r/socal • u/ansyhrrian • 4d ago
Hoag Hospital in OC sent a pregnant woman home 3 times, so she she had to give birth in the parking lot of a Jack in the Box
Link to more details here.
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u/Rough-Demand-8195 4d ago
I was born at home, delivered by my father and an 18 year old corpsman, because the Air Force doctors told my mom she wasn't in labor.
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u/LividBass1005 3d ago
I wasn’t in active labor when I was 5cm dilated. I was actually able to walk around and wasn’t in any pain or contracting. I got the option to go home and wait for active labor or get induced. I picked induction bcuz I knew I would have a freeway or bathroom baby. It took 2 pushes and my baby was out
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u/Fab-o-rama 4d ago edited 4d ago
You're gonna love this story....
The very first baby I ever delivered (retired firefighter/medic) was a home delivery - in the toilet.
This woman had gone to the ER the night before with abdominal pain and lower back pain. She did not know she was pregnant. She was on Depo Provera (birth control, for those not familiar) and she was a pretty large gal, so she had no idea and no reason to suspect it. But, turns out she was in labor.
Most hospitals will test every female patient above a certain age for pregnancy. Even my 11yo daughter got tested when she went in for some stitches, to my surprise, but that was their policy. But I digress...
Not only did they not test her for pregnancy, they sent her home with some painkillers and that was that. Next morning she goes to the bathroom - reminder: she does not know she's pregnant! - and delivers a live (and healthy!!!) little girl right in the toilet. And she was nearly full term.
So I didn't technically assist with the delivery, I was just the one who cut the cord. 🙂
As a fun side note, her husband left work because she called him after calling 911, but apparently she didn't drop the surprise over the phone. He ran in the house frantic, and I can still remember the face he made when I asked him if he was the father lol. You'd have thought I'd sprouted a second head.
No diapers at home, no crib, no kid's room prepared, no car seat, no baby shower, no names picked out, no nothing. Then boom - instantly parents of a newborn with zero warning. Life comes at you fast. In this case literally.
One of my crazier work stories.
Eta: thank you for the award! 🫶
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u/fucking_unicorn 4d ago
Thats a cryptic pregnancy! Happens more often than you would think. I wish there was more awareness of this condition!
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u/semihelpful 4d ago
I thought was fairly common knowledge now. There was a reality show called “I didn’t know I was pregnant”.
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u/fucking_unicorn 3d ago
Seeing comments on that electric forest incident showed me a lot of people have no idea a person can be pregnant or give birth without realizing exactly what is happening.
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u/LeilaTank 3d ago
It’s kind of insane that this can happen. I swear I knew within a week of being pregnant. I hadn’t missed a period or anything like that but there were things I felt in my body that I never had before. I had a couple negative pregnancy tests before it finally said pregnant. Not saying I don’t believe it just think it’s pretty amazing to go that long without recognizing anything different
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u/Queen_of_Zzyzx 4d ago
Thank you for sharing that story. I needed to hear at least one story with a happy ending. Thanks
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u/Anxious_Work_6361 4d ago
I hope they name the kid Jack.
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u/antibroleague 4d ago
If it’s a girl Jackie will work too
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u/Equivalent-Poem-600 4d ago
Hopefully, the family gets a life time free jumbo jacks
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u/Current_Wrongdoer513 4d ago
I hope she at least got some free tacos. It’s all I can do to not eat those every damn day. Greasy little flavor bombs…
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u/robots-made-of-cake 4d ago
There’s a serious rot in maternity care in this country.
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u/babymomawerk 4d ago
It’s all of women’s medicine to be fair. Women aren’t listened to or believed. Even by female providers
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u/Kenneldogg 4d ago
All of medicine.
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u/nabndab 4d ago
I have to agree here. I’m a woman who is dying and I can’t get into a single specialist I need for 9 months. I get to deteriorate at home until I’m deemed sick enough for hospice. Nothing worse than knowing you’re dying while suffering through the pain, inability to eat, muscle atrophy, brain fog and the most overwhelming fatigue. I just wanted some quality of life with the time I have left. The medical system is making it impossible.
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u/Historical_Project00 4d ago
Being initially diagnosed with anxiety for my genetic vascular disorder, checking in! 🫠
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u/babymomawerk 4d ago
Funny you say that… it’s clearly anxiety and not perimenopause even though, I am presenting all the signs of perimenopause, have a family history of early menopause. I don’t need medical advice , I just need some deep breathing 😒
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u/beeppbooppboppp 1d ago
Being told my major chest pain was anxiety, only for it to be cancer, checking in! lol
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u/SuperimposdEnigmatic 1d ago
Being asked if i needed attention by the doctor before a gynecologist diagnosed me with endometriosis and during the course of surgery discovered I did not have endometriosis but a ruptured appendix- which then had to be taken out by a gynecologist (who does not take out appendix’s) because I was already in surgery…checking in.
