"My labour/birth experience"

I was induced via the tape method last month, after 24 hours I was having contractions but when a midwife did a cervical check I was only 1cm dilated. I was told that I would need to then do the balloon method of induction and wait a further 24 hours which I understood and was fine with.

However, the senior clinician then came in and was talking to the other midwife about how there was no other woman in the birthing suite at the time so they would like me to go into labour, they then said they were going to do a cervical exam and told me to use the gas and air for it (I feel they clearly knew they were going to hurt me).

They did not explain how to use the gas and air so I wasn’t breathing in enough for it to do anything, before I could tell them this I experienced the most agonising horrible pain I have ever gone through in my life and was crying and screaming out. Once it was done, they said I was now 2cm and that they would break my waters. I believe this senior clinician had literally forced my cervix from 1cm to 2cm just so that their midwives had a birth to be on.

After that, every cervical exam I experienced intense PTSD and trauma and would shake uncontrollably. Thankfully my student midwife came shortly after and explained to me how the gas and air works. The other midwife that was in my room said to me that the senior clinician is rough and looked really sorry in their eyes about what had happened to me.

From then on, my labour went severely downhill and I needed to get an emergency c section, I am almost positive that my labour experience was severely hindered and impacted by what I felt was this senior clinician’s assault on me. It has taken me a long time to decide whether or not to report this as I want more children and will likely have them at Joondalup Hospital as well, but after speaking to my private midwife I really don’t think it’s okay for any other woman to experience what I did and be seemingly assaulted by this senior clinician. My student midwife said my labour/birth was the most eventful they had been on so far in their course and all the midwives on my birth also said it was intense. My hope is that they don't do this to any other woman as I am still struggling with it.