Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Jul
27
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“I Don’t Feel It.”
“I don’t feel it.” -OB shrugged and responded to mother who asked if pain medication was available during a version for breech.
There are 32 comments to this post.
beccaisadoula had this to say,
Jul 27, 2010 @ 5:55 am (Quote)
Maybe I’m just not seeing it or maybe I’m not educated enough in breech versions, but this one is completely over my head. Why did the doc say this? Why would it be featured here? Not being sarcastic, I really am clueless.
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Adrienne Reply:
July 27th, 2010 at 8:53 am (Quote)
a version is, from what I understand, very painful for the mother. so she asks about pain meds and the doctor shrugs it off saying *he* won’t feel it. cause, you know, it’s all about him.
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Sarah Dorrance-Minch Reply:
July 27th, 2010 at 11:59 am (Quote)
It’s also not without risk – after all, this is an attempt to manipulate a fetus into a different position, so there’s going to be some squishing and squashing around the uterus, although that’s not a *major* concern. Nor is it all that effective – when the baby does get turned, which is not always the case, about half the time, it rotates back into the breech position.
And if the mother is allowed to move around in labour in search of more comfortable positions, the baby can spontaneously flip into the head-down position on its own. Hmm.
The Webster chiropractic technique, and the Chinese practice of moxibustion (a form of accupuncture that incorporates the burning of aromatic herbs) are said to be somewhat more immediately successful, although again, sometimes the baby flips back into a breech position. It would appear that some kids just want to be born breech. Eccentrics. 
More information on other ways to encourage a breech baby to turn can be found on the Spinning Babies website.
External version is the standard medical way of addressing the issue. Everything I’ve read says it’s “uncomfortable” at best. I generally read about the mother being offered some kind of pain relief, though not necessarily an epidural.
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Lame, completely lame.
Beccaisadoula, versions are (can be?) terribly painful as the doctor manually tries to force the baby to turn. This was his attempt at being “funny” (I think), though really nothing is funny about it, because if he fails and sends the baby into distress it will mean an automatic C/S. If no epidural is in place the Mom will be put under general, and completely miss the birth of her child and the first several hours of his/her life. But dear ole doc doesn’t care because he “doesn’t feel anything”. What an uncaring, insensitive jerk.
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It sounds to me like the procedure was expected to be painful, and when the mother asked about the availability of pain relief options, doc dismissed (or dissed) the request because he wouldn’t be the one feeling the pain.
I’ve never had one done, but from what I understand, an external version is not necessarily painful, although it is probably very uncomfortable.
An internal version, on the other hand, involves a hand inserted through the cervix, which is, from what I hear, excruciating.
So, doc, if that was a joke, then ha ha, very funny. Now answer the question.
And another thing. Why do they shove pain meds down our throats (up our backs?) *until* we ask for it, then all of a sudden no one’s available?
And I’m noticing a common thread – woman are asking for relief from the pain of interventions (versions, cesareans, stitches), not labor and birth.
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Cmat Reply:
July 27th, 2010 at 6:45 am (Quote)
You have a good point. I didn’t want pain relief from labor/birth, but rather from the stupid interventions. I was at a birth center so I didn’t get too many comments about pain relief.
I do know someone who had an external aversion and it can bring some pain with it. Maybe not enough that they needed pain relief, but she said it did hurt. IMO, if Mom was worried the doctor should have done something like explain exactly what he was doing, how it might feel and what her options were. Even if its just freakin’ Tylenol, she should have been given that option.
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cheeks023 Reply:
July 27th, 2010 at 7:18 am (Quote)
My sil had it done, and she said they refused to do it without a spinal or an epidural in place. It allows the Mother to remain relaxed, as most people automatically tense up when something starts to be uncomfortable or painful. Also, if it fails and causes distress to the baby, then that usually means an automatic C/S.
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Sarah Dorrance-Minch Reply:
July 27th, 2010 at 12:04 pm (Quote)
Well, sure.
