By Nnedi, Bowie Maryland U.S.AEvents that led to the deaths of my two precious daughters, Chelsea and Camille Igwe.
PROM at 25 weeks + 5 days. Delivery at 26 weeks + 3 days.
Story added: 2003-01-21
Tuesday Dec 10th, 2002. (26 Weeks Pregnant)
I started to have painful and excruciating contractions, I telephoned my OB/GYN Dr. Vinayakom, who instructed me to check in to Shady Grove Adventist Hospital’s labor and delivery dept and she would meet me there. I got to the hospital at about 11.00 p.m. and was met by a Nurse who said that the doctor had given her orders on what to do with me. The nurse started me on an IV with a bunch of other medications, I asked her what the goal of the medications were and she said it was to stop contractions, however I was still waiting to see my Doctor but she never showed up and about 3.30 a.m on the early morning hours of Wednesday Dec 11th the nurse discharged me and gave me a prescription called Terbutaline to take every 4 hours, I complained that I was still having contractions and she said that 6 contractions per hour was normal and that my Doctor would like me to follow up in her office in a week.
Wednesday Dec 11th, 2002.
Now at home, I continued to take my medication (Terbutaline), however the contractions would slow down and then continue, this went on through the next day, this time more intense.
Thursday Dec 12th, 2002.
Once again I started to have very painful contractions, I called Dr. Vinayakom who in turn advised me to go straight to Shady Grove Hospital for a possible delivery. Once I got there a Nurse started an IV on me with Magnesium Sulfate. Later on that Morning Dr. Pinckert and Dr. Vinayakom both came in to see me, they did an ultrasound on me and they informed me that both of my babies were heads down and that they would have to send me home the next day with a Terbutaline Pump to control the contractions at home.
Friday Dec 13th, 2002.
Again still on Magnesium Sulfate, the contractions continued and the Nurse on duty informed me that she had placed an order for the Terbutaline Pump, and that the company was waiting for an approval from my insurance company, I called my insurance company who in turn informed me that the Pump would be approved pending a call from My Doctor, I gave them my Doctors office number. Later on in the evening a Nurse named Rachael came in and told me that Dr. Vinayakom has informed her that she will be transferring me to Holy Cross Clinic and would no longer care for me because she did not think that My new Insurance company (Priority Partners) would reimburse her as much as my prior Insurance (Blue Cross) because of my twins. When the nurse told me that, I was distraught, she told me that Dr. Vinayakom would like to speak to me. Rachel transferred a call from Dr. Vinayakom to me and Dr. Vinayakom then told me of her plans to terminate my care since she just realized that I no longer had Blue Cross and now have Priority Partners Insurance which she does accept, I expressed my disappointment to her and asked why she would cause me more stress, after all she is a participating provider with Priority Partners and her Office Manager Brenda had told me that my care would not be interrupted. Dr. Vinayakom then told me that she spent 10 minutes on the phone with my insurance company for the pump and that she does not have valuable time to waste she went further to tell me that I was carrying twins and she did not think that she would make a lot of money from my insurance company on my delivery. I thought I was having a dream I had never seen or heard of a Doctor treating a patient like that. Shortly after Dr. Matia a partner to Dr. Pinckert shows up for a brief visit and informs me that the nurse on duty told her about Dr. Vinayakom call to me and she did not think that was proper, she said she would talk to Dr. Pinckert about the issue because once a Doctor accepts and participates on an insurance plan the Dr would have to accept the payment form the insurance company as payment for services rendered. An hour and half later after the phone call with Dr. Vinayakom I realize a gush of fluid gushing through my legs I informed the Nurse on duty (Amy) who confirmed that I had ruptured my membranes, she told me she would page my Doctor, moments later Amy arrived with a staff Doctor on duty Dr. Bernard who took a culture from me, I was hoping to see my Doctor that night but she never came.
Saturday Dec 14th, 2002.
At about 9.30 a.m. Dr. Vinayakom walks in to my room and informs me that she received a call that I had ruptured my membranes but that she did not think so, Dr. Vinayakom did not even bother to check me rather she then went ahead to talk about money and that she did not want to waste her time with a patient whose situation would require more time and not enough payment, and that she would discharge me today after the Nurse from Matria come with the Terbutaline Pump and gets me started on it. I asked Dr Vinayakom why she decided to treat me the way she has and I asked her about the fluid gushing down my legs she said it was probably my urine, she never bothered to check it and after hours of arguing back and forth about money Dr. Vinayakom left the room, I felt dejected. At about 12.00 noon the Nurse from Matria came to give me instructions on how to use the Terbutaline Pump, and when she was about to leave she noticed the fluid gushing down my legs and called a Nurse on duty to check the fluid out, the Nurse from Matria told the nurse that there was no way in the world I should be discharged with a ruptured membrane. After checking out the fluid the Nurse on duty told me that I could no longer be discharged but transferred to ante partum where I would stay till delivery, shortly before being transferred to ante partum a Nenatologist by the name Dr. Mike Sukumar came and spoke to me and my husband that he has been asked to consult with us about the care of our twins since delivery was so close, he spoke to us at length about the NICU and about the care our twins would receive, myself and my husband were so excited that our twins would be well taken care of and we were looking forward to them being born. I was later transferred to ante partum and once again the contractions started intensively, this time no magnesium sulphate, antibiotics nor iv was started on me, the nurse on duty at ante partum started to monitor my contractions and the heart beats of my babies, she told me that my babies were too active and that she was having a hard time keeping them on the monitor she also informed me that she had tried paging Dr. Vinayakom 3 times but no response, the nurse gave me a sleeping pill to help me sleep, but I was not able to sleep through the night because of consistent contractions.
