*Content warning: infant loss, miscarriage, birth trauma, medical trauma, medical neglect, body image abuse, mature and stressful themes. *Free + Confidential Resources + Safety Tips: somethingwaswrong.com/resources Moms Advocating For MomsS23 survivors Markeda, Kristen and Amanda have created a nonprofit, Moms Advocating for Moms, in hopes to create a future where maternal well-being is prioritized, disparities are addressed, and every mother has the resources and support she needs to thrive: https://www.momsadvocatingformoms.org/take-actionhttps://linktr.ee/momsadvocatingformoms Please sign the survivors petitions below to improve midwifery education and regulation in Texashttps://www.change.org/p/improve-midwifery-education-and-regulation-in-texas?recruiter=1336781649&recruited_by_id=74bf3b50-fd98-11ee-9e3f-a55a14340b5a&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=share_for_starters_page&utm_medium=copylink Malik's Law https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB4553 M.A.M.A. has helped file a Texas bill called Malik's Law, which is intended to implement requirements for midwives in Texas to report birth outcomes in hopes of improving transparency and data collection in the midwifery field in partnership with Senator Claudia Ordaz. *Sources:American College of Nurse Midwiveshttps://midwife.org/ American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)https://www.acog.org/ Blood clots and pregnancyhttps://www.marchofdimes.org/find-support/topics/pregnancy/blood-clots-and-pregnancy#:~:text=Although%20birthing%20people%20with%20blood,both%20you%20and%20your%20baby.Chorioamnionitishttps://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=chorioamnionitis-90-P02441#:~:text=Chorioamnionitis%20is%20an%20infection%20of,smell%20from%20the%20amniotic%20fluid. Cross border reproductive care (CBRC): a growing global phenomenon with multidimensional implications (a systematic and critical review)https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6063838/#:~:text=In%20vitro%20fertilization%20and%20intracytoplasmic,Belgium%20%5B37%E2%80%9344%5D. Detection of Proteinuria in Pregnancy: Comparison of Qualitative Tests for Proteins and Dipsticks with Urinary Protein Creatinine Indexhttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3809617/#:~:text=Background%20and%20Objectives%3A%20Excretion%20of,the%20patient%20or%20her%20pregnancy. Egg Donation and IVF in Czech Republichttps://www.eggdonationfriends.com/ivf-egg-donation-country-czech-republic/#:~:text=in%20Czech%20Republic-,IVF%20cost%20in%20Czech%20Republic,much%20from%20the%20European%20average.&text=It%20also%20needs%20to%20be,frozen%20embryo%20transfer Fundal Heighthttps://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diagnostics/22294-fundal-height HELLP Syndromehttps://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21637-hellp-syndrome High Blood Pressure–Understanding the Silent Killerhttps://www.fda.gov/drugs/special-features/high-blood-pressure-understanding-silent-killer#:~:text=Normal%20pressure%20is%20120/80,manage%20your%20high%20blood%20pressure? In vitro fertilization (IVF)https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/in-vitro-fertilization/about/pac-20384716#:~:text=Research%20suggests%20that%20IVF%20slightly,or%20ovarian%20cancer%20after%20IVF%20. Magnesium - Uses, Side Effects, and Morehttps://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-998/magnesium March of Dimeshttps://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/about-us National Midwifery Institutehttps://www.nationalmidwiferyinstitute.com/midwifery North American Registry of Midwives (NARM)https://narm.org/ Placental Abruptionhttps://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9435-placental-abruption Placenta and Heart Researchhttps://www.ohsu.edu/knight-cardiovascular-institute/placenta-and-heart-research#:~:text=By%20the%20end%20of%20pregnancy,area%20for%20uptake%20of%20nutrients. Postpartum Hemorrhagehttps://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22228-postpartum-hemorrhage Preeclampsiahttps://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17952-preeclampsia Preeclampsia - Signs & Symptoms https://www.preeclampsia.org/signs-and-symptoms#:~:text=Weight%20gain%20of%20more%20than,the%20kidneys%20to%20be%20excreted.