What is detailed in your hospital notes re your delivery????

I am hoping the midwives on BB can help me out in relation to what is covered in your notes from your delivery. The main questions I have is:

What position baby was born in?
How Many stitches did I have?
How long was each stage?
Concern with Lack of urine output during epidural?
What was the concern with High BP ?


I am also wondering what other observations would be noted. I am considering asking for a copy of my notes from the hospital, but there is no point if they do not cover the questions I have.

I know these sound like stupid questions, but they are still questions I have from my 1st delivery which play on my mind

That is a really interesting question. I asked my OB when I had my first if I could have my notes for my next bub and he said not to bother as each birth is different and anything in them I could tell the dr. Now I wish i had insisted as I am concerned about my BP going haywire agian this time. Hope you get some answers

Hi Relle
In theory everything that happended should be included in your notes, incliding the answers to your questions. However some people are better at doccumentation than others. But if you had high BP or poor urine output I would expect this to be noted. They should note not only how many stitches you had but also what they used.
You have every right to read your notes but you will not be permitted to take them from the hospital.

Hi Alan,

Thanks for the info, I did not realise you couldn't get a copy of them, so I can't just ring up or write a letter requesting a copy of them?

Most hospitals will let you copy your notes. (you may have to pay). But you can not remove the origional notes from the hospital

Oh cool thanks! Do you think it sounds crazy wanting these answers 2 and a half years down the track? It has taken alot of time to actually start processing everything and I guess part of this is to complete the process.

No I do not think it sounds crazy. There are many reasons that people want to see their notes. For some it is part of the healing process after a traumatic birth, for others it is just curiosity. Some hospitals may try to make it difficult for you to get aces to your notes. But you stick to your guns. Your have the right in law to see them. However they do not have to let you copy them.

Actually the law has recently changed on this issue...here in victoria at least...anything post july (i think?) 2001 they must provide a copy of your full record if requested but they can charge you for this service. Any notes pre that date is at the discretion of the individual practitioner/hospital. This I know for a fact as I had to change practitioners after 20 yrs when my old gp retired and had a hell of a time getting comprehensive records and this is what happened. Hope this helps Relle.

THanks Melbel, I was pretty sure you could get a copy of this kind of information now as I work in Banking, and we have to supply copies of all information even before it has been requested!

How would I go about getting the information? I have just looked at the website for my hospital and the only contact details are by phone, no email address to even ask the question of how to request the details, Or would I just write to the hospital, and if so, who should I address it to?

Edit: I have just called the hospital and they are sending me out a form so that I can specify what information I am requesting and then they will contact me once I have sent back the form!

Great idea I reckon - I would LOVE to get a copy of my folder from Jenna's birth - if nothing else but as a memento of a fairly significant event in both of our lives :)
And wouldn't you know love to read your own labour record from your mother? I think it would be fascinating reading!

Fi, I would Love to have a copy of my mums notes as well, because apparently I had a carbon copy of her first birth with my first!

You are able to acces copies of the hospital records, BUT make sure you make it clear why you want them. If they think its for compensation or similar, expect a hard time. I needed the copies of my autistic daughters notes from the developmental clinic at the hospital to show new Dr's when we moved, and they put me onto the LEGAL team!! As soon as I explained why I needed them they were very helpful, but you do have to pay. I think it was around $35 for a hospital in SE QLD.

I have honestly never thought about getting a copy of my notes. I have not needed to as I have gone to the same hospital for all my antenatal, birth and postnatal care so they already have my previous notes and know my history. I have read them when in hospital though. They also put a bit of info about the birth in the baby health book that they give you for bub, which is handy. But of course nothing as thorough as the info in the hospital notes.

I asked for my medical notes because we were planning on taking out legal action. We paid $100 for photocopying fees. I found them very hard to understand, they were all over the place and definitely not accurate to how I remember certain things. But hopefully yours will answer your questions, and if not you can always present them to your doctor and ask!

Hi Perthmum, I am hoping that there will be some info in them to help me put things into place. I don't remember the first 2 hours of my son being born, nothing really after the forcep delivery and been stitched up. I just really need to fill in the gaps as much as possible.

Relle - my mother was with me in my labour with Jenna - she was quite traumatised through some of it as apparently it was just like her first birth too!! She remembered things that she had completely forgotten, but was quite surprised that we had such similar experiences.
Isn't it interesting? Perhaps there is more to be gained from studying medical history of mothers......

