Zakry, my precious son, was born, 9 ½ weeks early, on April 19, 1993 weighing only 2lbs 13oz. He was born by emergency C-Section due to severe fetal distress and a grossly underdeveloped esophagus with no connection to his stomach. In utero, he was unable to swallow amniotic fluid and void it out of his body where it would normally make its way to my bladder for my body to dispose of it. My body, unaware of this complication, naturally produced more amniotic fluid on a daily basis. My condition was known as Polyhydramnios. Every time I moved, it was if a tidal wave was crushing Zakry and his heart rate dipped to dangerously low levels. Sadly, the physical distress that both Zakry and I suffered could have been avoided. I was active duty Air Force at the time of my pregnancy and the doctor treating me, Colonel ______, received two separate ultrasound reports that spelled out the dangerous conditions both Zakry and I were experiencing. She remained firm there was nothing to be concerned about and made me feel as if it was my entire fault somehow. I cried many times in her office begging for help because I knew something was terribly wrong. At one point she actually crossed out my high blood pressure reading and wrote down numbers that reflected a more normal blood pressure. She simply said, “There is no way your blood pressure is THAT high”. One could assume Colonel _____ was just an inexperienced doctor. My personal opinion is she was grossly negligent and showed blatant disregard toward my prenatal care in the hopes Zakry would pass away in utero. After all, if that happened, the military would not have an expensive dependent and I, as an active duty soldier, would have ZERO medical malpractice recourse. Shortly after Zakry was born the military discharged me honorably under a Dependent Hardship Discharge. And my medical records "disappeared" after that. Luckily, an Airman I got a hold of at the hospital found them in a box buried underneath a bunch of paperwork in a hospital Closet.

Teresa Napierala Pyle
Manchester, TN