&text=Do%20not%20try%20to%20lose%20weight%20during%20pregnancy%20by%20restricting%20your%20diet.Pregnancy weight gain: What's healthy?https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/pregnancy-week-by-week/in-depth/pregnancy-weight-gain/art-20044360 Prothrombin Gene Mutationhttps://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21810-prothrombin-gene-mutation Prothrombin 20210 Mutation (Factor II Mutation)https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/01.cir.0000135582.53444.87#:~:text=There%20are%20also%20implications%20of,a%20baby%20of%20small%20size. The Risks of Prothrombin Gene Mutation in Pregnancyhttps://www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/prothrombin-gene-mutation#What-Are-the-Risks-of-Prothrombin-Mutation-in-Pregnancy State investigating Dallas birth center and midwives, following multiple complaints from patientshttps://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/investigates/state-investigating-dallas-birth-center-midwives-following-multiple-complaints-from-patients/287-ea77eb18-c637-44d4-aaa2-fe8fd7a2fcef Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR)https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/ Texas Health, Week by Week https://www.texashealth.org/baby-care/Week-by-Week Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 203. Midwives https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/OC/htm/OC.203.htmWhat are high blood pressure numbers?https://www.lancastergeneralhealth.org/health-hub-home/2023/february/what-are-high-blood-pressure-numbers#:~:text=Normal:%20Less%20than%20120/80,Avoid%20secondhand%20smoke. White Coat Syndromehttps://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23989-white-coat-syndrome Why Won’t an Attorney Take My Texas Medical Malpractice Case?https://www.hastingsfirm.com/your-case-and-texas-law/ Zucker School of Medicine, Amos Grunebaum, MDhttps://faculty.medicine.hofstra.edu/13732-amos-grunebaum/publications 24-Hour Urine Collectionhttps://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/24hour-urine-collection#:~:text=A%2024%2Dhour%20urine%20collection%20is%20a%20simple%20lab%20test,is%20returned%20to%20the%20lab. 40 years later, why is IVF still not covered by insurance? Economics, ignorance and sexismhttps://www.cnn.com/2018/07/25/health/ivf-insurance-parenting-strauss/index.html *SWW S23 Theme Song & Artwork: Thank you so much to Emily Wolfe for covering Glad Rag’s original song, U Think U for us this season!Hear more from Emily Wolfe:On SpotifyOn Apple Musichttps://www.emilywolfemusic.com/instagram.com/emilywolfemusicGlad Rags: https://www.gladragsmusic.com/ The S23 cover art is by the Amazing Sara StewartFollow Something Was Wrong:Website: somethingwaswrong.com IG: instagram.com/somethingwaswrongpodcastTikTok: tiktok.com/@somethingwaswrongpodcast Follow Tiffany Reese:Website: tiffanyreese.me IG: instagram.com/lookiebooSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 1: What content warnings are included in this episode?
Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Something Was Wrong early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Something Was Wrong is intended for mature audiences. This season contains discussions of medical negligence, birth trauma, and infant loss, which may be upsetting for some listeners.
For a full content warning, sources, and resources, please visit the episode notes. Opinions shared by the guests of the show are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of myself, Broken Cycle Media, and Wondery. The podcast and any linked materials should not be misconstrued as a substitution for legal or medical advice.
Origins birth and wellness owners and midwives Caitlin Wages and Gina Thompson have not responded to our requests for comment. Additionally, midwives Jennifer Crawford and Elizabeth Fuel have also not returned our request for comment. This season is dedicated with love to Malik.
Hi, I'm Barbie. I am a survivor of Origins birth and wellness. I have three beautiful daughters. Only the first one was what I call an Origins shit show. I'm a pediatric nurse. I do orthopedics and I do children. I don't do pregnancy. Two very different worlds. My husband and I had been trying to have a baby for four years and we found out in June of 2018 that
Chapter 2: What challenges did Barbie face with IVF?