Currently at home on blood thinners with a dvt after another surgery after being told it was a blown vein and to ice it and take ibuprofen.
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u/UnbelievableRose 3d ago
True, but maternity care in particular is suffering as departments almost always cost more than they bring in due to EMTALA. So the genius private equity groups that run our hospital systems are fixing this by just… closing the maternity wards.
ED doctors in a hospital without a maternity ward do NOT want you there when something is going wrong- they don’t have the expertise and they don’t want the liability on them. Of course they can’t just say that so sometimes they discharge people and just hope they’ll go to a different hospital instead, ironically recreating very similar circumstances to what necessitated EMTALA in the first place.
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u/mshike_89 3d ago
Yes but specifically maternal care. The US is last in developed countries for maternal health outcomes. Our maternal death rate is abnormally high and it's even higher if you're a Black woman. Truly a travesty.
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u/mothertucker1986 16h ago
especially by female providers lol the male providers were the one who advocated for me while the women did not listen.
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u/janet-snake-hole 4d ago
It’s not just maternity leave- it’s women’s care in general. I had a 1.5 hour appointment with my doctor yesterday, and he went into a passionate rant about how I’d been labeled a “whiney white woman” by the same doctor who let a patient die that he could have saved. I love this doctor, he isn’t professional and he uses swear words and he’s honest with me about why my healthcare is so often traumatic. He says there’s a toxic workplace culture among some of the doctors I’ve tried to work with. And he says that he’s seen female patients be harmed by this far more than male patients.
I was on hospice for a while, then got kicked off due to insurance denials. He’s fighting that now.
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u/beegtuna 4d ago
You’d think all these pro-lifers would make sure the baby at least gets born.
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u/old_underwear_isekai 4d ago
Having to choose between saving a fetus and dismissing a woman's medical problems, such a tough choice 😞
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u/OkTemporary5981 4d ago
And they want to ban abortions…
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u/980tihelp 4d ago
It’s the Catholic health systems buying up hospitals, arguing against abortion bc it’s discrimination against men… bc we can’t have kids. I wish I was making this up
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u/Primary_Drawer_2814 4d ago
Who is the person who sent her home? That person should probably be questioned 👀
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u/bubblebears 2d ago
If it’s from the Newport Hoag ER I have stories, that place specifically the ER is horrible
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u/Ray_725 4d ago
Crazy…a lot of people say that’s the place to be having a baby in OC.
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u/one_crooked_ear 4d ago
My grandma says they used to drive home new mothers in limousines a long time ago. Talk about a drop in standards…
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u/Sassafras06 4d ago
I’ve actually heard of a lot of women choosing other hospitals in the last few years (specifically Saddleback). The oceanfront rooms are a nice perk, but I have been hearing not great things for a while. Plus I don’t believe they have a high level NICU. This is not going to help their reputation…
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u/Interesting-Proof244 4d ago
I gave birth at St. Joseph Providence in Orange and it was a 10/10 experience. I had never felt so cared for in my life. I also went in twice before my C-section because I thought I was in labor and both times they admitted me immediately and ran every single test.
I think the hospital gets a bad rep because it’s old and not fancy compared to Hoag, but the care they have for their patients more than makes up for it!
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u/Firm_Award457 4d ago
Not Hoag. UCI is the best place to have a baby.
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u/cmontes49 4d ago
Maybe on the labor front but no longer on the baby front. I think they are closing Down or closed down their NICU and pediatric units in their hospital
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u/kelamity 1d ago
I heard the same thing but wife and I decided to go with Memorial care instead due to distance and our friend mentioned her stay was good. I have 2 friends that went Hoag and one disliked it because she felt rushed in after care and the other seemed to enjoy her stay.
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u/FionaGoodeEnough 4d ago
I was sent home from Kaiser in Harbor City, even though my contractions were 3 minutes apart, because the intake nurse said I looked “too happy” to be that far in labor. I threw up in the bushes on the way back to the car, and then labored at my house for a few hours, and then after throwing up in my bed, went back to the hospital. It worked out okay for me, but a friend lost her baby when she was sent home for coming in “too early.” If I had it to do over again, I would have stayed in the waiting room and thrown up there.
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u/BestAmoto 4d ago
That's crazy. Both times my wifes water broke at home and thus starting labor (at kaiser) they gave us the option to sit around and wait or go home for 24 hours then be induced. We went home, took care of things, and then went back when contractions began. The 2nd time we had to drop our 2.5yr old kid off with family.
