Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
May
15
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“A Natural Birth Can Take All Day, I Just Don’t Have Time To Do That.”
Ä natural birth can take all day, I just don’t have time to do that.” -OB to VBAC mother who was encouraging the mother to elect a repeat cesarean. The mother changed doctors at 9 months of pregnancy.
There are 31 comments to this post.
Liz Chalmers had this to say,
May 15, 2010 @ 4:28 pm (Quote)
At least he’s telling the truth…that’s rather refreshing!
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Birth Unplugged had this to say,
May 15, 2010 @ 5:40 pm (Quote)
Oh gosh, doctor, I’m sorry that me wanting to have my baby the safest way inconveniences YOU.
I’m willing to bet this is one of the doctors who offers all his patients elective inductions at term and puts the ones who dare to thwart his schedule by going into labor on their own on aggressive pitocin protocols. This would be why he can’t do a VBAC, as it’s not safe to blast a VBAC with pit.
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Kudos to the mom for switching drs at 9 months! Not many women have the guts for that! And at least the dr was up front with his policy before she was in labor, it gives the smart women a chance to run for their lives!
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Mariah Reply:
May 16th, 2010 at 10:35 pm (Quote)
The last thing this doctor was is upfront. This happened literally last minute at a 36 week appointment, and it was because she wanted to schedule a c-section as soon as possible. If I hadn’t argued and questioned her I would never have gotten that answer out of her.
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Three cheers for Mom for walking away!! You get HUGE points for that!
And, did everyone hear him say ‘natural’?
Can we take that to mean the c-sections are NOT ‘natural’?
Nah, couldn’t be.
Just don’t have time to do, um, what, exactly? That’s just the point, doc. Mom wasn’t asking you to do anything. Quite the opposite. She was asking you to BACK OFF and let her do all the work!
Then you can come in, make the catch, get your money and go home. What’s so hard about that???
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Bonita Reply:
May 15th, 2010 at 9:22 pm (Quote)
Exactly! The OB doesn’t do any of the work anyway… what’s he talking about “don’t have time for that”?
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Stephanie - Home with the Kids Reply:
May 15th, 2010 at 10:44 pm (Quote)
I’m wondering if hospital policies have anything to do with it. When I was trying for a VBAC, my first OB said no because the hospital would require an OB and surgical team on standby the entire labor just in case it failed. Or so she told me.
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TJ Reply:
May 16th, 2010 at 5:09 am (Quote)
Could be. Has to do with that stupid ACOG thing that says that. They don’t have the OB and surgical standing by for all the other labors that could require emergency surgery though, so it’s a bit nonsensical.
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.
This was mine. This is the OB (she is a woman) that went on to tell me that her practice just doesn’t do natural births and suggested that I just labor at home and then go to the ER last minute. The same doctor who ordered me to take diabetes tests 3 times, even when my results were well within normal range every time, that kept insisting I WOULD get preeclampsia again even though my blood pressure was perfect, that changed my due date 3 times and kept insisting my son was a full 2lbs larger than he really was at birth. She had my husband on her side, having scared him every time he came to an appointment and had him convinced – she would address him directly instead of ME every time she was saying something negative because she knew he would fight with me! This pregnancy ended a marriage as well as a doctor/patient relationship.
I switched to a very caring OB that not only supports but encourages natural birth. I wish I would have been with him throughout my pregnancy. He managed to undo all of the fear and doubt my previous OB had instilled with his knowledge, patience, tact and honesty. I actively labored for only 10 hours, only pushed 3 times and had a beautiful 6lb8oz baby boy. I wish there were more like him.
My first birth was a traumatic, horrible experience for me and I went into this pregnancy more educated. After having the experience of a natural birth I cannot believe how easy everything was afterward, being able to get up out of bed right afterward and being able to have my baby close and breastfeeding within a moment was nothing short of amazing for me. This was a more healing experience than I could have ever expected.
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Jennifer Reply:
May 16th, 2010 at 8:10 pm (Quote)
Among all the other triumphs, (including your wonderful VBAC, of course) I am so amazed you were able to keep perfect blood pressure with all the stress! 
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Mariah Reply:
May 16th, 2010 at 10:05 pm (Quote)
Know what’s funny? It actually went down when I switched doctors. It had gotten up to 120/80(high for me, normally I am low). My first appointment with my Dr. Wonderful … 113/76. It was like a sigh of relief every time I went to see him and all he did was measure my tummy, ask me how I was feeling and if I had any questions. Big difference from the urine sample/BP/ultrasound/prophecies of doom that I had been dealing with.
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Sonya Reply:
May 17th, 2010 at 11:13 am (Quote)
So glad to hear you found a good provider! Sorry it took so long & so much doomsday nonsense. And it is another sad & often overlooked side effect of the divide & conquer approach to patient “care” & coercion that splits relationships with the person/people you thought were your closest supports. I’ve seen & heard too many tales of marriages tested & torn from the fallout in birth. It’s shocking. And for some of us simmers for so long it’s a complete surprise when it bubbles back up & blows up! That shake to the foundation of whether you can trust & rely on each other leaves deep wounds on your relationship!
