viewing birth records

[mandalamama]

i have a lot of questions about this! if you asked to view your hospital birth records, who did you call to get them, and did they hassle you? and when and where did you finally get to view them?

i called at 6 months PP, got chewed out for not coming in for the 6-week pap, and was told by the nurse that i couldn't view my records because they belong to the labor ward, only my dr's notes are in my records. i have NO idea if that's true or not! do i really have to call both the labor ward and my dr's office? don't they conglomerate the records at some point?

what would be the best wording i could use to avoid an argument with the nurse? it sounds like they really, really don't want me seeing my records. and unless i'm actually birthing, or caring for this baby, i am very easily intimidated.

[cambrieclaire]

i have a lot of questions about this! if you asked to view your hospital birth records, who did you call to get them, and did they hassle you? and when and where did you finally get to view them?

I don't know the laws in your state, Meli, but in mine the patient can get a copy of any/all medical records. Sometimes the hospital will make you pay for the copies (a per page fee) but they can't refuse to give them to you. I asked for a copy upon my release from the hospital, then again after my second release a week and a half later (I was readmitted with pp-eclamptic complications and chf). I was given a copy of all my records and all of ds's records. I got the records from the hospital, not from the doctor's office.

Since I had such a long labor (80+ hours) it was very interesting to me to read through the nurses' and doctor's notes. As I'm sure you can imagine, parts of it were sort of a blur because it was days and days and days.

You could call legal aid and ask them what the laws are in your state regarding the release of medical information. I mean, after all, they are YOUR records, right?

Good luck.

[doctorjen]

Generally, the only thing that ends up in my office chart is a brief labor and delivery summary, and sometimes a discharge summary. The long record, including fetal monitoring strips, whatever notes I wrote or the nurses wrote, what meds were given, etc. remains in the hospital chart. If you request the hospital chart, you need to spell out in detail what you want "All records pertaining to admission from June 1, 2004- June 5, 2004, including fetal monitor strips, nurses' notes, doctors' notes, and medication record."
There is no reason to be intimidated. The medical record belongs to you - although the doctor/hospital can charge you for the paper used to copy it. If they charge and you can't afford it, you have the right to view your record and copy it with your own equipment for free (like you have a portable copy machine, right?)
You do not have to give any kind of reason why you want to see your records they belong to you. I'll tell you though, that the reason they get so nervous is that requesting your records is usually the first step in a lawsuit, so if you want to make your doc or whatever feel better you could include a personal note that you aren't disatisfied with care, you just need to view records for curiousity, closure, whatever (of course if you are planning to sue I'd leave that out

[mandalamama]

Originally Posted by doctorjen

There is no reason to be intimidated. The medical record belongs to you - although the doctor/hospital can charge you for the paper used to copy it. If they charge and you can't afford it, you have the right to view your record and copy it with your own equipment for free (like you have a portable copy machine, right?)
You do not have to give any kind of reason why you want to see your records they belong to you. I'll tell you though, that the reason they get so nervous is that requesting your records is usually the first step in a lawsuit, so if you want to make your doc or whatever feel better you could include a personal note that you aren't disatisfied with care, you just need to view records for curiousity, closure, whatever (of course if you are planning to sue I'd leave that out

the only time i've viewed my own medical records was right before a Social Security disability audit, to make sure everything was correct. i'm in CT. they didn't make copies, but they did let people read their records in the office, and gave me a sheet to make my own corrections on, that they would put in the records. a member of the office staff had to sit there the whole time though, i asked why, they said people mess with their records sometimes. so i have no idea if that's a law, or that office's policy, or if it was only because it was for Soc. Sec. disability (fraud prevention). i feel very intimidated about sitting there reading the records while someone is watching me! hopefully they can just make copies. i really just want to read the dr's and nurse's notes, because so much is fuzzy because it was a long labor, and especially post-cesarean was totally fuzzed out for me. i feel like i'm missing a part of my life, you know?

[matts_mamamama]

The new HIPAA act allows you access and copies of any and all of your medical records from any doctor, for any reason. Most places require your request be in writing. Every doctor's office / Hospital should have a person specifically in charge of the HIPAA regulations. Simply find out who that is and send your request to that person.

[MamaTaraX]

I've requested records just for the heck of it because I like to read them. I take my own when I'm there in fact. When I had my 2nd son and they transferred me to the post-partum place after the birth center, mycharts came with me. I plopped down on the bed and read throgh them. Interesting stuff. Nothing i didn't know, I was just curious to see how it was written. When myoldest was in the hospital with RSV, I readhis notesand records while there then came back and requested them just because. When I transferred from OB tomidwife at 19 wks with baby #2, I had to have recordsgo too, so I took them myself so that I could read them myself. When I went on a trip later that pregnancy I requested a dumeddown version of records to go with me on the trip. I've never been hassled. In fact, I've been wondering how long thosethings are findable because I'd love to havethe records from my first son'sbirth (he just turned 7)...I think they keep them in easy access for 5 years then file awya so I might b out of luck. I'm just curious, though I've seen them before. Good luck and happy record reading!

Namaste, Tara
mama to Doodle (6), Butterfly (2), and Rythm (due at home 1/06)

[Sagesgirl]

As others have said, you have a legal right to view your records. I didn't have any trouble getting mine, in fact part of what I was released from the hospital with after I had Linda was a shortened version of the birth record. One of the things they wanted me to do while recieving prenatal care with her, as I was planning a VBAC, was to request my records from Bobbie's birth. The only difficulty with that was the OB clinic secretary's erroneous belief that I could walk down to Inpatient Records and request them (I actually had to file a written request at Outpatient Records, then they mailed it to me).

Very bizarre to me that they don't want to let you see your records. Makes me wonder what they're trying to hide.

[Maggi315]

I too have been hassled about records. Which is ridiculous because every state has laws stating that you have a right to see them and have a copy. You may have to pay for your copy, but you have a right to a copy. Most records are kept at the hospital, so your best bet is to call medical records. Don't go into details, none of their business. Just tell them you need a copy of your medical records and give dates. You will probably have to sign some paperwork and perhaps pay the copying fee. If they give you a hard time, ask to speak to supervisor, then continue up the chain. If still giving a hard time, put your request in writing, mail certified, with signature required and send copy to CEO/president of hospital.

Hopefully you won't have to go that far, how silly!

[Belle]

The hospital I gave birth at wanted to charge me $2.50 a page to copy my records. I'm going to go down there next tuesday to view them in person.

[stafl]

I just asked my OB for them, his office is next door to the hospital and he had no problem getting me copies for free. I did not want the fourteen hours of fetal monitoring strip, though. Mostly I was after the post-op report on the cesarean, which doc had to get for his records anyway because somehow he didn't get a copy into my file at his office.