Sep 27

“…We Typically Don’t Perform Episiotomies…”

“Well, we typically don’t perform episiotomies. If the situation warrants considering one, we usually just mention it and the baby is born before we have to do more than threaten.” -Midwife to potential client during interview.

5 people dislike these words.

There are 10 comments to this post.

Alyssa had this to say, Sep 27, 2009 @ 7:06 pm (Quote)

Well, this is the first positive Say What I have heard yet!

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Alice had this to say, Sep 28, 2009 @ 3:27 am (Quote)

Haha, I like this one!

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Kendra had this to say, Sep 28, 2009 @ 5:16 am (Quote)

I don’t think it’s a positive comment – she uses the word “threaten” and if the baby is usually born after they mention it, then obviously the situation didn’t warrant it!

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Emma Someone had this to say, Sep 28, 2009 @ 5:17 am (Quote)

I’ve been known to drop the scissors when an ob has reached for them, and had to find a new pack – and in the meantime, baby’s head has been born .

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Kate had this to say, Sep 28, 2009 @ 11:51 am (Quote)

I’ve heard this both from a CPM in Michigan and an OB in Louisiana, so I assume it’s a bit of a truism in natural birth circles. It was true for me! After actively pushing for an hour with my first born (at home), and trying a change of position, my midwife warned me that if he wasn’t born on the next push, she would have to “make a little snip.” I pushed his head out during the next contraction.

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I think if it sounded threatening, this would be pretty alarming, but I’d much rather be mock-warned about an episiotomy with the goal of actually avoiding it, than have an OB cut one without permission!!

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Rachel had this to say, Sep 30, 2009 @ 5:33 pm (Quote)

lol Emma, we had a homebirth but I told dh that if we ended up transferring for some reason, and it looked like the OB was going to cut an episiotomy, he was to knock over the tray of instruments so they wouldn’t be sterile.

Oh, and if, in the middle of pushing my baby out, if my midwife had “mockingly threatened” an episiotomy, I would have been furious!! It took me a good half hour from crowning to head out, and the slow stretching prevented my 10lber from tearing me. I trust my midwives fully, I mean, I was literally trusting them with my life and my baby’s life! If they were threatening, even jokingly, an invasive, painful procedure that wouldn’t have any benefits except for alleviating their impatience when I was in the most vulnerable position I’ve ever been in my life, laying there with a baby’s head nearly sticking out of me, that would be a HUGE violation of that trust. After that head came out, there was a shoulder dystocia. In a true birth emergency, I was able to feel calm myself, and can truly say that while I was cognitively aware “this is a life threatening emergency” I was not afraid. Because I had faith I was in good hands. While they worked to free his shoulders, I knew they would get him out safely. And they did and he’s perfect. but if a few minutes before I had just heard them threatening me with the scissors, there’s no way I would have been able to feel as safe during the emergency.

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Christa A. had this to say, Oct 4, 2009 @ 7:31 pm (Quote)

What’s sad is they didn’t even warn me or ask if I wanted one. I was in the process of pushing when the doctor just began cutting me open, after less than an hour of active labor. The epi is still the only pain I truly remember. I was furious with my doctors because they didn’t even bother to respect me enough to ask first. And after the delivery, the OB blamed me for the epi, saying that if I had stretched that muscle I never would have needed to be cut.

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Michelle Potter had this to say, Oct 11, 2009 @ 5:45 pm (Quote)

Christa A., I am so sorry that happened to you. Having an unnecessary and invasive procedure performed on you without so much as a warning, much less permission, must be a frightening and trust-destroying experience.

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Jessica Davis had this to say, Oct 22, 2009 @ 2:18 pm (Quote)

Christa A., That’s horrible. I know how you feel though. I had an epi without the doctor informing me of what she was doing after the baby’s head was already out, just to deliver the shoulders!

This Say What made me laugh though…

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