Went to the emergency room and watched a woman looks of terror when they told her that child birth is the only thing that is covered by the free clinic

I’m currently 29 years old at the time of this post, but this was about 6 years ago.<br><br>I was doing construction work for a bit and ended up cutting my finger on a metal sheet. I had to go to the emergency room after they couldn’t stop the bleeding in the urgent care I went to.<br><br>While I was sitting there waiting for my turn, I saw this young couple walk in through the doors. The girl was sitting down only a few chairs away from me and I could tell she was extremely distraught and worried.<br><br>A nurse came out and started talking to her and the guy she was with. I couldn’t tell exactly what they were saying, but it was obvious the nurse had some bad news for them.<br><br>After the nurse walked away from them, I could see just how terrified the girl looked. She looks as if her whole world was crashing around her. I was wondering what was going on with them and only later came to find out.<br><br>About 10/15 minutes later the couple was called up to the desk. It was at this time that I found out the guy had some injuries looks like he was in a bad fight. He looked like he had few broken bones and was battered. The girl was only complaining about stomach cramps.<br><br>As was expected the ER gave the guy priority over the girl as he was in way worse condition. The girl was full on crying at this point and kept asking the staff if she could see a doctor.<br><br>Finally a doctor comes in and sees her only for him to leave after about a minute. He left her in an even more distraught state then when she came in.<br><br>I watched her cry and wail for the next 2 hours as the staff and doctors were keeping her waiting. She kept asking them why they didn’t take care of her when she was in so much pain.<br><br>Finally after 3 hours a doctor comes out and I could hear exactly what he was saying. Turns out the girl was 7 months pregnant and was having contractions. This was her first kid and she was scared shitless.<br><br>She was begging the doctor to give her some kind of pain medication and the doctor ended telling her she had to wait as they were swamped. She was begging him and I don’t know what he said to her but she started crying even more.<br><br>It was clear she was in a lot of pain and worried about the health of her kid. I could overhear the doctor tell her that she was going to have the baby whether she liked it or not.<br><br>Finally they came in and got her a few hours after that. I could hear her screaming as they wheeled her away. I felt really bad for her as she was going to go through the pain of childbirth for the first time without any drugs.<br><br>After that incident, I saw a couple more woman come in saying they were in their final months of pregnancy. Many of them looked scared and worried but only one of them was actually taken back right away.<br><br>The rest of them were all left to wait, in pain and scared, until the doctors decided to see them. None of them were offered any kind of pain medication, despite begging the staff.<br><br>I really started to feel bad for all of them, but it just goes to show how little regard doctors have for the well being of their female patients. The guy that came in with the girl at the beginning was offered morphine almost right away.