More Deaths For Caesarean Babies

[penguin]

It's a shame that your sister's experiences would make you worried about pregnancy. Every person and pregnancy is different. A narrow pelvis is also not an indicator of a body's ability to birth, because ligaments loosen and are designed to stretch...I'm only 5'3" and have a narrow pelvis too, and had an almost 10 pounder with little trouble. The bigger issue for me was since I'm so short, I don't have a lot of room to carry big babies, and tend to have malpresentations (breech, asynclitic, compound presentations)...plus I get as big as a house during pregnancy.

Michelle

I'm not worried about pregnancy at all! Big babies run in the family...I know I won't have little babies, that's all.

[chrissy]

i've delivered 9 children (eight different deliveries). first was a normal vaginal delivery with no complications. the second was a double footling breech presentation----and i delivered her vaginally and it nearly killed her---she had a prolapsed cord, one arm got stuck on my pubic bone, her head and arm were jammed in the birth canal pressing off her cord. any idea what it feels like to have a baby's head and arm stuck, and then have a doctor reach his hand in there, too, to loosen the arm? he came in my room later and told me he was sorry for hurting me. i should have had a c-section. third delivery ended up in an emergency c-section without anesthesia. my son would have died if there had not been a monitor to let them see what was happening during the attempted normal delivery. fourth delivery was my twins. early labor was stopped at 6 weeks, but i ended up with a c-section at 36 weeks because one baby quit growing. the next delivery was v-bac without incident. the next delivery was v-bac, but there was a temporary complication and doc thought he might have to section me. next delivery was v-bac and was a very difficult delivery. baby had to be taken with forceps and i broke my tailbone. the last delivery we planned a v-bac----all of my v-bacs were induced a week early----they could see the baby was in trouble before induction was even begun---another emergency c-section, cord three times around baby's neck, baby had to be resuscitated and my uterus tore after she was delivered. i seem to be the exception to the statistics people keep giving and i've done the things that people say you shouldn't do, and i've had the things happen that people say rarely happen.

i'm glad my doc was willing to let me try v-bac after 2 sections. i'm glad he induced me early for my v-bacs.

[cgilsing]

i've delivered 9 children (eight different deliveries).

Girl! How do you get through the day!!!! You have got to be running your feet off!! I thought I was busy with one!

[CarlaB]

Girl! How do you get through the day!!!! You have got to be running your feet off!! I thought I was busy with one!

I have six ... I'm guessing her answer will be the same as mine ... you are busier with one. Two is the hardest. After that, it's easy!! All my kids are helpers because they have to be. I certainly can't run a household alone! They all know how to clean and do laundry -- or at least part of those tasks. We all pitch in and work together so we can all play together!! It's fun!

[Lollie]

I just have two, but I had them both with mid-wives totally natural. It was a wonderful experience and I hope that one day I can be a dula or a mid-wife, and be able to help other women have the wonderful type of experience I had.

My first was a long labor on the hottest day of the year in TX. The air conditioning broke and I pushed for a good 3 hours. But my little girl was born and she was totally alert and healthy, she just looked all around. I, unfortunately, got dehydrated from the heat and I think that's why my labor took soooo long. I also hemoridged after the delivery....But the mid wife was able to handle it and got the bleeding stopped. I never had to go to the hospital.

My second was a wonderful experience. I felt like I was totally in control the whole time. I walked through the first half of my labor and the second half was in a tub. I had to get out of the water for the delivery due to my history of hemoridging. Good thing, her cord was wrapped around her neck. Again, the mid wife was able to handle it and she was fine. Alert and nursing in no time.

Child birth should be the kind of experience that is welcoming to that new little person. I hate how the medical world has made it a procedure instead of a natural process. I am thankful that the hospital and docs are there for women who need them, when there are complications. But, not every birth has to be text book. Every woman is different and every birth is different. And one last thing......I hate it when the doc's say they delivered the baby. All they do is stand there and wait. My husband caught both of our daughters, but I delivered them.

Lollie

[AndreaB]

I've had three sections.