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mamaonajourney had this to say,
May 16, 2010 @ 2:46 pm (Quote)
It kind of funny. My intervention filled doctor dictated birth took 23 hours and ended in a c-section. My 1st VBAC was 3 hours, and my 2nd VBAC while I contacted for 4 hours I only had 40 minutes of active labor. So…uh…quit screwing with birth doc, you might end up with lots of time for natural births.
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Krista Reply:
May 16th, 2010 at 4:44 pm (Quote)
Yes! I totally agree. Docs are use to seeing so many induced (and failed induction) mamas that they have no idea what to expect from a natural labor. Leave us alone and encourage us to stay home and labor until we *need* you. At least this doctor was honest and said what all the Docs are thinking while they section moms for “failure to progress.” I’m so glad you got your VBAC Mariah!!
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Knitted in the Womb Reply:
May 16th, 2010 at 10:08 pm (Quote)
That point exactly is made in the beginning of Jennifer Block’s book “Pushed.” She tells about a hospital in Florida in the wake of Hurricane Andrew that canceled scheduled inductions for a week, sent women home who were early in labor–because the hospital was running on emergency generators.
The result was that women spent less time in labor, and the cesarean rate was cut nearly in half. When the OB’s remained blind to this and went back to “birth as usual” despite the nurses pointing out the improved outcomes, about half of the nurses ended up leaving L&D because they couldn’t handle continuing to participate in “birth as usual” when they had seen what was possible.
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The Deranged Housewife had this to say,
May 16, 2010 @ 6:44 pm (Quote)
I’m actually quite surprised Dr. Dumbass would suggest laboring at home the entire time and then heading to the ER for treatment. I’ve heard of women doing this when fighting for a VBAC – but I can’t imagine how badly they would treat you once you got there, and you’d probably be an automatic candidate for surgery as a result, I bet. Can’t win either way, huh? 
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Michelle Potter Reply:
May 16th, 2010 at 9:08 pm (Quote)
I’ve done this when I felt like I had no other choice, and yes, when I got to the hospital one doctor *did* try to tell me that I would have to have an automatic c-section because *she* didn’t know if I would be able to give birth, even though I’d had THREE previous successful VBACs. She concluded with, “It’s your own fault.” (IE, my own fault because if I’d just submitted myself to all of the unnecessary tests and procedures they wanted to force on me, then maybe they’d *let* me *try* to give birth without surgery, but now I’d gone and defied them. Grrr.) Fortunately a much friendlier (male!) doctor came to my rescue.
I can’t believe a doctor would actually recommend that anyone do this, as it is NOT ideal. I wouldn’t have done it if I’d felt I had any other safe choice.
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Mariah Reply:
May 16th, 2010 at 9:49 pm (Quote)
Lol! I wasn’t stressed at all, my pregnancy was totally uneventful and I knew I had nothing to worry about. With my first I had a strong gut feeling that something had gone wrong, I had an equally strong instinct that everything was perfect this time around. That didn’t stop the OB from trying to scare me, though. She even tried to tell me it was much more dangerous to try for a VBAC because it’s much more likely my uterus would rupture, when I asked how a less than 1% chance is safer than major surgery I literally got no answer, at all, just changed the subject. Ridiculous. I am not easily intimidated. I think doctors get so used to having their word taken like gospel that they’re just lost when you actually argue with them.
I could understand why my first pregnancy ended with a c-section, over two days of attempted induction failed and I was dangerously close to stroking. My body was just not ready, and I had preeclampsia. I had known with certainty that something was very wrong and had been turned away by one hospital that didn’t run a single test and just told me to drink more water!, then had to get across town to another where I was admitted with a blood pressure of 197/138. My daughter was 4 weeks early and I was hospitalized for a week, argued with and called a liar regarding her gestational age(though she had no complications at all, and was simply small), told I had to wait for a shift change to use the bathroom because the nurses were too busy and saw a nurse drop my daughter. It was a nightmare and there was no way I was letting anyone force me to repeat it!
Next one is going to be at home, if there is a next one 
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Mariah Reply:
May 16th, 2010 at 9:55 pm (Quote)
Housewife, I think it was pure spite. She was irritated with me because I refused to let her cut me and was intentionally utterly unhelpful. The OB that I had my VBAC with? They work in the same friggin building at the medical center, but I had to go research online to find a VBAC friendly doctor since she told me they aren’t *allowed* anywhere! And my old OB refused to let my new one have my records (or me!) and I got to hear his nurse practioner tear the other office’s staff a new one and then my records got faxed within minutes. It was a magical experience all around. lol.
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Add Your Comment.
Holy cow.
Dear Doctor:
It will take me weeks to recover from a cesarean, and I don’t have time for that either.
Love, the moms
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Jessica Reply:
May 16th, 2010 at 8:35 am Jessica(Quote)
Exactly!
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Amy Reply:
May 16th, 2010 at 8:44 am Amy(Quote)
awesome reply
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Sonya Reply:
May 17th, 2010 at 11:08 am Sonya(Quote)
Love it!
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