Good pain is when you’re getting something done: climbing a mountain, running a marathon, searching for the ultimate endorphin rush with the assistance of a cat, having a baby. You know. Stuff you get yourself into, that you have asked for, and are prepared for. You know there is a payoff (or at least a very good chance of one) and the payoff will make things worthwhile.
Bad pain is when things happen to you that you don’t ask for. Like gunshots, car accidents, migraines, and birth interventions. Who wants to feel bad pain?
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The Deranged Housewife had this to say,
Jul 27, 2010 @ 8:12 am (Quote)
Usually they won’t do a version without an epi. And many times it’s done in the hospital just in case mom goes into labor while doing it.
that said, at least they’re attempting one. My doctor never mentioned it once when my first was breech. If only I had known… 
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kelly Reply:
July 27th, 2010 at 10:46 am (Quote)
Usually they won’t do a version without an epi. And many times it’s done in the hospital just in case mom goes into labor while doing it. that said, at least they’re attempting one. My doctor never mentioned it once when my first was breech. If only I had known…
from my experiences they will not do or offer one for the first baby. your stomach muscles have not stretched enough for it to be successful. I am only aware of them doing an external version for 2+ babies, that could be why your doctor never mentioned it.
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This is vastly diffrent from what a friend’s OB told her when he was attempting to “turn” her baby. (I’ve never heard it called a version before… You learn something new everyday.)
Her baby was kinda sideways from what she was saying, all curled up with its head facing her left hip and its feet slightly higher, but pointing right. (Which, even as a never been pregnant girl, all I can say is, that’s gotta be painful…) Everytime she’d have a contraction he’d turn a little better, then go back where he started when the contraction ended, and her doc was getting worried. He finally insisted she let him give her “something to numb it” and let him try to turn the baby. During this when she had a bad contraction and kinda squished the doc’s hand (along with it being hard enough for her to feel through the mild epi) she for some reason appologized. The doctor tried to lighten the mood and quipped “Don’t say that, you’re about to be a mom again, repeat after me “This hurts me more than it hurts you” Then he after failing (and he at her six week appt called it HIS failing not hers) to turn the baby, when she was being prepped for c section he walked to the OR beside her bed and told her “Typical boys… I could help you deliver him feet OR head first, but he just would stop for directions.”
The kid was born after a botched attempt to get her tubes tied, so her doc *showed her* the pieces of tube he took out after the C section too. I still can’t decide if that sounds kind, or really creepy.
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Sarah Dorrance-Minch Reply:
July 27th, 2010 at 12:19 pm (Quote)
Wow! Now THAT sounds like my kind of doctor. He might not have been for everybody, but for me, ideal: dry sense of humour, gives me all the information I could possibly need, accepts responsibility if something doesn’t work or at least reassures me that it’s not my fault if it’s truly not my fault, and best of all, shows me my organs!
You probably think I’m nuts for that last part (or very sarcastic) but I definitely would have wanted to see my Fallopian tubes, or the pieces of them, in that case. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime. I’ll never see them again. Think about it. You should have seen me ooh and ah over my placenta when it came out. How amazing we women are. Men certainly can’t push out a major bodily organ after giving birth to a baby, and still be in good health. It’s amazing. It’s truly amazing.
The biggest disappointment for me after my c-section wasn’t so much that I didn’t get to birth naturally – as I’ve remarked in other threads, the way my c-section was handled was for the most part nothing I could complain about, and the resident du jour was very supportive of my desire to VBAC later. It was a bit of a let-down, but I wasn’t traumatized by it the way I was by my unplanned hospital VBAC two years later. No, what absolutely crushed me was that because the epidural didn’t work properly, I had to be knocked out with general anaesthesia. I wanted to watch! Even if it was only via a mirror to provide a reflection, although I would have loved it if they just did away with the screen altogether. How many times in my life am I going to get a chance to see my own guts? Open womb surgery, no less! After the big grand prize, the baby. It’s (hopefully) a once in a lifetime opportunity. Video is not the same thing. It just isn’t. What an opportunity I missed.
