Dr. Lourdes E. Melendez

Aug 27th, 2020

When I was pregnant 3 years ago I went to Bethany Home Women's Care, and Dr. Melendez was my doctor for most of my pregnancy until the last month that or so. She was friendly at first, but I could tell she did not like having anyone question her. My first pregnancy was a c-section, and this time I was trying for a VBAC. She was supportive in the beginning. I had moderate back pain before becoming pregnant. She told me she wanted me to go see a doctor about it, and referred me to a special doctor and scheduled an appointment for me and everything. Now you would think since she scheduled the appointment, and she's an OB, somewhere it should have been mentioned that I was pregnant to them. I showed up to the appointment to get my back looked at, and the first thing they did was get me ready for an X-ray. Now, I should trust doctors, right? But I just had this nagging feeling, and I asked the doctor should I be having an x-ray while I'm pregnant? She freaked out, and pulled me out of the room so fast, while saying, "You're pregnant?! You Shouldn't even be in this room. The doctor that referred you didn't mention anything about pregnancy?! It's not anywhere in the paperwork." I talked with the doctor and he said that there wasn't anything they could even look at or do, while I was pregnant, and to come back to them after the baby was born. Seriously!? That could have killed my baby! Thank God I went with my gut and said something. Next When I had to do my glucose test, I failed it by 1 single point. The test physically made me sick, so I opted to monitor myself at home with a diabetes test kit, instead of taking the test with the sugar drink again. She didn't like that I did that. It wasn't an option she gave me, and I only knew about it after doing some research. I was not supposed to think for myself it seemed, because she was highly offended that I found out about that option, and she really didn't like being told no. I did get my test kit, and was supposed to monitor myself for one week to make sure everything was alright. At the end of the week, all was well, and there were no issues, I wasn't at risk. Though she wanted to keep telling me that I was. My baby was growing steadily, but she told me that I was going g to have to schedule a C-section because they didn't want him to get too big. I wanted to see how things went, because I was also seeing another doctor and they seemed to think everything was alright. She then told me that I was being irresponsible with my baby's life, and that I was going to end up killing him if I didn't do what she said. She said that she was no longer going to be my doctor and was referring me elsewhere because I was "too high of a risk". Now mind you I had been completely healthy the entire time, and only failed the first sugar test by one point. She had a huge drama blowout, that left me and my husband, and younger son absolutely stunned, I've never ever seen a doctor throw a fit the way she did. She wanted so badly to keep her VBAC stats perfect that she basically kicked me out for standing up for myself and asking questions when I felt I needed to. Turns out, I was fine, my baby was born perfectly healthy, and I was very successful with having a vaginal birth, despite her warnings of me putting my baby's life at risk, and telling me that I was making the wrong decision. She was completely nuts in the end, and I honestly can't believe she is still a doctor. I should have taken her to court for what she put me and my family through, but I had more important things to worry about at the time. Please don't trust Dr. Melendez. What a doctor wants you to believe is not always the safest option or the right choice. Do your research, and never be afraid to get a second opinion.
Mar 13th, 2018