My first was my daughter. I was told she'd be small because I hadn't gained much weight. At 38 weeks we wound up in the hospital as I had started bleeding. It was determined that she was breech but the bleeding didn't continue. The doctor ordered me to couch potato status. One week later at our appointment I was having mild contractions and had started dilating. At that appointment they did a stress test and found that her heart rate dropped with every little contraction. It was determined that a c-section was necessary that day. So, we had three reasons for section....1)heart rate drop, 2)breech presentation, 3)partial abruption of the placenta. The doctor who did the surgery said it was old (the abruption). Don't know how old. If I had tried to have her naturally, I probably would have lost her. She had one foot down in the canal. Apgar, 9.

My second, my oldest son was a section by choice. I wasn't comfortable with the idea of a vbac. Turns out they had a hard enough time delivering his shoulders and I hurt because of that. He was the healthiest as far as apgar, 10.

My third, my youngest son was also a section by choice. No problems. His apgar was 8.

I had an easy recovery each time. My hardest was my second because I did too much too soon. I didn't go into labor with the others....false labor with second. I had a different diet with each, first was lacto-ovo, second was ovo and third was vegan. I had elevated liver enzymes before 3rd pregnancy, which I have since learned could point to celiac. They were fine before the birth according to the 7 month blood work they do.

My daughter choked on spittle while still in the hospital. My husband was there to clear her airways again. I don't recall having much of a problem with my second. My third had choking spells in the hospital. I stayed 3 days, 2 days and 2 days. I had wanted to stay 3 days with my last but a different doctor ordered me home. I didn't leave until that night so it was actually more like 2 1/4 days. They said once I was up on my own it was safe to go home.

What really floored me with my youngest is I wasn't able to nurse him for so long. It took them forever to do all the required baby stuff. I don't believe I nursed him until 4 hours after he'd been born. They may have given him to me before that....I forget. They did everything in the room so I was in the room with him. I much preferred getting them sooner with the other two though.

[Michi8]

Child birth should be the kind of experience that is welcoming to that new little person. I hate how the medical world has made it a procedure instead of a natural process. I am thankful that the hospital and docs are there for women who need them, when there are complications. But, not every birth has to be text book. Every woman is different and every birth is different. And one last thing......I hate it when the doc's say they delivered the baby. All they do is stand there and wait. My husband caught both of our daughters, but I delivered them.

Lollie

It's really a shame how a natural process has been so medicalized. Hospitals and doctors are important for those who need additional medical care, but for a simple, healthy pregnancy and birth there is little need for medical intervention. However, a midwife does bring all the necessary tools for emergency situations, and can quickly assess whether a trip to hospital is necessary.

And it's so true about doctors doing nothing more than wait. I was so pleased to be able to deliver my own daughter (it was a waterbirth.) DH "caught" her head, and then I got to catch her as she slipped out and I immediately brought her to my chest. I got to see her and discover she was a girl before anyone else...she just lay in my arms and breathed...it was so peaceful. The midwives then did all the hard work of helping me through the last stage of birth, helping us to bed, checking my daughter over, bringing me some food and then doing all the cleanup. Nothing better than just settling into bed with baby for a good sleep right afterward.

Michelle

[2kids4me]

I think midwives should be present at every birth - not just home births. I think they recognize fetal distress sooner than doctors. In a high risk delivery - they would be even more valuable as they support the mom and the baby in the hours afterwards too. .. they would have the knowledge and the TIME to explain things and calm mom - instead of a 5 min visit by a doc (and 3 mins is gloving up for the exam)...

There are situations that occur during delivery that are not predcitable and that is why many opt to deliver in hospital. Ther are hospitals that allow midwives to attend to a birth in hospital ... and then medical help is right there if they call the doctor... if intervention becomes necessary.

[Michi8]

I think midwives should be present at every birth - not just home births. I think they recognize fetal distress sooner than doctors. In a high risk delivery - they would be even more valuable as they support the mom and the baby in the hours afterwards too. .. they would have the knowledge and the TIME to explain things and calm mom - instead of a 5 min visit by a doc (and 3 mins is gloving up for the exam)...

There are situations that occur during delivery that are not predcitable and that is why many opt to deliver in hospital. Ther are hospitals that allow midwives to attend to a birth in hospital ... and then medical help is right there if they call the doctor... if intervention becomes necessary.

