Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Jan
17
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“Did She Put Any Spells On You Yet?”
“Did she put any spells on you yet?” – -L&D nurse to mom, referencing her doula, who was in attendance.
There are 18 comments to this post.
The Deranged Housewife had this to say,
Jan 17, 2010 @ 5:59 am (Quote)
Wha…..? What an absolute insult. The doula could respond to the mother, “So, has she forced an epidural on you yet?” LOL
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Jill--Unnecesarean had this to say,
Jan 17, 2010 @ 8:04 am (Quote)
I just LOL’ed. What a dork.
I love my voodoula and her magic counterpressure.
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Sheva Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 8:58 am (Quote)
I love that! “Voodoula”
Can I put that on a t-shirt?
Snarkiness seems to be the method of choice when docs, medwives, and the bad L&D nurses (because that are some good ones, I know) encounter something they know nothing about. It makes them uncomfortable, since they were told in school that they know everything. ie: how to used tools, not their brains and hands (not to mention their hearts, since I’m not sure some of them even have one.)
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atyourcervix Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 10:05 am (Quote)
Some of us do have hearts….hearts of gold. Just working in a technocratic system that forces us to do the most asinine things under the guise of “safety” and “hospital rules” and “guidelines” and “protocols”.
Signed, the nurse who sometimes makes up a pain scale number for the patient, when she’s going natural, since it’s really stupid to ask a laboring woman what her pain level is, on a scale from 1-10.
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Sheva Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 12:32 pm (Quote)
I know, that’s why I mentioned it. I had one great nurse amid all the nightmares at my first birth. And all the other nurses did their utmost to humiliate her in so many ways, even going so far as to sticking ‘kick me’ notes on her back.
Reading all your comments, you are clearly one of the golden-hearted ones. So from this hurting-hearted mom, thank you for being there.
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Melissa Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 1:52 pm (Quote)
cervix, I make up pain scale numbers all.the.time, whether somebody wants to go natural or they just want to put off getting pain meds. If I do ask for a number, I ask about intensity, not pain, since nobody can argue that the sensations of labor are intense.
As a fellow L&D nurse and soon to be (hopefully) fellow CNM student, and an avid reader of your blog, I submit that great minds think alike.
Cheers to labor nurses who support the birth process.
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GranolaRN Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 2:14 pm (Quote)
I rarely make up pain scale numbers but I do tell my patients “you can request for me not to ask this question again if you want.” If they agree, I just document “patient declines further pain assessments” and don’t ask the stupid scale of 0-10 question again. I just document how they’re dealing with the pain and what I do to help, but no more stupid questions that don’t even work to assess pain anyway.
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Knitted in the Womb Reply:
January 18th, 2010 at 10:26 am (Quote)
Though I think the idea of making up pain scale numbers is definitely a case of nurses having their hearts in the right place, I think your technique is MUCH safer! Just because I wouldn’t want the poor good-hearted nurse to get in trouble if a Dr. were to tell a woman “but your notes say that you reported your pain scale to be….”
I also like your technique better than the idea of asking about intensity as well, simply because it minimizes distractions for the mother. Distractions can pull her out of her “flow” that is required to best work with the labor process.
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jespren Reply:
January 18th, 2010 at 6:41 pm (Quote)
I HATE that stupid 1 to 10 pain scale. Until I saw one that, instead of listing 0 at ‘no pain’ and 10 at ‘worst pain imaginable’ it listed 0 at ‘able to do all things without issue’ and 10 at ‘unable to do any activitives due to pain’. THAT one actually makes SENSE! I now always think of that pain scale whenever someone asks me (labor pains never got above a 5), and I really wish more doctor’s officies used it.
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Well, playing devil’s advocate, we don’t know precisely what the exact circumstances were leading to this comment. They may have wrangled the labor room into a nice soothing atmosphere or some of the doula’s comfort measures may have seemed so “out there” that it would lead to such a…
Nope… nope… I don’t think I can really defend this one too well. Yeah, it’s probably an attempt at humor rather than pure snark… maybe. Depending on the nurse. But, in the strand of thinking from some of Jennifer Z.’s past comments about birth an PTSD, the best response in actuality is to just clear your own/your client’s/the partner’s mental space in the moment and not respond with the same rudeness. There’ll be time to be offended later, especially if everything else is going okay.
(But I know I’d be so tempted to shoot back a “Not yet, the potion’s still brewing under the heat lamp over there.” …Five minutes later. No snappy comebacks for me. *hangs head in shame*)
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Liz Chalmers had this to say,
Jan 17, 2010 @ 11:14 am (Quote)
“Nope, but it’s gonna take a while for you to shake the hex she put on you….”
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Wha wha wha whaaaaaaaa. Obviously trying to kid around. Lame joke from someone who doesn’t even know what a doula is for. But hey, Doc, since many of your standard practices are nothing but modern traditional voodoo, maybe you could rattle some bones as you order Pit to Distress, cut an episiotomy, put a laboring woman flat on her back to make the pain much worse and the pelvic opening much smaller, and order that a laboring woman have nothing to eat or drink?
Actually, i would far rather have a Shaman at my birth than a regular OB, unless I needed a surgeon for something legitimate.
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Jane Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 9:45 am Jane(Quote)
Ever since cardiac surgeons murdered my grandmother, my own mother has advocated that doctors ought to have to deliver their diagnoses and treatment plans in full ceremonial head-dress, face paint, and holding a torch or a big rattle while dancing around the examination table. It would inject a certain touch of reality that’s missing now.
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Genet Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 1:19 pm Genet(Quote)
Jane–that is a FABULOUS idea! Every time a doctor tells me something ridiculous from now on I will picture him or her doing just this.
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