Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Jul
29
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Thoughtful Thursday! “…You Are Not A Wimp.”
“You pushed for 4 hours. You are not a wimp.” -Midwife to mother who said she felt like a wimp because she was feeling pain during a tear repair after birth.
There are 6 comments to this post.
My midwife actually gave a sigh of disgust when she “had” to give me a shot of painkillers to stitch me up (from an episiotomy I insisted I didn’t want).
In what other area of medicine is it acceptable to repair a surgical wound without any pain killers/local anesthesia?
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Serene Reply:
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:26 am (Quote)
Its often unnecessary, so it depends on the patient and the doctor.
Things such as how much medication has already been given and when and what type, as well as the depth and location of the laceration can all change whether or not a local is necessary. Ive had one perivaginal tear stitched with none (I booted the doc because the needle he tried to put the local in with hurt more than the suturing had), as well as a cut in my knee and in my mouth, but a labial tear I was in tears! It even hurt to have the local injected. It really does depend.
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I had local anesthetic, and it didn’t really hurt even, just pinched. Hence why I was worried she’d think I was a wimp.
Not something I’d worry about under daily circumstances, but I was a little tired just then. 
[Reply]
Sarah Reply:
July 30th, 2010 at 10:03 am (Quote)
I totally understand, I did the same thing. There I was, having just had a 30 hour unmedicated VBAC in which I never once uttered a complaint, and I was cringing at having my second-degree tear stitched up even though my perineum was mostly numb from birth and lidocaine. My midwife was nice about it too. To be fair, that needle they use looks like a fishhook and it’s disturbing to think of it going into your bits, numb or not!
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This comment isn’t even particularly thoughtful, it’s just the baseline of good manners. It would be rude NOT to point out to this patient that she has every right to feel pain.
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Sheva Reply:
July 29th, 2010 at 8:46 pm Sheva(Quote)
You’re right! And that’s the peeve of this website, that so many ‘care’givers seem to lack common decency!!
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