Why doesn't/didn't my doctor listen to me? Why doesn't/didn't my doctor do something?
Our Admin, Jennifer Hohulin Heiniger, writes:
There are bad doctors out there who do not manage cases well. Even a really good doctor may miss something once in a while, especially for unusual presentations. Having said that, I very often see cases where doctors are doing everything right, but patients simply do not realize what good care is supposed to look like.
One of the tricky things about preeclampsia is that many of the symptoms could be preeclampsia but could also be other things, including normal pregnancy symptoms. Doctors need to evaluate to see if something is related or not. If you have concerning symptoms, your doctor evaluates you, and decides it is not related to preeclampsia, that does not necessarily mean they are ignoring you or missing something.
There is no treatment for preeclampsia except delivery and time. They do not want to deliver prematurely unless it is clearly needed. There are guidelines in place to help doctors decide when you need to deliver and when you can safely wait. If your doctor has evaluated your symptoms and decided to send you home, that does not necessarily mean they are ignoring you or missing something. It just means you are not bad enough to deliver right now.
I know it is scary to feel like you are just waiting for something to go wrong, not knowing when it might happen, and being helpless to do anything to stop it. We want our doctors to do something, but the only thing they can do is evaluate and then either deliver or wait. I know it is frustrating to go to the hospital and be sent home over and over, especially when you feel terrible. But that is the only way to know if new or worsening symptoms mean it is time to deliver or if you can safely stay pregnant.