Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Aug
24
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“Man Up And Push This Baby Out!”
“Man up and push this baby out!” -OB to a mother who had previously been told not to push until the OB arrived.
There are 17 comments to this post.
So many women have a problem with this. “We don’t want you to listen to your body, but once you cooperate with that and tune it out, we’ll fault you for not being able to respond to our commands”. Makes me want to say MAKE UP YOUR MIND!! And women in labor DON’T “man up” — we listen to our woman’s wisdom if given half a chance.
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qtberryhead had this to say,
Aug 24, 2010 @ 5:06 pm (Quote)
I don’t find it offensive… just stupid! Not that its an okay comment, I would have been upset to be told that. There could have been much better ways to say “now its time to push.”
And QT & Sheva- I totally agree. I’d love to see a man try to deal with it lol. My husband does the littlest thing and its the whole “take care of me I’m hurt/sick/pitiful” act.
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Jane Reply:
August 25th, 2010 at 4:58 am (Quote)
I agree about not finding it offensive. What I *do* find offensive is the attitude that now that the doctor is here, the true star of the show has arrived and everything can start.
If it’s that important to hospital staff to have a doctor attending the birth, then the hospital should have a DOCTOR in the HOSPITAL. How’s that for a clever idea?
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Hurry up and tear already! I had a nurse and OB encourage me with #2 to curlway over and push hard with my body with counting…yelling…pushing my husband back who told me to drop my shoulders and to slow down. I tore my labia in what was called a “sunburst tear.” I had a hematoma, and ended up with a hole in my labia. I was being stitched for a very long time, not even sure how long but the OB was very uncomfortable and kept saying she should have cut an epis (but it was because they had me push so urgently that I tore so badly…imagine if I had an epis?). At 6 weeks I was still not healed and had to have silver nitrate applied to my sores. Sometimes it’s inappropriate to push with all your might (it was only 15 minutes of pushing with no urge for me and no signs of distress, just them yelling to push). I know I felt very off for weeks after this birth because with my first I had one stitch (even with an epis) since that nurse kept me calm and encouraged me to push more carefully.
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I’m the OP, the one who needed to “Man up”.
I had been laboring for many hours, honestly, I lost all track. I had an epidural, but it had been rendered useless because baby was OP and of course I was on my back. At 5am I was 9cm and having the urge to push. Nurses told me that OB was on the freeway and would be there at 6am. By 6am I was complete and ready to push, but I was told to wait for the OB and NOT TO PUSH. 6am came and went. 7am came and went. 8am came and went and all the while I was told NOT to push. I begged for another dr in the hospital, I begged them to let the janitor deliver the baby but I had to push!.
OB waltzed in at 9am. Did an exam, decided I was ready to push and told me to go ahead. By this time, I was exhausted from NOT pushing and my effort was weak in his eyes. I expressed my frustration at having to wait three hours for him, he told me to man up and push the baby out. He told the nurse that I was not ready and he’d be back after lunch.
I was fuming mad and in horrible pain. As he walked out the door, I pushed with all my might.
A nurse barely caught my daugther as another screamed down the hallway for OB to come back. Birth was recorded at 9:04am, delivered by nurse.
He came in at 9:10am, stitched my tear and left. Not saying a single word.
I wrote a very detailed letter to the hospital, the OB practice and the state board.
I should say that this wasn’t *my* OB, but the one covering for the group that weekend (it was Memorial Day weekend). My dr was sympathetic, but of course, protected her collegue.
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Heather P Reply:
August 25th, 2010 at 10:25 am (Quote)
OMFG! You had the urge to push at 6:00am and he didn’t waltz in til 9:00! That must have been unbearable. No wonder you were so tired. What a jerk.
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Elaina Reply:
August 25th, 2010 at 10:56 am (Quote)
I don’t know how you did it. When I had the urge to push, it didn’t matter who was or wasn’t there, I pushed! I couldn’t help it, I pushed through the pain, it was all that made it bearable. The nurse delivered the baby because there wasn’t time for the doctor to get there, there wasn’t even time for an epidural. Of course, this was in Germany, and they were much more laid back about everything than my first birth here in the states. It’s no surprise that after this birth I felt like superwoman, where after my first birth (epidural, flat on my back, purple pushing) I felt like I’d been hit by a truck.
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I actually find the doc’s word choice fascinating. I’ve long believed that women are so powerful during childbirth that they threaten macho men who are insecure in their masculinity. Marsden Wagner is convinced of this idea, too, and cites “womb envy” as the reason that so many doctors go to unreasonable lengths to control pregnant and childbearing women.
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Add Your Comment.
Wow, what an oxymoron!
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Yvonne Reply:
August 24th, 2010 at 5:59 pm Yvonne(Quote)
Jerk!
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Yvonne Reply:
August 24th, 2010 at 6:05 pm Yvonne(Quote)
Sorry. That was supposed to be a separate post, not a reply. My internet is wonky tonight.
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