I realize that mine is a minority opinion…
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Stephanie - Home with the Kids Reply:
July 27th, 2010 at 1:23 pm (Quote)
Maybe so, but I share it. I did get to see my second C-section because the reflectors on one of the lights was aimed just right. I didn’t say a word to any of the doctors because I didn’t want to lose my view of the whole thing.
Utterly fascinating.
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Cmat Reply:
July 27th, 2010 at 12:32 pm (Quote)
He sounds goofy, but nice. I like that he called it HIS failing, when it seems that its usually blamed on Mom.
I think showing her the tubes was just a reassurance thing. “Look, its really done this time, no botching!”
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Kit Reply:
July 27th, 2010 at 5:28 pm (Quote)
That’s probably exactly why he showed her the tubes. The first doc who did it INTENTIONALLY left them where they could heal up because he said at 20 (with four kids already! Two singletons and a set of twins) she was “too young and stupid” to know what she wanted. (She sued. She won.)
The OB who did her C Section was the one to deliver four of her five, and she says that her biggest regrets with getting fixed were (a) No more snuggly fresh babies and (b) she wouldn’t be having any more with her doctor. She seriously loves the man, and recommends him highly. (he also “allowed” her to birth her twins naturally, even though one came out head first and the second came feet first. He explained to her the options and when she mentioned worrying about feet first, he pointed out that the “First one will clear the way, You have easy births to begin with, you’ll sneeze out baby2.”) Her first birth was apparently very traumatic (a know-it-all nurse who “forgot” to get her pain meds trying to “teach her a lesson” to keep her legs shut” It backfired though. It just taught her she could do it just fine without meds.) And her first OB repeatedly told her WHILE SHE WAS PUSHING that if she REALLY loved her baby she would let some REAL parents adopt it. But then she got her awesome doctor who supported her completely.
Honestly, I hope if I ever need an OB I can get him. He just treated her so darn well. (It helps I suppose that he i also her kid’s pediatrician. The only OB I know who is a Pediatrician, not a GYN…)
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I know that the last experience with the great OB doesn’t replace or erase anything, but at least she did have an excellent experience for her last.
Sarah Dorrance-Minch had this to say,
Jul 27, 2010 @ 11:42 am (Quote)
Why would the doctor care if he feels anything while trying to manually turn the baby? It’s not HIS uterus. It’s the mother’s. And, gee, it’s the mother who is asking if any kind of pain relief is available (it is an uncomfortable procedure, from what I’ve read). What a coincidence!
Idiot.
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Ya know doc, I just thought of the perfect pain relief for this procedure! Its over there and its attached to the door. You turn it and open the door, then walk out. Send someone else in who is a bit more sensitive to what’s going on.
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Sarah Dorrance-Minch Reply:
July 27th, 2010 at 1:19 pm (Quote)
It’s not insurance billable and wouldn’t make the office any money, though.
Ouch. I bet he’d feel that.
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Alyson Miers had this to say,
Jul 27, 2010 @ 2:17 pm (Quote)
Are you TRYING to be a deficient version of a human being, or does it just come naturally?
I’ll bet this is one of those docs who thinks nothing of sewing up an episiotomy cut without drugs.
F*** YOU very much, Doctor Stabby-Hands.
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This was the same doctor that made the circ comment from yesterday. My second baby was breach up until like 35 weeks. He came, headfirst, a month later. No version needed.
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weak attempt at being glib, doc. oy.
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Jane Reply:
July 27th, 2010 at 9:35 am Jane(Quote)
I hope the OP posts in, because if that was a weak attempt at being glib, then the doctor should have followed it up by EXPLAINING whether pain meds were available, or not, and why. The doctor’s behavior after this comment is the proof of either glibness or unconcern.
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