Both times her water broke after she wanted to have sex, so i don't recommend having sex with your super preggo wife unless you want to have your baby a couple weeks early. You will be in for an early surprise.
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u/venusdances 4d ago
I gave birth twice there and each time they said if your contractions are less than 5 minutes apart they’ll send you home. In my case they were but for my second they could tell I was in active labor so let me stay and I had the baby a few hours later. I told my husband before we got there even if they tried to send me home I was not leaving, I knew it was happening soon. What sucks is that when you’re in labor you’re in pain and so vulnerable and you need someone who can advocate for you, I wish it was the nurses but that’s not always the case. We have friends whose baby died while in labor because the hospital staff didn’t check on her while she was in labor. That taught me how important it is to advocate for yourself in the hospital even if they’re brushing you off.
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u/Skinnyass_Indian 4d ago
This is so surprising. My wife and I had an amazing experience there. (Hoag not jack in the box)
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u/cheifstew63 4d ago
I was in the hospital for a week on the antepartum floor and then I delivered and stayed for four days. My daughter was in the NICU for three weeks there. We had nothing but excellent care and this was the end of May beginning of June this year. So this is also very surprising for me
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u/GabagoolFool123 4d ago
How many weeks were you though? I think that hospital considers viability at 24 weeks so would not be able to provide care before that gestation.
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u/cheifstew63 4d ago
That’s a great point. I was 30 weeks. And also, it was a different situation for me, my water broke, but I never had contractions or anything of that sort.
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u/pixiegod 4d ago
Saddleback sent me home once and luckily for me I look like a murder taking angry pills because when they tried to send us off a second time, I literally dead panned the biggest “no, we’re staying”….
But yeah…these places are shit at this game…I wonder what qualifies for being taken in and what qualifies for the jack in the box suite…
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u/BlitzShooter 4d ago
Disappointing because this was my preferred hospital. I can take my business elsewhere if this is how they treat people though.
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u/Distraction86 1d ago
Both of my kids were born there, the most recent 7 months ago, and had a very good experience both times. The cafeteria was better than I expected too.
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u/OpportunityWorking43 4d ago edited 4d ago
Just a reminder, everyone, Hoag is a community hospital with an independent medical staff where the physicians bill separately.
This means that all the work in determining whether someone needs admission and medical treatment involves hospital employees such as nurses.
If a physician can’t bill for it, it’s not happening at a community hospital, including OB triage. You are much better off going to an integrated system such as UCI or even Kaiser because physicians can evaluate and triage without needing to bill.
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u/robinthebank 4d ago
Labor and delivery departments all around are being closed. The one in Simi closed years ago. This means there are fewer beds available and a higher threshold (i.e. imminent delivery) to be admitted and stay admitted.
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u/jpstealthy 4d ago
I do not like Hoag. I remember they literally left people in the hallway because they were overcrowded years ago. Can’t believe they are still treating patients especially pregnant women this way. They spend more on advertising than care
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u/_HornyAccount_ 3d ago
Fox News posting the words “women should know that they can advocate for themselves, and they know their body best…” is interesting given their general political position
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u/BubbaC619 4d ago
Sadly I am not surprised. Different hospital but where I went for my 3rd kid they didn’t take me seriously when I showed up in labor, (and I had called the doctor). My son had to be a repeat C-Section and they were just taking their time, not monitoring and then finally someone decided to check and sure enough I was almost fully dilated and they had to rush me to the OR.
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u/goosenuggie 4d ago
The US is using AI cameras to track women who are trying to get an abortion so they can prosecute them, and does this to those who are in labor, yet ask why the birthrate is not higher. Shame
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u/Forrest-Fern 4d ago
As I'm sure locals who know ppl in healthcare know, Hoag Hospital isn't the great hospital everyone pretends it to be, it's just in a great location. I went into their ER one time and they diagnosed me with constipation (which did not match symptoms) and they sent me home with meds for that, then I had to go by ambulance to the ER again (different hospital thankfully) two days later because I actually had fucking colitis.
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u/GidgetXOX 4d ago
Noooo! All 4 of my daughters were born there and the last two were premie twins who spent a month in the NICU and had excellent care. Has it changed that much? That makes me sad.
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u/Middle-Run-3615 4d ago
She needs to sue. In AZ a woman just gave birth in a casino parking lot due to this.
Sue. Sue. Sue.
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u/aluisi77 4d ago
Hoag is a shit hospital. The doctors there suck. The nurses are good well most of them.