I never knew you could get records from the hospital!!
My daughters birth was so traumatic, and I heamorraged all over the floor etc (the nurses then saw fit to let my family in who were waiting in the waiting room, including my father in law before they cleaned me up), but in the carbon copy i got for my blue book (only a very breif description), the midwives stated i had only lost about 350 mls,,,,,yet bloods taken before i left hospital about 6 hours after the birth stated i was so low inblood, i should have had transfusions. My gp was utterly disgusted when he saw the results. I was also coralled into trying to get of the bed after only having an epidural only about 40 minutes earlier to shower by one of the male midwives, as a result, I collapsed going up the stairs into the tub because my legs were still mumb, and nearly broke my leg. I had people rushing all over me to pack my leg with ice, and about 5 minutes later, an official looking lady shoved some kind of waver under my face, and they insisted i sign it. I was so out of it at that time (after the blood loss, and considering i had laboured all night long to birth a stillborn little girl) that i think i would have signed anything just so they would leave me alone.

I feel so cheated even 9 years later, but we had decided to not sue the hospital, even though the lawyers we spoke to were positive we would win, and let it go. I dont think that my birth details would be correct though, considering that they stuffed up with the blood loss report etc. I just wish I had known about getting records earlier :angry:

Oh Lil_Aussie, I am sending you HUGE :hug:

You have been through so much! I wish I knew what to say to help you, but I do not, so I am just going to say I am thinking of you.

Maybe you could investigate with your hospital in relation to getting your notes. It may depend on your state as to what the requirements are, but maybe it might help give you some answers too!

Fi - I did not want my mother with me when I had either of my children, but I do wish I had someone with me for DS 1. Because of my inability to fill in the blanks, I actually had a close girlfriend with my for the birth of DS 2 and found this to be the best decision I made. I am now going to study to be a Birth Attendant so I can help other women to debrief and support them through their births and postnatal period!

I think alot of information could be gained from the study of mothers and daughters and they way they birth!

Oh, Lil Aussie, that is so terrible! I'm glad we got our med notes but really they are useless anyway. I also had a lawyer say we could win, but after reading and trying to make sense of the notes we decided against it. They were written to the hospitals' advantage and not what I believed to be a true indication of what really happened. We have also decided to try and move on (we are trying for #2!) but its difficult and scary. All I can say is be angry about what happened to you, I certainly still am, but make the most of what you do have. I was lucky, even though I nearly died and have been in and out of hospital, I do have my beautiful little boy. Maybe a way for you to move past this is to send a letter to your doctor, even if it is a long time later, let him/her know its not forgotten. I did this and at least feel I have made a stand and not just let it go. Hope this helps and am sending you a big cyber hug!!

Lil Aussie - that is atrocious. Unfortunately I think there are a few people out there with bad stories about how they were treated during the birth of their stillborn. I'm very sorry.
Relle - if you had asked me before the birth if I had wanted my motehr there, I would have certainly said NO!!!!! Yet she was in the room when they did the internals, and administered the epi, and through all of my contractions. She left when they started trying to turn Jenna by hand (small drs hands...) cause it was just all getting a little gross by then!
All the while she was saying - I remember this, I remember how it was with Chris (my brother), its all coming back to me.
Unfortunately we dont have that close a relationship, so had she mentioned some of this stuff beforehand - it may have made a difference to me!
All the same - it was great having her experience all this, hopefully it wont happen that way again.

Fi, I am sure it will not be so bad for you next time!

I was really able to be far more prepared and knowledgable the 2nd time. I actually enjoyed the sense of achievement the 2 nd time and had the birth that I had planned for!

As far as a little gross, I actually have photos of my son 2nd son being delivered! (my face is not in them though thankgoodness, so if anyone ever finds them, they won't know who it is!!! lol) but I find these photos a really really great reminder that I can do it and will do it again next time!!!!

I was given 3 copy of my birth notes, 1 each for me, GP and MCHN.

They didn't mention that I had had sutures, let alone how many, but I know there was a record as the OB stuck the barcodes/labels ont he wall of the birthing room and they were presumably put in my file.

I just thought I would update, I have received the form to request my notes and posted it back to the hospital yesterday, so I have my fingers crossed that I will be able to get a copy without too many problems!

Another update here girls - I just received the copy of my notes from the hospital, and I have just had a huge crying session reading through the notes for the birth of DS No1!

It is going to take a while to absorb it all in, but I have had alot of my questions answered. I didn't have any problems getting them, just sent a cheque when they told me they had located the notes and sent me a letter outlining the costs which was around $35 - For me, it was money well spent. There are some acronyms that I am not sure about and will do some research on, but it answered SOOOOOOOOO many questions and feeling I have had sInce the day of his birth.

I have found it to be very very theraputic! (I am crying again!)

Oh Relle, that's great!! Good to hear.
I too would be interested in reading my notes. Hindsight is a valuable thing and I find myself asking questions all the time. I just wasn't paying attention at the time (nor did I know what I should have been paying attention too) and I think I was a little spaced out on pain-killers to care, iykwim?

Debbie Lee - I absolutely know what you mean! I have since had some help deciphering the medical terminollogy, but to be honest the part that I have found to be the best and most therapautic is the running notes about what time things were happening!

It has