Dr. Ann Schufreider

"It’s been 10 months since my son has been born and the amount of times I sit thinking about this dr is insane. I have PTSD from my birth and it wasn’t because I wasn’t educated or advocated for myself it’s because dr. Schufreider took away so many of my choices and pushed hers and ultimately gave me a birth that was NOT anything close to what I wanted. She was the on call doctor. From the moment I met her I didn’t really trust her. She questioned every single thing that I was advocating for. Medication, cord banking, taking about the genetics of my baby ( even though bc nothing was wrong with him) . Her philosophy was completely different than mine when it came to laboring and how I wanted to do that (I wanted a very natural birth, different positions , etc) . Once I was 10 cm she just started making me push On my back. I had gotten an epidural but also knew I could be Moved into other positions easily with assistance. I asked multiple times to let me labor different she said no this is the only position and that she doesn’t know where I’m getting my information but the position doesn’t matter. Then she also forced me to purple push bc breathing my baby down was not something she was letting me do. She kept saying I didn’t have enough power. So then I advocated myself for tug of war with the sheet pushing. And it was better. She made me push for 3.5-4 hrs. And close to the the end of it I was falling alseep. She threatened me that if I’m too tired that she would pull out the forceps and vacuum. That was specifically written on my birth plan that I DO NOT gIve consent to that. And I pushed so hard to get this 8.5 lb kid out of me bc I didn’t want to use those things. As soon as he was out she’s like cut the cord now. I’m like no I want to wait until it stops throbbing. She said no and kept pressuring me and my husband to cut the cord and disturbing my golden hr. So we’re like ugh okay fine. In that moment there was only so much I could fight for. When you’re in labor you are like so focused there’s only so much fight you have that’s why you make a birth plan and have your partner advocate. But despite all that I wasn’t heard. I wasn’t respected. There was no trust there. I feel like she might be a good dr for someone but she wasn’t a good one for me. It’s been so long and I think about her often and the things she took away from me. When I talked to her directly about these things she rolled her eyes the next day and changed the subject. Because of the way she made me push and for how long she did-I still have discomfort when being intimate. It’s hard. I haven’t healed. My body feels so broken. I have a deep mistrust. I worry about giving birth again. If she had been more thoughtful and kind I feel like maybe I wouldn’t have these flashbacks for the last ten months. I don’t know when this will get better but I hope one day it does."