We're not going to be able to get pregnant naturally. IVF is the only option. For those that are familiar with IVF, it's not a cheap process, and it's not a guaranteed process. And this is five years ago, so there was not much insurance coverage at all for IVF. We were looking to spend between $20,000 and $30,000 to create a baby.
We found that out in June of 2018, and November of 2018, I found out from an acquaintance that IVF abroad was an option. We wouldn't have the financial burden of IVF. You know, we could pay cash. That's what we decided to do. So we traveled to Zlin, Czech Republic in February of 2019. We did a full round of IVF there. We stayed for three and a half weeks.
I think we spent total was with meds, maybe $6,000. So that's a big cost difference. We transferred two embryos. Leading up to this, there was a ton of lab work that we had to do. And we found out I have a prothumbrin gene mutation, which is a very important factor in this story.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, a prothrombin gene mutation is an inherited condition that increases predisposition to develop abnormal blood clots in veins and or lungs. This happens because the body makes more of the factor two prothrombin protein than is needed for normal clot formation.
Blood clots can cause serious problems in the body when they block blood flow, which keeps oxygen from getting to cells.
They told me, oh, you have this clotting disorder. You'll probably be on aspirin your whole life. Once we transferred those two embryos, we took a plane back to Texas. At the time, I was with an OB in Plano, Texas. We were drawing the HCG labs with her. My HCG was tripling like an HCG that you're pregnant with twins. So from what we could tell, both embryos took.
Already this pregnancy felt delicate and special. And on top of that, my mom was in stage four colon cancer and she was not doing well. You know, it's my first baby. My mom's actively dying. Like there's a lot of life changing events that are in the mix that are happening. Here's where fate started turning.
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Chapter 3: Why did Barbie choose Origins for her birth plan?
I was working one day and at the time at the hospital, there was a ton of nurses that were pregnant. And one of my friends, she's a nurse practitioner was pregnant. She was a few months ahead of me, and so she was taking these birthing prep classes. We were talking about it one day at work, and she was like, the instructor was talking about this place called Origins. It sounds so cool.
It's a birthing center that's right down the street from Baylor University Medical Center. Immediately, I thought, oh, that's awesome. You get the natural birth, but if something goes wrong, you can walk down to the hospital, basically. I wasn't super settled on the OB I had. Google origins, birth and wellness. And the website was beautiful. It's like the anthropology of birthing centers.
I thought I could have this magical, peaceful birth. One thing I looked at when I first started looking into them was what was their transfer rates? Well, their transfer rates were super low. So I thought, oh, that's great. In the midst of all of the stuff that's happening with me at home in my personal life, I could have an amazing birth. And this place would be perfect to do that at.
They had a night where it's like an open house or welcome to the new pregnant people. Ask me all your questions type of get together. We went to that. We saw the birth center in person. My husband's like, this is what you want. Let's do it. Yes, this is what I want. My whole life, all I've known is all natural. I'm third born of eight kids.
My mom birthed my oldest brother at home and then she birthed me at home. And that's when she hemorrhaged, was rushed to the emergency room. She survived that. And then she had six more kids. The rest of the kids were in the hospital. This is back in the nineties. We didn't have to have medical insurance and we couldn't afford it. So my mom did a lot of herbal remedies and natural things.
And so I just grew up in the natural world. People say like, you're a nurse. Why did you even go this route? You get pregnant. You want the very best for your baby, for your body. I feel like This is what's right. I signed up with Origins for the birthing boot camp. I remember giving them all the medical records.
The first thing they should have done when they saw my medical records, I didn't know this at the time. They should have said, I am so sorry. We can't take you because you're high risk because A, you're an IVF patient and B, you have a clotting disorder that we are not comfortable managing. Those two things right there, she should have said, we can't do it.
There's too many factors that could go wrong all of a sudden.
As a pediatric nurse, did you have awareness of the fact that a licensed midwife in Texas can become one with a high school diploma?
