ComplaintsforFirst Coast Midwifery Services LLC

• Initial Complaint

  05/22/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  pregnant with my first, and was looking forward to having an unmedicated birth with *** at FCMS. The pregnancy was as they say “textbook pregnancy”, well the true colors came out when I was 39wks and 1 day. I contacted the midwife’s due to noticing fluid, getting told it was just discharge. 3 days had past of leaking fluid, when finally after contacting them again, I was told to do the amnionic fluid test I had discovered that it truly was my fluid that had been leaking for days (later found out that because it was leaking for so long, my unborn child and I were on the verge of an infection, which ended in my having to push for 3HRS to avoid a C-section). After 2 full days of excruciating pain (due to my child being a little off centered, in which I was told it wouldn’t have any impact on the birthing process which was a lie), contacting them, and being brushed aside, I finally went into FCMS. While being there in labor, I was pawned off on a student, the wet/ dirty bed pads from amnionic fluid were left on the bed for me to lay on, they were no help at all helping me breathe thru the contractions (in fact they would just stare at me like I was a zoo animal), I was never offered any fluids, and not to mention how unsanitary they were. The final nail in the coffin was, when my husband walked in another room to ask *** for assistance, and noticed her laying down getting a chiropractic adjustment. *** then sent me to UF health north, she said she would tell them I was coming (which was another lie), nor did any other midwife from FCMS accompany me to the hospital (which is a breech of her contract). When my husband asked for a midwife to accompany us to the hospital, he was told they could send a student later on in the day. When I got to UF Health North, I had to wait while in extreme pain, because none of my update bloodwork was sent over (nothing had ever been updated in my portal, not to mention during the pregnancy I had to keep asking what my test results were).

  Business response

  05/22/2023

  This patient received comprehensive prenatal care, labor support and was offered postpartum care. Our financial agreement clearly states that the fee for our care is non - refundable after 36 weeks of pregnancy regardless of delivery location. This patient paid $6500 for care. In November, the patient filed a chargeback through QuickBooks in the amount of $5500. This money was removed from my bank account immediately. I have provided supporting documentation to QuickBooks and they are investigating. Our fee for prenatal care alone is $4500. The patient believes she is entitled to the $5500 refund because her labor resulted in a transfer to the hospital which is clearly discussed in our financial agreement. The midwives were in communication with her about potential leaking of amniotic fluid on 10/2/22. Based on symptoms, we do not believe her water was broke until 10/4/22. She was checked for dilation and establishment of labor on 10/4 @ 1925. At this time, the patient was in pain but not clinically in active labor with dilation of only 3cm. The standard of care is to admit patients after 6cm. I explained this to the patient and her husband. I called a chiropractor to come in and adjust her which helped significantly with her discomfort and probably aided in her ability to birth vaginally. Even though we didn’t admit the patient at 1925, we allowed them use of our birth center because they refused to go back home (as advised) until labor was well established. Not only did we provide care, we went above and beyond to help her labor as comfortably as possible. I stayed over night at the center and we admitted her finally after 1am on 10/5/22. Labor progressed slowly through the early morning and by daylight, she was exhausted and not coping at all. Labor seemed to have stalled due to her exhaustion and we jointly made the decision to transfer care to the hospital for pain relief. We did offer to join them at the hospital later once they were admitted and settled into a room. We aren’t allowed to accompany patients in triage and we had our clinic day starting (to see patients for prenatal care). We text them twice for an update on 10/5 and didn’t hear anything until baby had arrived. The patient had no signs or symptoms of infection at any point during labor at our facility. We took all the appropriate steps to adequately care for this patient. She lied about the (lack of) care she’s received and stole $5500 from our company. If QuickBooks doesn’t recover the funds, we will sue.  By signed contract, a refund is not owed. 

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