Sunday Dec 15th, 2002.
This morning again contractions continued and my babies were very active moving and turning I complained to the nurses on duty, I asked them about the ruptured membrane and asked why I did not have any IV on, they informed me that the Doctors did not give orders for an IV, when the nurses tried to monitor the heart beat of my babies they told me that the babies were too active and it was hard for them to be monitored so the nurses informed me that they would have to order for sonogram, a sonogram tech named Jill came and did an ultrasound on me and she informed the nurses and me and my husband that Baby A has absolutely no fluid and she was in distress but Baby B had very little fluid, she gave the heart beats to the nurses for both babies, but emphasizing on the lack of fluid. About thirty minutes after the Tech left DR. Pinckert shows up and said that he had read the sonogram report and that everything looks good, my husband asked him about the importance of fluid and his concerns that since Saturday evening I had been with no IV or antibiotics to prevent infection, Dr. Pinckert tells us that the fluid is not important since the babies makes their own fluid that it would reproduce, Dr. Pinckert advised me to continue drinking water and Juice, I told him about the attitude Dr Vinayakom had portrayed in reference to my care and money, Dr. Pinckert assured me that all is well and that Dr. Vinayakom probably had a bad day that day and that he had spoken to Dr. Vinayakom and she would definitely continue my care. That evening at about 9.00 p.m Dr. Vinayakom came in and I pleaded with her to do the right thing since I was already getting a feeling that all is not well she looked at the contraction machine and told me that she might have to deliver my babies tonight or tomorrow morning being Monday the 16th, all through the night the contractions continued and got worse, I informed the nurse who said she would inform my Doctor.
Monday Dec 16th, 2002.
This morning was so terrible I did not get any sleep the previous night since I had terrible contractions, I was later transferred back to Labor and delivery, Dr. Vinayakom came in at about 8.30 a.m. and told me that she would be back around mid-day to deliver my babies, once again I was excited and even joked with her about my babies being my Christmas gift, but I was surprised when the nurse started me on Magnesium Sulfate, and I asked her why since I would be delivering she said it was an order from my Doctor, so I thought it was routine, Mid day came and passed then late night and my Doctor never came to deliver my babies, once again I was disappointed and I kept wondering what the delay was on delivering my babies after all I had received some injections of steroids for the babies lungs and both Dr. Pinckert and Dr. Vinayakom had told me and my husband that our babies can be born now and placed in the NICU. My husband questioned the Night Nurse on why Dr. Vinayakom never came to deliver but the Nurse had no answer.
Tuesday Dec 17th, 2002.
Still Contracting and still on heavy medications my contractions continued, the nurse on duty who took care of me from 7.a.m. to 7.p.m.had difficulties monitoring my babies but after a while she told me that she was confident she heard both babies and when she told me and my husband that both babies heart beat were 146, we got concerned since both of my babies had never had the same heart beat, however some time during the day Dr. Pinckert showed up and told me that every thing looked good and I asked him what the delay is in delivering my babies and he said that they were buying time, hours later Dr. Vinayakom came in and I asked her why she never came to deliver yesterday she said that she was buying time however she also mentioned to me that my Lab results of my White Blood Cells has given them a signal and I asked her again why there is a delay and she said that there were no infections yet. At 8.00 p.m a nurse named Cynthia came on duty and at about 9.00 p.m. she gave me a prescription called procardia which I took while still on Mag Sulfate, at about 9.20 p.m. she started to monitor the heart beats of my babies and she told me that she could not hear baby A but she could hear baby B, since Dr. Vinayakom was in my room she told her and Dr Vinayakom told the nurse not to worry about Baby A since Baby A has always been hard to find, well the nurse finally convinced Dr Vinayakom to order for a sonogram at about 10.00 p.m. the Tech who saw me on Sunday came and was surprised to see me still pregnant she scanned for both babies and told me she was sorry and I asked her what for, she said that Baby A has no heart beat and that Baby B had a heart beat of 126, that was the beginning of my nightmare I thought I was dreaming, a few minutes later Dr. Vinayakom came in and asked me what the Tech said and I told her, Dr. Vinayakom panicked and ordered the nurse to prepare me for an emergency C- Section. At about 11.30 p.m. I arrived into the operating room I was given a Spinal Block Anesthesia for the C-Section and though sad that Baby A had passed I was anxiously waiting for the arrival of Baby B, Dr Vinayakom, left the operating room and came back with a male Doctor a few minutes later, and in my mind I started to worry about what was going on and what the delay is in delivering baby A and baby B, both Doctors started to Scan for the babies using an ultrasound machine then moments later Dr. Vinayakom came to me and asked me if I knew what was going on and I said no, she said “ Baby B’s heart beat is also gone too”, I could not believe it , it seemed like a horror movie, this minute I have a baby and the next minute I don’t. She informed me that Dr. Pinckert was on his way to remove the cerclage stitches and that I would have to be induced to dilate so I would deliver vaginally.
