“Ask for a patient advocate.

Keep copies.

And if you need another person in the room when you make the call, ask someone you trust to sit with you.”

She paused before adding, “I was ashamed of needing help.

It made me easier to frighten.”

Afterward, a woman approached with a tired baby on her hip.

She explained that she’d been trying to manage everything herself since her partner left.

She had a list of questions written on the back of an old receipt but kept apologizing for taking up time.