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Chapter 4: What were the early warning signs of complications in Barbie's pregnancy?
What was your impression of Amy? How did you feel about your care the first half of your pregnancy?
Amy was very kind. I do want to make this note. I think that Amy is at her core is a very nice person. And I think she has good intentions, but I feel like something clouds her judgment because she doesn't want her reputation to be messed up. And so she'll take on some cases she probably shouldn't take on. The first half of my pregnancy, it was fine because it felt very typical.
It felt like I was having a smooth sailing pregnancy. When I first started with them, she said due to IVF, that they'll get me over to the MFM or the maternal fetal medicine doctor to do an ultrasound to double check things just to make sure everything's good. And I never saw an MFM. That never actually came to fruition. Here's how an appointment went.
You would go to the bathroom, you'd give a urine sample, you would get the dipstick, and you would dip that in your urine yourself. And then you would weigh yourself. You'd wait for the midwife. They'd come in to be like, I looked at your urine and everything looks fine. And what was your weight today? So you would tell them.
I hated that having to report your weight to somebody that's like, you look at it. I don't want to see it because at one point in my pregnancy, I started gaining six to seven pounds a week. And I didn't know that about preeclampsia, but that was a lot of weight gain in one week. And they would, for lack of better words, fat shame me and be like, what are you eating during the week?
Are you exercising? But here's an interesting fact. And maybe this is what's normal. My entire pregnancy, when I started at Origins until the time I was in the hospital delivering, no one had seen my vagina. Like no one had been down there.
Not a swab?
Nothing. When they do the group B strep swab, you do it yourself, which I thought was kind of odd. I told you we transferred two embryos. We lost that second embryo at seven or eight weeks, very early on. My mom passed away when I was about six months pregnant from colon cancer. I had alongside my dad and siblings had been one of her caretakers. That was a really hard hit to our family.
First baby, I wanted my mom to meet her. After that, I'm about six months going on seven months. This is when my blood pressure starts creeping up in office. I have a history of anxiety and depression, and I always would blame things on my anxiety. In office, my blood pressure was reading 140s over, I don't know what the bottom number was, but the bottom number was up a little bit too.
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Chapter 5: How did Barbie's situation escalate to severe preeclampsia?
And I'm like, well, you know, my mom just died. Maybe I had too much ice cream. I don't know. And I've been going through this and it's just stressful. I didn't even know what preeclampsia was. I know I'm a nurse, but I don't do preeclampsia with children. I didn't know that that was a complication.
Origins wrote on August 22nd, 2019, which I have my calendar pulled up, was a Thursday to September 5th of 2019, which is two weeks later. I gained eight pounds in two weeks. And according to the preeclampsia.org website, it says weight gain of more than three to five pounds in a week may be an indicator of preeclampsia. So already, I was having the weight gain, almost 10 pounds in two weeks.
I feel like someone should have sat down and said, hey, you've got weight gain. You've had some headaches. And your blood pressure... in office isn't that great. Maybe we should get something checked. No. What we did instead was, as the pregnancy progressed, it was send us what your blood pressure numbers are reading at home. At night, I would make sure that I was as relaxed as possible.
I would take my blood pressure and just pray it was a number that no one would get scared at. Most of the time, my blood pressure at home, it was 130s over 80s. And they were okay with that. And I was okay with it too, because I didn't want anything to be wrong. They tell me, you should really take some cayenne pills and you need to drink celery water.
I don't know if you've ever tasted celery water. It tastes like ass. But I was drinking that celery water like my life depended on it. My blood pressure at 34 weeks was creeping up. So it's 128 over 91. The top number wasn't horribly scary, but the bottom number is in the 90s. And then also at 34 weeks, they correlate the fundal height to the week pregnant.
So at 34 weeks, I was 34 centimeters at the fundal height. I come back in the next week at 35 weeks, I'm measuring 34 weeks. I said, is that okay? And she said, yeah, it can vary, you know, one or two. And I'm like, okay. I come in at 36 weeks. My blood pressure is 137 over 92. So it's going up even further. And I'm still measuring 34 centimeters in the fundal height two weeks later.