I agree. I think midwives should be the standard caregiver for all women, and doctors brought in only as needed. They are cheaper, but provide a more in depth service to women...longer prenatal visits, get to know the mother and her needs/desires very well, and are more supportive through the process of labour. To have midwives for most births would go a long way to lowering the primary c/s rate. I think a Doula is important as well to help during labour (especially in a hospital...a midwife in hospital has her attention elsewhere much of the time due to hospital protocol, unlike in a homebirth.) I had a midwife for my second birth...when I needed the c/s she was there to support me during the surgery, and to advocate for me during and afterward (plus she took some great pictures.)

I personally think homebirth is the best choice, but it is not for everyone...you need to be very comfortable and confident with the natural process of birth.

Michelle

[Guest nini]

my daughter's birth story is a horror story of sorts... after pushing for THREE HOURS and trying every position in the handbook, I was begging them to get her out no matter what it took... the Dr. was too busy with delivering her BEST FRIEND'S baby in the next room... when she finally came in it was OMG we have to do an emergency c/s right now... when my daughter was delivered she was blue, wasn't breathing and had abrasions on her scalp from scraping against my pelvic bones for so long... She had a big head and my pelvic bones were too small and she was facing sunny side up instead of back so I had back labor to boot... fortunately they got her breathing and she's fine now but by God I tried to deliver her vaginally... hubby has a big head and I should have known I was in trouble! Plus because I was so overweight because of undiagnosed Celiac complications they assumed that I had big hips and a big birth canal. Just not so. This gives me the willies just typing this out but this is my experience... on the other hand my sister had two elective c-sections which totally blew me away... I couldn't understand that concept. Actually planning a c-section... well, the first one was because her son was breech, and the second one was because the Dr. refused to do a V-BAC but still... I'm the "natural" one the "hippie" so to speak and anything that reeks of medical intervention makes me crazy. I wanted to do homebirth with midwives but because I had such a complicated pregnancy and had a history with miscarriages they convinced me I'd be better off in a hospital... knowing now that I tried to do it without intervention and couldn't scares the hell out of me of what would have happened if I'd had my way and tried to have her at home??? Since both of us nearly died in the hospital what would have happened at home? She was stuck and not coming out not even with the nurses ramming their arms in me up to the elbows trying to turn her around or pull her out... could a midwife have done any better? I don't think so. Admitedly my experience is extreme but I'm thankful for the c-section and I think it saved both of our lives.

[Michi8]

my daughter's birth story is a horror story of sorts... after pushing for THREE HOURS and trying every position in the handbook, I was begging them to get her out no matter what it took... the Dr. was too busy with delivering her BEST FRIEND'S baby in the next room... when she finally came in it was OMG we have to do an emergency c/s right now... when my daughter was delivered she was blue, wasn't breathing and had abrasions on her scalp from scraping against my pelvic bones for so long... She had a big head and my pelvic bones were too small and she was facing sunny side up instead of back so I had back labor to boot... fortunately they got her breathing and she's fine now but by God I tried to deliver her vaginally... hubby has a big head and I should have known I was in trouble! Plus because I was so overweight because of undiagnosed Celiac complications they assumed that I had big hips and a big birth canal. Just not so. This gives me the willies just typing this out but this is my experience... on the other hand my sister had two elective c-sections which totally blew me away... I couldn't understand that concept. Actually planning a c-section... well, the first one was because her son was breech, and the second one was because the Dr. refused to do a V-BAC but still... I'm the "natural" one the "hippie" so to speak and anything that reeks of medical intervention makes me crazy. I wanted to do homebirth with midwives but because I had such a complicated pregnancy and had a history with miscarriages they convinced me I'd be better off in a hospital... knowing now that I tried to do it without intervention and couldn't scares the hell out of me of what would have happened if I'd had my way and tried to have her at home??? Since both of us nearly died in the hospital what would have happened at home? She was stuck and not coming out not even with the nurses ramming their arms in me up to the elbows trying to turn her around or pull her out... could a midwife have done any better? I don't think so. Admitedly my experience is extreme but I'm thankful for the c-section and I think it saved both of our lives.

I don't know if a midwife could have "done any better," but she likely would have been supporting you during labour unlike your preoccupied doctor, and would have known when it was time to transfer to hospital and/or consult a doctor. Though it sounds like hospital was a good choice given your history...there is a point where midwifes must defer to a doctor, especially with certain complications of pregnancies. When it comes to midwifery, the standard of care is different/better. To choose a midwife is not to put yourself into a risky situation...they are trained birth professionals, and many midwifes also have experience as L&D nurses to boot. BTW, they would have also known that the weight of the mother doesn't change their bone structure (hip size or pelvic outlet.)

