBGYN. They also claimed to follow ACOG clinical guidelines as well as being regulated by the state of Texas. Not to mention the center was .5 miles away from one of the best hospitals in the area Baylor University Medical Center. The beginning of my pregnancy was normal until about 20 weeks where my gestational diabetes testing came back abnormal and was entered into my chart to appear normal (purposefully? I don’t know) In my third trimester I start to experience spots in my vision and high BP readings. Midwife Jennifer said this was normal that my blood volume had just doubled. Time goes on and I have a major bleed that puts me in the hospital at 34weeks.
The doctors suspected a small placental abruption. Jennifer called it a subchorionic hemorrhage and said there was no reason to transfer even though I was cramping after the abruption. At 36weeks my fundal height was 31cm and my son was over 10 days behind in growth as well as being transverse. I was told to perform spinning babies and that the lack of growth was fine. I was kept in care without a sonogram confirming my son’s position after my midwives deemed he’d turned correctly. At 37-38 weeks another midwife Elizabeth verbally suspected I had pre eclampsia. She ran a liver panel that came back out of range. She said it was inconclusive and I stayed in care. 39 and 5 days my water broke and labor insued an hour later. My contractions were normal and around 6hrs in they were consistent with active labor. The birth center refused to bring me in. Telling me to drink a glass of wine and take a couple of Benadryl to sleep it off. A few hours later Jennifer is the on call midwife and instructs I do a miles circuit to “get the baby out”. About 2 hours later my contractions stall and become erratic. I call about an hour later after realizing my son wasn’t moving as much. She brings me in 4 hours later to tell me my son is breech and I need a c section. She transfers me to an OB nearby, not the hospital. The OB discovers I’m fully dilated with prolapsed cord and extremities. I’m put into her personal vehicle half naked and she drives like hell to Baylor where I am ran into an OR filled with chaos and people. I am put under general anesthesia and give a full classical and
transverse. I went into a hyper intensive crisis on the table and had a severe uterine infection. My son wasn’t moving born stunned with his cord wrapped around his neck. He had a low APGAR score and doctors expected the worst. We both spent time in ICU and NICU but miraculously both made a full recovery. I found out later that Jennifer was an unlicensed student who was caring for patients without a preceptor. Elizabeth hadn’t been licensed very long and there was no “ACOG guidelines” available to review. What I later found out about licensed midwifery gutted me. I felt betrayed by my “providers” and absolutely bamboozled by the lack of regulation, standards of care, and education these people have. I felt it was my fault for choosing this for us. That I put my son’s life at risk. This birth center went on to lose several babies and hurt dozens of families in just a couple of years. I met other survivors. We made reviews and posted our stories on every public platform we could think of. We’ve even recently had a podcast season on Something Was Wrong beginning to be aired. We protested the center and began making reports against these midwives for neglect and illegal activity. Now they’re closed but the midwives who hurt me and others continue to practice without repercussions. Other survivors and myself decided that something needed to be done because unfortunately this wasn’t just happening at Origins. It was happening all over the state and country. Thus M.A.M.A was born.
Moms Advocating for Moms Alliance is a maternal and infant health advocacy group that is striving to push forth legislation that could protect the unsuspecting families that will inevitably come after us and make out of hospital birth safer. I encourage anyone who has gone through what we have to speak up and speak out. Protect the next family in line. Tell your story, write reviews and file reports if your state regulates. Call your representatives, join together and support one another. I have found healing and community in a place laden with heavy burdens. But I’ve found that carrying these traumas together is easier than carrying them apart. Maybe one day we’ll make it better for every pregnant person in every state but this is how it starts.