So this ob, I assume, smells bad and uses a wheelchair for his own protection. How odd.

i’ll take my chances. i’ve made it this long. good lord.

Oh, you’re right. I won’t drive to the hospital either, I might get into an accident. Homebirths are so much safer!

OMG, I bet she had been walking & showering for the last NINE MONTHS! I can’t believe she would endanger herself and her child that way! ::rolling eyes::

I can do you one better: one woman who was being admitted in early labor had expressed her desire to be up and walking, no interventions just like her first labor. Her OB’s practice was to put internal monitors in all patients whether they were 8 cm and about to deliver or ft and had a 2 day induction ahead of them. when this OB arrived in the labor room and wanted to rupture membranes and put in both internal monitors, I relayed her desire. He turns to this woman and says: you would not want to hurt your baby, would you?(putting in an IUPC where you could possibly injure the placenta or the FSE where you could introduce bacteria into the baby;s scalp I guess does not go under hurting the baby!?) When he left after of course putting in the monitors, I told her she could get up and walk in the room and the OB would never know. She gave birth easily and without further interventions despite him!

This was me. Unfortunately this wasn’t the worst thing that happened to me under this OB’s “care.” He went on to inform me at 36 weeks that I had pre-eclampsia *no symptoms btw* and fearmongered me into a C-section without attempting labor first. I was scared to death for my baby! After she was born totally fine, thank God, she and I and my husband were kept separate for TWELVE hours. No matter how I begged and cried, I was alone in a recovery area. It was the worst day of my life, and I’m not surprised at all that I had PTSD for months following.
Since then I’ve intensely researched birth, and had a wonderful VBAC two months ago. It was so healing.

Seriously, I do not understand how some of these words come out of these peoples mouths without them going “OMG. I’m a complete idiot to have said that…what I meant was…”

God forbid you should shower or walk while in labor. Geeze. Not like you don’t do both of those every single day while pregnant!

Nothing to add here, except – how do pregnant women suddenly become another species when the go into labor?
A species that can spontaneously combust or explode at will, or even by mistake!
One that suddenly loses all the faculties that they had during the 9 months prior like hearing (that’s why they can talk about us in front of us), reasoning (that’s why they have to make all our decisions for us), thinking (that’s why they drug us – we don’t need our brains!), balance (admittedly, here’s where a doula can come in handy).
Even our bodily functions don’t work – that’s why we need IVs – everyone know’s laboring women can’t eat!! – and we need catheters and enemas and who knows what else!
It’s spectacular, really.
Someone should do a study.

I agree with Jane! It has nothing to do w/ being in labour…the hospital just doesn’t want to get sued.

They don’t give a crap about you…as the retired head of the WHO says, “Get the hell outta the hospital!”