When Medical Authority Becomes Abuse:
When Medical Authority Becomes Abuse:
While decluttering today, I came across my formal complaint from 2009 — the one where I challenged a gynaecologist (I’ll call him Mr O) who was repeatedly abusive and inappropriate towards me during pregnancy.
Reading his responses now, with distance and clarity, the hypocrisy is glaring. His explanations don’t hold up against medical facts. He openly shows disdain toward me for using medical knowledge to challenge his behaviour — particularly around the treatment of Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction, which he clearly misrepresented.
He attempts to justify referring me for psychiatric evaluations and social services investigations, presenting this as “normal duty of care for every mother.” He supports this narrative by claiming I was abusive and that everyone around me would say the same.
Of course they would — because he had already primed staff by labelling me “psychosomatic.”
He dismissed my documented physical needs, including my need for a stairlift. He alleged that repeated internal examinations were medically necessary, when they weren’t — and used them instead as a way to prod and prod again, attempting to “catch me out” by provoking pain.
Another gynaecologist later explicitly stated that the number of examinations should be reduced due to my pain. While they failed to document my distress properly, they did document that Entonox gas was required for them to proceed.
Yes — I consented.
Because I was told my baby was at risk.
And what new mother wouldn’t endure hell for her child?
As I read through everything now, I can see the holes in his narrative clearly. And I am proud of myself — not just for surviving that trauma, but for continuing to live, to heal, and to work through years of gaslighting, manipulation, and lies recorded about me.
One doctor even admits that on a day when I endured three separate traumatic incidents, he called ahead to warn staff that I was “problematic” — which explains why I was met with hostility, abuse, and ultimately forcefully wheeled away from my partner while terrified and anxious.
Abusers always cover their tracks.
Like the hospital transport worker who coerced an elderly woman with dementia into agreeing that I was the problem — after abandoning me for four hours while pregnant — simply because “her shift was ending.”
I will not apologise for crying in the waiting room.
A nurse had lifted my wheelchair — with my pelvis already dislocated — and slammed it down. They had been told my pain was psychosomatic.
They twist narratives.
They rewrite reality.
And they cause further harm.
I have the paperwork to prove it.
I may never be able to pursue medical negligence or sexual assault charges against Mr O. But I can write about it. I can raise awareness. And I can make damn sure women understand that this kind of abuse in medical settings is real — and far more common than people want to admit.
If people choose to side with abusers and sadists, that is their choice.
But even if their false allegations were true — even if I were a “problematic” patient — that still would not justify the trauma I endured during pregnancy, birth, and the years that followed. Nor would it justify the damaging lies that continue to live on in my medical records.
When a doctor’s ego is challenged by a disabled woman — a mother-to-be armed with facts — this is what happens.
It becomes war.
I never asked for that war.
But I fought to survive it.
And I am proud that it did not break me.
Proud that I never quit on life.
Proud that I never quit on myself.
I know the truth.
And I am no longer interested in people who prefer assumptions over facts.
Sarah Wingfield ❤️
Independent Disability Advocate
#disabilityinclusion #strongertogether #disability #disabilityawareness #disabilitysupport #disabilityrights
Alt text:
Blog header image titled “When Medical Authority Becomes Abuse.” A distressed woman in a hospital gown sits on a bed holding her head, surrounded by medical paperwork stamped “Complaint.” In the background, shadowy figures of doctors appear to point and speak, creating a sense of intimidation and power imbalance. The image uses dark, muted blue tones to convey emotional distress, medical gaslighting, and systemic harm within healthcare settings. Created by ChatGPT and credited to "KawaiiDollDecora'.