So that's showing you like there's been no uterine growth. If you're not going to do a sonogram, the next best thing you have is the fundal height. Sadie had not been growing in utero. I didn't know that was something to look for. So that's at 36 weeks. And then at 37 weeks, October 8th, I went in for an appointment. My blood pressure was 148 over 98 and my fundal height was 35 centimeters.
I was 37 weeks pregnant and she's measuring two weeks behind. Just to give context, I was 183 pounds. I'm 5'10 when I got pregnant. Now, Origins wrote that the last weight they recorded for me on the 8th of October is 240 pounds. I delivered my daughter on October 13th at 250 pounds. We can do the math real quick. I had a total weight gain of 67 pounds. I was just eating a normal diet.
I was having like speckles in my vision. I wasn't losing vision. I did not have a massive migraine or anything like some people with preeclampsia do, but I did report. I have some speckles and like a dull headache, but I take Tylenol for it and it's okay. That's what I would tell them. Also at that appointment on that Tuesday, they drew blood work. I don't know when they got this blood work back,
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Chapter 6: What was the response from the medical team at the hospital?
She's like, you need to go to the hospital. They know that you're coming. I said, okay. So I walk out to my husband. I said, hey, apparently I'm getting induced tonight. Then it's the panic because I didn't have a hospital backpack. I was 37 weeks pregnant. So we rush around and pack everything up and we beeline it down to Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.
I don't understand the gravity of the situation at the time. I walk into L&D. And there is a nurse pacing back and forth in the hall. I walk up to the desk and say, hi, you know, I'm Barbie. I'm here checking in. And I look on her desk and it has my name written big letters, Barbie dash severe preeclampsia. I'm like, why does she have that written? What is going on?
So the nurse that was pacing, she comes over to me. She's like, are you Barbie? And I'm like, yeah, she's like, come with me. I'm thinking in my mind, she was just hanging out waiting for me, not realizing that I was in grave danger at the time. They get me in the room. They're like, give us a urine sample, change this gown. So I do that.
I sit on the bed and all of a sudden there's three or four nurses in the room. One's digging in my arm for an IV. One's trying to explain to me what they're doing. Another one's trying to place the catheter. I was put on magnesium and on magnesium, you're pretty much confined to your bed. They were like, do you want an epidural? I was like, no, I don't want an epidural.
And she's like, okay, I just need to understand like you're not going to be able to get up and move around or anything. We're starting to go on Pitocin. I was like, okay, still not fully understanding. The pitocin was kicking in. It was really pinching and cramping. It was not feeling great. I couldn't move. Couldn't do much in the bed other than turn. And I looked at my husband.
I was like, should I get the epidural? We're both like shell shocked. Neither of us know exactly what's going on. I had my husband call Amy to ask her if it was okay if I got an epidural. To ask permission. And that's just how, I don't know another word for it other than being just brainwashed. You can't make these decisions without the permission of your midwife or your doula.
I felt like getting an epidural was admitting defeat and failure. Amy was just like, oh my gosh, yes, she can do the epidural. You get in this mental state when you're in that environment of natural birth where it's like epidural is bad when it was a great needed intervention for me. My OB, she was the OB that Origins gave all their shit shows to. If things went south, they would call her.
She's a wonderful doctor, very patient. She did not rush me to a C-section. And later I asked her why. And she said, because you and the baby were still okay. She let me labor. There was some turning off the Pitocin and turning on. And Sadie, my daughter, who I was in labor with, Sadie absorbed some of the magnesium. So her heart rate was going up and down. Amy did call.
She was texting with my husband, checking on the status. I think she was actually staying at the birthing center. When I was pushing, she did show up to support and be there. When it was time to push, that's when things got scary. At this point, I had been in labor from Friday night to Sunday morning with little to no sleep. I pushed for an hour and a half. Sadie, they lost her heart rate.
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