Michelle

[Guest nini]

thank you Michelle... yes a midwife probably would have been way more attentive to my actual needs than the Dr. that I was stuck with. She wasn't even my regular Dr. he was out of town and she was the on call Dr. at the time. Shortly after my experience with her, she was fired from the practice... I wonder why.

[chrissy]

personally, i would never have even considered a mid-wife or a home birth. 2 of my children would have died before delivery if there had not been a monitor on me full time. they were in trouble, but if someone had only been listening to heart tones periodically, they might not have realized how much trouble they were in. i think a couple of my other children would have died dudring delivery if they had been home births. i am not a fan of home births.

[gfp]

personally, i would never have even considered a mid-wife or a home birth. 2 of my children would have died before delivery if there had not been a monitor on me full time. they were in trouble, but if someone had only been listening to heart tones periodically, they might not have realized how much trouble they were in. i think a couple of my other children would have died dudring delivery if they had been home births. i am not a fan of home births.

Yes but you obviously needed specialist attention.

I don't think anyone is saying home births are for everyone but they are safer today than ever because of all the pre-natal technology.

We have ultrasound and much more so that those who need special attention should be pre-identified.

Equally as many have said midwife doesn't have to mean home birth....

Obviously Im not a gal but I think if I was I'd rather have an experienced midwife with me as well.

I don't think from what everyone has said that the jobs are similar between the MD and the midwife and indeed complimentary.

[hannahsue01]

To each her own I guess. Every mother has the right to dicide for herself what it is she wants for herself and her baby. Often mothers have no choice as somthing goes wrong. I myself can not understand why a mother would choose to have a c-section by choice....from what I hear a vaginal delivery is much easier to recover from. With my personal experiences I would never choose to have a baby without being in a hospital. There just isn't the same help or monitering devices at home as there is in a hospital. I personally have had 2 c-sections but would have prefered not to have........the recovery is absolutly horrible. My first girl was bron after about 18 hrs of laboring via c-section. My water had broke and that is what sent me to the hospital...they had to deliver her after 18 hrs of being on patosion (terrible stuff) because I would not contract on my own....I never even got to 1 cent dialated. I guess they prefer to deliver a baby within 24hrs of the water breaking due to increased risk of infection for the baby. My second baby I delivered at 29 weeks gestation due to a placental abrubtion via c-section...if she would not have been delvired she would have died (scariest day of mine and my husbands lives). I think a midwife is a wonderfull idea as long as they are in a hospital were if somthing goes wrong you and your baby can get imediate help.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Midwives weren't an option for me--I was classified as high-risk because ofpre-eclampsia during the first pregnancy, and I had severe hyperemesis for all three pregnancies, plus my oldest had heart defects.

I was lucky that the high-risk practice I chose had doctors who were actually much less interventionist that many regular practices that I have heard of. They truly only intervened with me when it was medically necessary, and they gave me choices (for example, the doc delivering my daughter suggested pitocin to speed things along after the epidural (which I did elect to have after 26 hours of labor), but allowed me to decline the pitocin when I told him I wasn't in any rush.

[AndreaB]

A full abruption of the placenta would be scary. I know someone who went through that as well. I don't know how early her baby was. I only had a partial abruption and wasn't aware of it. They had wanted to do an external version (I think its called that) to turn her around but couldn't risk it.

I forgot to add that with one of the boy's (I think my last one) that the cord was wrapped around his neck also.

Obviously, I would have much preferred a vaginal birth and was also planning on no medication....it just didn't work out that way. My husband and I weren't comfortable with the idea of VBAC and I had talked to someone who had had one but said if she had read all the medical journals before she would have opted for a section. She worked in an HMO. I am one who had an easy recovery, even from surgery. I believe both the sections and vaginal births carry their own risks. Obviously sections would carry more most of the time due to the surgical nature of it.

[2Boys4Me]

I had two hospital births, first with entinox(sp?) and morphine...they didn't help. I'm not a hero...I fully admit I asked for drugs. I had terrible back labour but thankfully the whole transaction from starting labour to meeting the baby was only four hours. I did have to push for an hour to get him out. I always say that "Walker came out punching and we've been fighting ever since." That hurts a bit - head and fist together. He was ten days late, so I was induced, some kind of gel on the cervix, I can't remember what it was called.

