[QUOTE=Unauthorized Cinnamon]
Oh, one of my favorite topics! Short answer: MIDWIFE!
Long answer: from my reading, it seems that OBs are generally taught how to handle pathological pregnancies and deliveries (and thank Og we have them for that, I’m not saying they’re evil), and they are taught that technology is by definition good. Unfortunately, they also have to worry about being sued a lot, in a culture that perceives intervention as responsible and watching and waiting as negligent. Thus, OBs tend to want to hook women up to the machine that goes “Ping!”, do routine IVs, starvation, confinement to bed, worry about “a big baby” (when in reality estimates are pretty damn unreliable), induce labor for no good reason, and resort to c-sections at the drop of a hat. If you have an uncomplicated pregnancy, this approach is likely to cause problems, rather than solve them.
I think the thing that makes me craziest is what I call the “OB intervention cascade,” which I see in birth stories all the damn time. OB does an u/s, and says the baby is “big,” so suggests induction. Mother and baby aren’t ready to give birth, so the induction is tough. More and more pitocin is used, which causes monstrous contractions - way more painful and more dangerous to the baby. So of course an epidural is required, as well as continuous EFM, which means mom is stuck in a bed, which slows labor, and the EFM is likely to give false positives on the baby being in distress. So of course then the doctor says they have to do an emergency c-section. The baby and mother go through all the risks of that, and maybe the baby is even premature after all. Compounding that, c-section is hell on baby’s lungs, so baby is in the NICU, mom is recovering from surgery, breastfeeding is disrupted or destroyed, and mom and baby’s health is further compromised. And usually everyone is so thankful to the doctor for “saving” the baby! :mad:
Midwives tend to look at birth as a healthy process, and go for low intervention, which is less risky for mother and baby. They also tend to have more rapport with the family, and stay with the mother to help her through labor.
But there are OBs that take the “midwife” view and midwives (especially those that practice in hospitals or in OB practices) who take the “OB” view. You have to talk to the individuals involved.
Super long answer is this: read The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth, by Henci Goer, and/or Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin. They both cover a lot of the science on routine obstetric intervention, and address things like chosing a caregiver. Also, take a Bradley class- they are fabulous!
I really loved Ina May’s discussion of Sphincter Law. Basically, humans need calm, safety, and privacy to relax sphincter muscles. Imagine trying to pee on a toilet in the middle of a hospital room, with no lock on the door, lights blazing, and strangers walking in and out all the time, checking on your progress, intimating you can’t do it, and sticking you with needles and stuff!
My personal story is that I did all this research, and as a result had an unmedicated birth in a freestanding birth center with midwives. It was an excellent experience, and I was surprised - it was nowhere, *nowhere *near as hard or as painful as I suspected. I was “allowed” to eat and drink as I wanted, and no one pushed drugs or interventions on me. I felt safe and relaxed. I highly recommend it!
Congratulations and good luck.
[/QUOTE]
Your “cascade” story sounds exactly like what happened with my wife’s labour. The experience was horrible, topped off with an emergency c-section. My wife was very unhappy with the whole thing, and later had an angry confrontation with the doc - who responded by sending social workers in (which seemed to add insult to injury - the implication appearing to be that she was nuts). She later had an infection and was basically wiped out for weeks.
The hospital setting was horrible, just horrible.
On the other hand, the baby was (and is) okay, perfectly healthy. Allegedly, the cord was wound around his neck - without C-section, maybe he would have died. Or is this just what they tell us? I’m no doctor, I have no idea. If given a choice, we would both I think prefer a horrible birth experience and a healthy baby to a great birth experience combined with real medical risk to the baby. Assuming of course that’s the real choice.
There were no particular risk factors noted during pregnancy (which went easily), so this experience came as a bad surprise.
One thing I do note - we got a doula after the birth, and we regretted very much not having one during. Doulas (at least the ones we dealt with) are great, if you can afford them.