Woman Explains Why OBGYN Offices Should Have Separate Waiting Rooms For Patients Who Experienced Pregnancy Loss
They are already going through enough. Why remind them of what they've lost?
Nicoleta Ionescu / Shutterstock Women who have experienced miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and any other kind of pregnancy loss are applauding a Georgia woman after she proposed an idea as to how these women should be treated in doctors’ waiting rooms during their follow-up appointments after loss.
The woman notes just how difficult it can be to go to doctors’ appointments following a loss knowing that you will likely encounter other women who are experiencing healthy pregnancies that will guarantee them a baby in the end.
India Batson called for OBGYN offices to have separate waiting areas for women who are experiencing pregnancy loss.
29-year-old Baston, who has lost two pregnancies back to back, made the plea to OBGYNs in a TikTok video that has been viewed over 2 million times.
“If you’re there for a loss, I would like there to be a separate waiting room from the regular waiting room because sitting next to tons of pregnant women while you wait to go back just to get blood work to see if your HCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin) is back to zero sucks,” Baston said. “Like absolutely sucks.”
Baston is all too familiar with this sinking feeling of being surrounded by pregnant women after losing a pregnancy. She had been forced to endure the situation while going into her OBGYN office to get blood work done. She never could have anticipated the rush of emotions she would experience when she entered the waiting area only to encounter women who were experiencing healthy pregnancies with healthy babies.
“Pregnancy loss is hard,” a tearful Baston says.
Many other women related to Baston’s frustrations, agreeing with her proposal for a separate waiting room.
“When I had my ectopic pregnancy…. I got sent to LABOR AND DELIVERY for methotrexate,” one TikTok user shared. “My OB apologized before telling me and said she’s arguing for years about sending losses there.”
“Sitting there when a couple walks out smiling with ultrasound pictures was like a punch in the gut,” another user commented.
“As a very pregnant woman, I support this so much. At one of my last appointments, there was this sweet girl there who was crying her eyes out and it wasn’t fair that I was there in front of her,” another user wrote.
“I work in Healthcare design and will always keep this in mind now,” another user added.
Unfortunately, pregnancy loss is not uncommon.
In the first three months of pregnancy, one in four women will experience a miscarriage. An estimated 2% of pregnancies are ectopic, a life-threatening condition where a fertilized egg implants itself outside of the uterus, typically in one of the fallopian tubes which ultimately results in pregnancy loss.
Photo: PeopleImages.com - Yuri A / Shutterstock
Even if some women are lucky enough to never experience a pregnancy loss, approximately one in eight couples struggle with infertility and may never get pregnant.
Even though doctors and pregnant women are not intentionally trying to make women going through pregnancy loss or infertility feel bad, the sight of pregnant women or a woman with a happy infant can be a painful reminder to some women of what they have lost and what could have been.
Offering them a separate waiting area where they won’t have to encounter pregnant women will not only reduce their heartache during the visit but will allow them a chance to support and connect with others who are going through the same battles they are.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.