Labor Views - Part 1

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

I came across this post this morning from Whole Mama's blog and it really got me thinking, and really irked at the same time. This is what her article said:

"So, I had a doula baby turn one a few weeks ago and was talking with the dad. Dad works at a car shop and happened to have an OB/GYN as a customer. The OB was complaining that he was missing out on $5,000 because the car wasn't done yet, and he wanted a discount or something stupid. The OB then went on to tell Dad (as he pulled out a huge wad of cash to pay his bill) that he makes $5,000 per cesarean section, mumbled something about it being "major abdominal surgery" and that he has a 90 or 95% c/s rate. I don't know if he was exaggerating, to brag about his income, or if it is actually that high, but I am so grossed out by this. I hate it because the pregnant women have no idea, I can almost guarantee that when the Dr is asked about his c/s rate would give the typical answer of "I don't know exactly... when its indicated..."

I hate that the really crappy doctors out there ruin it for all the good ones.

He could have at least kept that information for his Doctor buddies, why did he feel the need to talk to the car guy about it?"

---All I could think of is I wish he would have told my car guy of a husband that. He probably would have told the doctor that he is an idiot. The sad part is that that is what many doctors now a days see births as:

labor+vaginal delivery= long drawn out process average paycheck
labor/induction+ c-section= quick in and out and a very good paycheck

You see I believe that doctors have lost sight of what is really going on during a birth, a miracle. I think doctors (some not all) have lost the inspiration that they may have had when they picked out their profession. They see their jobs as just that, a job, not occupations where they are able to bring new life into this world. A doctors goal is to deliver mom and baby/babies safely by whatever means necessary. Good goal right? I think it is, but I just wish they would look at the big picture. Through their training they have lost sight of that picture, yes birth happens several times a day for doctors, but for women birth happens only a few precious times in a life time. Women should be able to look back on their birthing experience and say yea, this birth hurt like hell, but it was beautiful. It was peaceful and serene it has changed my life forever. Women should not have to say that they were hooked up to monitors told not to get out of bed to try and changed position for a baby who is just not "coming out." So many women are wisked away to c-sections because their baby is just too big for them to push out, yea sure the baby might be too big to push out in that position, a word that so many women don't ever realize is in a labor dictionary position. That word is the difference between c-section and safe vaginal delivery.


10 comments:

ashmize85 said...

I couldn't agree with any of this more. Sadly I feel this is the way that many Dr.s feel these days. I had a VBAC delivery with Elijah in Orange Park, and just a few months later I learned they would no longer be doing vbacs at all at OP because of the 'risk' involved. That's so sad to me, my experience during that labor was amazing and in the end i felt like I had truly accomplished something great. I somewhat felt that way with Caleb, because regardless of how, I had successfully brought another person into the world. But at the same time I felt guilty, because I had let my other Dr. talk me into induction which screwed my entire natural process up and blocked my body from being able to do what is was meant to. I felt like I had taken away what was supposed to be this amazing moment for my self and my baby b/c the dr. wanted to hurry things along. I hope that women can become more educated when it comes to the birth of their babies, because it truly is an incredible experience and it's a shame that it's being taken away by drs. that are just looking for a quick and easy paycheck.

Shelly said...

I would agree that most doctors are like that. I do have to say I am one of the lucky ones that has a great OB/gyn who encourages her paients away from inducing/c-section, she actually refuses to do it unless you are more than 10 days overdue or there are complications that require the baby to come out right away. So there still are a lot of good ones out there.

Tessa said...

i agree too. although my baby doc that i had was awsome. he didn't have very good bedside manner but he was rated the best obgyn doc in town...the only thing i was scared about with my son was he wouldn't be there, considering if i went through my whole pregnancy going to him i wanted him to be the one to delivery my baby..so he ended up inducing me and being there. with my daughter it was totally different..i wasn't so worried about that. Well he wanted to induce me, but i wasn't dilating at all and there was no medical reason like i had with my son that he had to. he said that if i didn't have her by jan 2nd which was my due date that he would. he doesn't like going way over the due date. But i ended up going into labor on 1-1-07. Well guess what he wasn't there. when i got to the hospital i was at a 6 and my water hadn't broke yet. The on call doctor would not break my water until i got a epideral. i did not want a epideral, i could do it without one, considering she was only 6lbs and needed no help coming out unlike my son.
it makes me upset that the doctors don't respect the mothers wants...

Jenn said...

The funny thing is, I was suprised at first to hear a doctor would brag about something like this.
thanks for sharing it.

Conway family said...

Charity, i agree with you more then ever.. A lot of doctors do see there job is just a job.. if they put there heart back into it like they did years ago then we wouldnt have that many CS.. And for the doctor to brag about how much money he makes was stupid on his part. I would have told the guy that he needs to keep that to himself.. D*** doctors they just want all the money that they can get..

Anonymous said...

Oh man, pretty much makes me sick to my stomach to think about OB's with this type of mentality.

I couldn't agree with you more that it's so sad that there are docs out there like this, and unfortunately probably more of them than we'd like to imagine.

I think what really needs to happen sooooooo desperately is getting midwives in every single hospital as a NORMAL, everyday fixture in the birthing process of every woman. We need BALANCE.

Amy Barry said...

My OB IS like this. He prefers to induce and does a lot of c-sections. His induction/c-section rate is probably one of the highest in G-ville. HOWEVER, I had 5 vaginal births under his care. Only one of those did I have an epi and it was when another dr came on call. My OB gave me exceptional care through all my pregnancies and I just really liked him. What did I do differently from all my friends and family that had inductions and c-sections? I spoke up for myself and MADE MY OWN DECISIONS! I let my OB know in my 3rd trimester that I was having a natural vaginal delivery and that I did not even want an IV. I did have the heplock put in each time and a few times I needed it. My OB never even asked if I wanted any meds during my labors because he knew I didn't want them. He came in, held my hand and asked how I was doing. When I entered the L&D I told the nurses I didn't want anything and they never asked.

My point being that most mom's are really oblivious these days to what 'natural' is. They see what everyone else is doing. They 'trust' their doctors. They haven't really done any research on their own and don't know any different. This is especially true for 1st time mom's. So when the 3rd trimester comes around and they are HUGE, miserable, anxious and emotional they just do whatever. I have seen it SO many times.

As women we need to help educate our fellow friends and mom's. We lead by example. My mom had natural deliveries and breastfed us so I knew all my life that I would do the same.

Kudos to you Charity for following your passion and speaking about your beliefs. Maybe when you become a midwife I can come along and photograph some births.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I just came upon your blog and I love it! I agree 100% with everything you say and I'm slowly learning more and more. I saw in your bio that you said u are a pro breastfeeder, and I was wondering if u could help me. I'm a first-time mom and my child has been exclusively breastfed, but the problem is that he is now 17 months, and he has NEVER had any solid foods! :-( I'm really worried, he rejects everything. Is this normal for breastfed babies? At what age do u start feeding solids to a breastfed baby?
He is 17 months old, but only weights 20 lbs and is 29 inches. Everyone always says how tiny he is. Sorry to ask this here, but you seem very knowledgable and I'm hoping u could help me? thank u so much!

Charity said...

That is very tiny, he is the same size as my daughter. Do not give up, C-G was on breastmilk only until 6 months, and it took a good month to get her to start eating solids. So keep trying!! He definitely needs to get solids in his diet so he can start growing more.

Sorry it took me so long to reply.

KBH said...

Love this post!

"It was peaceful and serene. It has changed my life forever."

The sad thing is that whether a birth is "peaceful and serene" or tramatic and scary, or overly managed medically, it ALWAYS leaves a mark on a woman's life forever.

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