For Charissa VanDine, the story of her son's birth and her traumatic assault are one in the same. She was thrilled to start having contractions on August 25, 2017, but little did she know that this would be an emotional and painful labor experience for a completely different reason. Now nearly a year later, she's ready to share exactly what happened in her Nevada hospital room in hopes that no other mom has to experience this type of unthinkable delivery.
VanDine shared on Facebook that everything started off fine when she first arrived at the hospital. She was quickly admitted because she was dilating and experiencing strong contractions. But she felt boundaries slowly being crossed before her labor was completely taken away from her. "Even though I was progressing on my own my team came in and hooked me up to pitocin… why? Iâm not quite sure. They didnât ask me if I wanted it and I didnât ask why they were doing it," she wrote. "I walked in to that place fully trusting my doctors and nurses to have mine and my babyâs best interests at heart and didnât question it. Maybe I should have."
According to VanDine, hospital staff continued increasing her pitocin every hour and then tried to go behind her back. "One of my nurses stopped [my mom] in the hall to tell her that I should really get an epidural and I had nothing to prove. I donât understand why she said that, or why they asked me multiple times if I wanted it," she wrote. "I had it with my first baby and I decided against it this time around for a different experience."
As her labor continued to progress, VanDine worked through the contractions with her family by her side as she bounced on a yoga ball and ate ice chips. But at 2:00 a.m., doctors allegedly decided again to try speeding up the process — without her permission. "The on-call OB came in and manually broke my water for me. Again, why? I donât know. They didnât ask me if I wanted to and I didnât ask why they were doing it," she wrote. "Now looking back, I fully believe they were trying to rush me and speed things along, and bring my baby into the world at their own convenience."
After her water was broken, VanDine said that things moved very quickly as she felt her body bearing down and pushing on its own. "My nurses started scolding me to wait for the doctor. Itâs not time to push. I kept telling them I could not control it and I wasnât trying to. My body and my baby was ready," she wrote. "A nurse checked me and stated that she could feel my babyâs head inside the birth canal. I already knew… itâs not an easy thing to overlook. What happened next still effects me to this day."
According to VanDine, one of her nurses moved to the end of her bed, inserted her hand into her vagina, and held her baby's head in place to physically block him from coming. At the same time, she also made VanDine hold her legs shut. "I was paralyzed with pain and fear. I was crying and begging them to let him out. I told them he was ready to come out," she wrote. "My baby was forcibly held inside me for ten minutes before the on call OB came in my room and they let me deliver."Â
VanDine tells CafeMom that when the doctor finally arrived, complete in flip flops, the nurse removed her hand and baby Archer was born in less than two minutes. "The bottom line is they brought my baby into this world on their time and they did whatever they had to to do that. Not before, not after. Exactly on their time," she wrote. "In the process, they had no regard for my or my childâs health and even our lives."Â
Since baby Archer's traumatic birth, VanDine says she's suffered both physically and emotionally. "Painful intercourse, problems urinating, making bowel movements, digestive problems, excruciating abdominal and pelvic pain," she wrote. "I have lost sleep, missed work, countless doctor visits, a few ER trips because I think Iâm dying from the pain. I often need help just to take care of my own kids."
She has since been diagnosed with pelvic floor dysfunction and is in physical therapy three times a week. She's also dealing with anxiety and PTSD centered around her children. However, attorneys have told her that her experience isn't âdamagedâ enough to be worth a medical malpractice suit so she's hoping to raise awareness through social media for other moms.Â
Gloria Richard-Davis, an independent OB/GYNÂ at the University of Arkansas who wasn't involved in the case, tells CafeMom that this a complex situation but holding the head, as VanDine describes it, isn't a common practice. "However, there are clearly cases where getting all needed personnel in the room, may necessity the patient not pushing. It is not always an easy urge for patients to control, as she describes. Additionally, the cervix may not be completely dilated and if the patient pushes, she risks tearing the cervix," she says. "She can also tear her vaginal tissue if there is not enough stretch to accommodate the head. Her physical complaints and pelvic floor dysfunction is common in women that have given birth vaginally. The muscles and pelvic floor supports are stretched during pregnancy and delivery."Â
Richard-Davis also adds that the more times a woman has given birth, the more likely it is that she will have pelvic floor dysfunction. But for VanDine, that doesn't make what she went through any less upsetting.
"Regardless if what Iâm dealing with now is a direct result of my unnecessarily traumatic labor and delivery, which I fully believe it is, it doesnât change the fact that what was done to me is assault," she wrote. "Labor and Delivery nurses are trained to deliver babies in the event that a doctor can not be present. There is no excuse or medical reason for this to be justified. This should not have happened."
Since her experience, VanDine has learned that this isn't an isolated birth story and many other moms have been through the same thing. "I am speaking out to say this is not OK. This is not normal. I am speaking out to let others know that they are not alone. I am speaking out in hopes that my story will encourage more moms to share theirs and advocate for themselves," she wrote. "Childbirth should not feel like a traumatic event. It should not feel like a medical procedure done at the convenience of a doctor. It should not feel like a gross overstepping of boundaries. I am now paying for these mistakes in more ways than one, but what hurts me the most, is how lucky I am to still have my son, because babies have been killed or permanently disabled after going through what we did…COUNTLESS WOMEN, WOMEN YOU KNOW, HAVE HAD THIS SAME EXACT BIRTH EXPERIENCE. #timesup."