With Ty we went to the hospital at 3:30pm expecting to get sent home because the contractions were so inconsistent. Contractions started at 4:30am and were uncomfortable but not terribly painful yet. The nurse checked me and decided to let me stay. My doctor came and broke my water. Then she said she was going to go and watch her daughter's figure skating competition, and could I please have the baby by 11:30pm as she had an early morning appointment. (She winked and I didn't take it badly, she was just kidding around.) I wished her daughter luck and mentioned how the last time I had my water broken the baby was there within 90 minutes. Plenty of time, she said and she left - that was around 4pm. My husband went down to get the suitcase and fill in some forms and I hopped in the shower. When my husband got back he hung around for a while and I said go get the nurse this is really starting to hurt and I want my epidural. The nurse came and set up an IV. A few minutes later the doc doing the epidural showed up and we had a discussion about how in case he hadn't noticed, I was pregnant and couldn't possibly put my knees up to my chest, I couldn't even get them to my belly . Clearly, he was insane. Then he put a needle in my back, pulled it out and had a nurse messing around on his tray looking for something else and I guess I screamed or something because the nurse checked me and said, "Do you want to push?" She had the epidural doc check me, he patted my shoulder and said, "No epidural for you today." and walked away. Ten minutes later I had a baby and ten minutes after that the doctor showed up. Then we had a laugh about how she could be home in time for supper. It was 5:30 when Ty was born.

All in all, I'd say both births were reasonable. No medical intervention necessary except a couple of quick stitches after each. The worst part of all is that when Walker was born, they had a light shining on my "nether regions" and some guy came in and had a look. "Ooooh. Angelo, have you seen this? That's an interesting laceration, are you waiting for Dr. Roy to come and fix this?" "Uh. Hello! Human being here! May I have something to cover my head with?" I don't need the whole class coming to look at my "interesting laceration"! Yeesh.

[chrissy]

i think i'm pretty old fashioned because i prefer having a male doctor. i know that there are other women who would prefer a female doctor or a mid-wife.

i think that each of our opinions are shaped by our life's experiences. if i had been into "alternative" medicines and had successfully home deliveries, i'm sure that i would feel that home-birthing with mid-wives was the way to go. but, i've had scary deliveries and i've known people who's children have been damaged or have died with home deliveries, so that is where i am coming from.

i thought that it used to be that doctors would not do a c-section without a medical reason for doing one, but if you had already had a c-section you could opt to do another. i was certainly glad to have the option of doing a vbac----i much preferred vaginal delivery over c-section, it just didn't work out the last time.

[GFBetsy]

i think i'm pretty old fashioned because i prefer having a male doctor. i know that there are other women who would prefer a female doctor or a mid-wife.

I'll tell you one thing, the longer the doctor's fingers are, the less it hurts to have him/her check you!

[CarlaB]

I'll tell you one thing, the longer the doctor's fingers are, the less it hurts to have him/her check you!

You're probably right. I would find it weird to go to a female gyno ...

[jerseyangel]

It's interesting, our individual preferences! I only see female gyn's. I just feel more comfortable with someone who has the same "equipment"!

From my experience (I had male Drs years ago), they are much more gentle.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

i think i'm pretty old fashioned because i prefer having a male doctor.

Most of the time, I would prefer having an OBGYN who has actually experienced what I am experiencing. However, there was one Indian-American OBGYN I saw a few times in my practice who was really, really good--he listened to what I had to say and actually made eye contact, and I never felt rushed. He and his had 4 young children, and I got the feeling that he was had been very involved with his wife's pregnancies, and was a very involved father.

The doctor who delivered my youngest was also aman, and I'd never seen him before, but he was very good also. In fact, I liked him better than the labor nurse, who kept screaming, "Push!" right at times when my body was saying, "wait, breathe." I snapped, "Stop yelling at me!" at the nurse, and the doctor actually said to her, "Look, this baby's coming out now anyway," and she shut up.

I don't know why the labor nurses think they have to scream at you to push. When you have a bowel movement, you don't need anyone to scream, "push!" at you! And then when the head is halfway out, they think that you can and should "hold it" until the doctor's ready, like that's going to do the baby a world of good.