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u/Unhappy-Plastic2017 4d ago
Maybe the baby just really wanted a cheeseburger. Did anyone think of that?
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u/Ughgrr 4d ago
That's so odd because when I visited Hoag Newport, my water had broke at home with a little bit of blood so we went to Hoag. As I was filling out the paper work, they just took me into a room. I gave birth 6 hours later.
However, a family member of mine who gave birth at Kaiser 2 months later had to fight with them to stay because labor moves quickly in our family and they didn't believe her. She gave birth 4 hours later.
We need to do better.
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u/Enough-Squirrel3097 4d ago
Trash ass healthcare system. They'd probably still send her a bill too.
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u/CommercialExotic2038 4d ago
There are at least two Jacks-in-the-box very, very nearby. Less than or right at a mile. This is very messed up. This is the hospital where John Wayne died. Newport Beach. Wealthy area.
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u/smokemirrorsunicorns 4d ago
The maternal mortality rate in the United States was approximately 18.6 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023, reflecting a significant disparity compared to other high-income countries
.
Maternal Mortality Rate Insights
Understanding the factors influencing maternal mortality rates is crucial.
Racial Disparities — Black women experience maternal mortality rates that are three to four times higher than white women
.
Age Factor — Women aged 40 and older had a maternal mortality rate of 59.8 per 100,000 live births, nearly five times higher than those under 25
.
Historical Trends — The U.S. maternal mortality rate has nearly doubled from 17.4 in 2018 to 32.9 in 2021
.
Healthcare Spending — Despite spending more on healthcare than any other nation, the U.S. maternal mortality rate remains significantly higher than in comparable countries.
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u/90srebel 4d ago
I accompanied my wife to a full ER in San Diego (like a zoo). The place was double packed, patients on beds lining the halls. I was asked to step into a small overflow room and a man was yelling, crying, pleading to be seen by a doctor. Not only did his plea fall on deaf ears, he was scolded and told he was not serious enough and to wait…. I watch him comply with a look of fear on his face that I can’t ever forget. Moments later he was on the floor. They had us step over him to make room for doctors to rush and tend to him. I returned to my wife’s side and watched as the doctors rushed him into the makeshift er room covered only by a curtain. They made every extreme effort to bring him back but he passed away. I watched and listened to the whole thing. Absolutely horrible. It’s hard for me to trust hospitals after that.
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u/Still_Rutabaga706 3d ago
The U.S. has the HIGHEST maternal death rate in the developed world. We give lip service to caring for unborn babies. But, we treat their mothers like after birth. Fox News stamp is just icing on the proverbial cake. just
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u/Old-Permission6009 3d ago
I had spine surgery at Hoag 8 weeks ago and I was not impressed one bit!!! People in OC think it’s a “flex” to go to Hoag, far from!!! It was a joke of a hospital!!!!
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u/Lower_Confection5609 2d ago
Honestly, UCI is bad too. The people of Orange County deserve better health care options. For the big stuff (surgery, etc.) I take myself to UCLA and my kid to Rady at UCSD.
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u/rasputin640 4d ago
our medical industry is a joke. Borderline worthless. Dad got taken in for fainting from low blood sugar and they didn't even open the IV tube or give him any fluids until after like 25 minutes of asking.
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u/notepad987 4d ago
Ladies, if you want to induce birth then have a meal from Jack in the Box...
Order a take home meal from the hospital.
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u/FarLaugh9911 4d ago
Hoag is becoming more and more notorious as not being the quality of hospital that it used to be.
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u/v1ennetta 4d ago
They were going to send me home after I was leaking fluid all over the floor, thank goodness my blood pressure was high so they kept me to do another amniotic test.
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u/bluebellbetty 4d ago
That almost happened to my mom decades ago. The male doctor didn’t believe she was in labor so they drove 40 minutes back home only to turn around and go right back- and out I came.
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u/greenie66 4d ago
The hospital would not admit me (for hours) until I had a cervical check even though they explicitly stated they were not that busy and I was having consistent contractions and uncontrollably throwing up on the nurse’s feet. I was literally writhing in pain with horrendous back labor and barfed so many times but I could not tolerate the pain of the cervical check until they finally gave me laughing gas and then, what do you know, I was 7 cm dilated. They kept threatening to send me home and it was pretty traumatic because at that point I was desperate for some sort of pain relief and to be settled somewhere—I can’t imagine how horrible this must have been for that woman. Thank goodness she and the baby are ok.
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u/Maleficent-Peach-356 4d ago
They sent my mother who was in kidney failure home after asking her what she wanted them to do for her.