Wednesday Dec 18th 2002.
At about 1.00 a.m Dr. Pinckert arrived and took out the stitches, I was later moved back to labor and delivery to dilate so I could deliver my dead babies, while in the delivery room Dr. Pinckert came in to offer his condolence he said he did not know what happened to my babies and that his wife had lost two babies one at 19 weeks and the other at 23 weeks, he went further to say and I quote “ In my 28 years of practicing I have never seen a thing like this, You are very healthy and the children were very healthy all your lab results were normal, I will suggest an autopsy”. I guess he did not know what else to tell me after he and Dr. Vinayakom deliberately and negligently killed my babies.
I was given some medication for dilation and at about 10.55 a.m I was fully dilated, Dr. Vinayakom checked my cervix and said I had dilated 10 cm and we proceeded for the delivery, while I was pushing, Dr. Vinayakom left the room and a few minutes later I gave birth to Baby A at 11.10 a.m with the assistance of my husband and the nurse and as soon as the baby came out the Nurse paged Dr. Vinayakom who walked in with a cup of coffee in her hands, and five minutes later I gave birth to Baby B. That day was the worst day of my life to know that if my Doctors had not acted negligently I would have had my babies delivered earlier and safely on Monday when they were both alive. After the delivery I was sent to Post Partum for recovery. A few hours later my babies were brought up to me and my husband, I had two girls Chelsea (A) and Camille (B) they did not look dead they both looked like they were sleeping. Nurses that had taken care of me in the earlier days came in individually, they were all distraught and could not believe that the Doctors waited that long to deliver the babies despite the warning signs from the
Sonogram reports. The reports, which should have been a signal to the Doctors that the Babies were in distress and the amniotic fluid was a grade zero, the doctors ignored all repeated reports of no fluid.
Thursday Dec 19th, 2002
Still in grief, I was in denial that my babies who were once described as very active were now silent. At about 12.30 p.m. Dr. Vinayakom came to discharge me and after she gave me my discharge orders I asked her in the presence of my husband and the Nurse (Rachael) on duty why she allowed my children to die before she delivered them and her response was “ Nnedi, I don’t know what to say right now, I was going to deliver your babies On Monday, but Dr. Pinckert whose words are the bible of this hospital told me not to deliver the babies, now I wish I listened to Myself”. And I asked her again why she did not save even one baby for me, and she replied “Nnedi, I have been doing this since 1973 and I have never seen a thing like this, children don’t die like that”. An hour after Dr. Vinayakom left, a nurse named Becky who works in labor and delivery who had taken care of me on Monday the 16th came to pay her condolence and told me that Dr. Vinayakom told her that she regrets not delivering my babies on Monday the 16th and that Dr. Vinayakom is devastated for her actions.
Friday, Dec 20th
The bodies of my precious little babies Chelsea and Camille are now at the AFIP (Armed Forces Institute of Pathology) for an autopsy.
Friday, Jan 3rd
My husband and myself met with the Pathologist for the autopsy results, the results shows that my babies died of an infection called CHORIOAMINIOTIS, this is an inflammation of the amniotic fluid resulting from the rupture of membrane. I cannot believe that my babies died from a mere infection, something that could have been prevented if Dr. Vinayakom was closely monitoring me and my babies, something that could have been prevented if only Dr. Vinayakom had me on antibiotics for the two days I spent on ante partum after my water had broken, something that could have been prevented if only my Dr. Vinayakom had taken care of me rather than focus more on money and abandoning me just for the nurses to take care of me, something that could have been prevented if only Dr. Vinayakom used her judgment and intuition to deliver my babies when she had the time to do so rather than debating with Dr. Pinckert over the lives of two innocent girls Chelsea and Camille.
Conclusion
I am not a greedy person, if only Dr. Vinayakom and her co-baby killers had at least saved the life of one baby I would at least have something to rejoice for today. I don’t know when I will or if I will ever be able to get over what happened to my family. This has been a complete big loss to my family. How could one go to a hospital with two healthy babies and then come home with none. How depressing it could be that the same Doctors who co-coordinated the death of my two babies continue with their normal lives and not even have an atom of sympathy for their foolish mistake.