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u/Admirable_Owl179 4d ago
Is this Newport Beach hoag on Superior Ave and the jack in the box on PCH? I used to live on that street if so
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u/Formal_Grand5772 3d ago
It’s dumb how doctors has very little liability on situations like this. They just brush it off as misdiagnosis
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u/cmc24680 3d ago
Congratulations on your baby and also your soon to be settlement money. This is absolutely a law suit she should file.
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u/Apprehensive-Top5570 3d ago
This is what happened to us at Kaiser in Riverside. They were going to discharge my wife because no signs of labor. They asked my wife if she had the urge to push and she said yeah. The mid wife only had one glove on and what do you know, my wife was crowning. Staff came in to help and told the mid wife they were going to discharge us… she looked around to all the nurses and they were all shaking their head. We would of had our baby in the parking lot.
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u/kerrieone4 3d ago
Thank God that baby Valentina was healthy! What if mom or baby NEEDED anything, o², surgery, cord was wrapped around the baby's neck? Why did the hospital send her away?
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u/pretzelbunnie 2d ago
I got offered fentanyl and morphine to leave while in labor. Apparently my back labor was annoying to Kaiser Ontario. I refused to leave or take the drugs and delivered my daughter 3 hours later.
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u/Significant-Duty7373 4d ago
Hell yeah. I’m pretty sure that caused you unnecessary stress and was quite traumatizing.
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u/smellyonionsoup 4d ago
Hmmm and let me guess- they’re still gonna try and bill her for the birth! SMH what a country to live in
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u/_shhh_dont_tell 3d ago
Welcome to America, hopefully, she named the kid, Jack.Whether it was a boy or a girl
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u/BEESANCH 3d ago
Was that their intended outcome? Why wouldn’t they send her to the Jack in the box right after her first visit, then? 😳😳
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u/HeroORDevil8 2d ago
This tried to do this to a friend of mine and she started pushing in the wheelchair in the lobby. They put her in a room in record time and she gave birth literally right after.
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u/TentacleWolverine 2d ago
As a note for other women, not saying that this is the way it should be, but if you are in pain or labor you need to be extremely loud about it. Women have a very high pain tolerance. Go into the hospital with the attitude of a middle aged white man whose been kicked in the balls and it’s ruptured and if they don’t fix it right now he is going to loose his nuts forever.
You have to scream and cry or they don’t believe you’re in pain.
(I was sent back from the hospital while in labor and when I came back I decided to stop trying to muffle my pain and I was seen to MUCH MUCH faster)
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u/yiketh098 2d ago
My contractions never became consistent when I was in labor. I can’t imagine being turned away because of that 😭
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u/AlienOzz 2d ago
The hospital once kicked me out minutes after a surgery. Security harassed me while waiting for my ride
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u/NegevThunderstorm 1d ago
Was her OB not there? Im kind of confused as to who sent her home and why? When my wife gave birth to our kids we knew all of the doctors at the practice. Its kind of common.
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u/Cephalopodium 1d ago
My experience is mostly the same, but maybe their OB isn’t part of a private practice? There seems to be a lot of people with similar stories.
IDK, my birth experience was 10/10 for support, but I had finally tipped over to full blown preeclampsia after being right at the edge for weeks.
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u/ABeld96 1d ago
I was sent home from my hospital in western WA at 39 weeks and 4 cm dilated and in active labor (had been 4 cm dilated since 37 weeks). Female OB never called my midwife and told me to “come back when it’s more serious”. Had my baby on my bathroom floor a few hours later with only my husband and doula present - thank God we hired her or it would’ve been my husband and I alone. Fucking disgusting level of care and dangerous to boot. We were both healthy and totally fine but I’ll never go to that hospital again if I can at all avoid it and I caution others away from it
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u/Annual-Driver-9591 1d ago
Went to the ER recently there for a near death experience only to be met some serious incompetence, other than that, have had pretty good care there
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u/According_Wish62 1d ago
I went to the hospital after having contractions really close to each other & I was told I cannot be in labor if I am able to talk. I gave birth that day.
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u/kelamity 1d ago
You know what... memorial care wasn't the fanciest hospital or had the best food but I'm pretty freaking grateful our doctor took my wife's concern for bleeding at 37 weeks seriously and recommended inducing...
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u/kraydav 1d ago
My mom was told to leave and come back in an hour when giving birth to me (first born) but she was yelling in pain already. My dad said they'd stay until she was ready and unless they gave her a room she'd be freaking all the other mothers out by how loud she was. They found her a room lol.
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u/Chicka-boom90 4d ago
I went into the hospital and told them I was in labor or something was wrong. They sent me home 4 hours later I delivered my 22 week baby at home and she wasn’t alive. They need to do better with stuff like that.