Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Sep
14
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“You Got This Birth Plan From The Internet, Didn’t You?”
There are 24 comments to this post.
Heather had this to say,
Sep 14, 2011 @ 7:00 pm (Quote)
And we are not allow wheels because mankind invented it in the stone age? What is your point doc? Just because someone else came up whith it does not make it a bad thing. But it is good to know you have not read anything getting your medical degree I’ll be moving on to the next doc who takes learning from experience of others.
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Oh! I get it now. All the major peer-reviewed medical journals are on the internet, and PubMed publishes studies on the internet, which makes all those inherently unreliable. That’s why doctors continue cutting episiotomies when they don’t need to and continue insisting on practices that aren’t evidence-based!
BTW, nice ploy to try shaming the mother for using all the resources she had available to her.
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Evelyn Reply:
September 15th, 2011 at 2:59 pm (Quote)
Episiotomies suck! http://haute-milk.blogspot.com/2011/09/poor-poor-harriet.html
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Does he thing she just printed it and didn’t read it? Or is it one of those short cute ones that says I am an adult and I make the decisions. don’t do anything without getting permission first. (But shorter and cuter.) Cause if I ever see that one again I will remember it! It was worth printing. (Anybody save that link?)
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The Deranged Housewife had this to say,
Sep 15, 2011 @ 4:38 am (Quote)
I can picture the scenario:
“Ack, the dangerous internets! Where all those crazy birthing women are getting wacky ideas about natural birth and claiming it’s “better” for the baby and all that stuff! You better stay away from there and just let me give you all the information you need.”
Patient: “So, can you answer x, y, and z for me, doctor?”
Doctor: “Oh, don’t you worry your pretty little head about that. Besides, if I feel it should be done to you in labor, you won’t really have a choice, now will you?” (glances at birth plan and throws it in in the trash)
Gah.
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You know- I actually am with the OB on this one. Many of the “birth plans” that you find on the internet are just long checklists, which no one is going to bother to read when mom is in labor. I work with the moms I support to develop a 2 page birth plan with the things that are MOST important to them on it. Page 1 deals with mom in labor, and two deals with baby care. We go back and highlight the most important points- the things that if everything else goes south, Mom wants to be sure happen- Like Dad cutting the cord, even in a c-section, or skin to skin immediately, even though baby is stillborn.
The plans an the Internet are generally a great stating point for opening the discussion- But if Mom wants Doc to really pay attention to her birth plan, she needs to write it herself.
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Kyli Reply:
September 15th, 2011 at 8:12 am (Quote)
I was just about to say the same. A birth plan is much more likely to be respected when Mom can have an intelligent discussion with the doc about WHY she wants or does not want certain interventions. I think the reason so many doctors dismiss birth plans is because women come in with generic plans that they don’t really understand (because someone told them they “need” one), and the OB’s learned bias against them makes it harder for the birth-educated mamas to have a real conversation with a doctor.
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Jane Reply:
September 15th, 2011 at 8:27 am (Quote)
The doctor could get the information by saying, “I see you chose tearing over an episiotomy. Would you care to tell me why?” and the mother’s response will let the doctor know how much she’s thought about the issue. If she says “Because Aunt Jane says I shouldn’t have one,” that’s not the same as “Well, I figure that an episiotomy is a guaranteed second-degree laceration, and since most third-degree lacerations are extensions of episiotomies, I’d rather take my chances. Also, I know from my own body that I’m very stretchy,” then the doctor knows the mom has really thought it through.
All the same, the mom’s preferences are her preferences. When the doctor goes out to dinner and orders a steak, s/he doesn’t want the waitstaff saying, “Are you ordering that steak because the review in the Union-Leader said we have excellent steaks?” The doctor just wants the darned steak.
And if the doctor orders white wine with the steak, the waitstaff is supposed to bring the white wine, not say, “You probably learned about wine-food pairings on the internet, huh?” and then they bring red wine because they know better.
My point being, even if the birth plan originated somewhere other than the mom, the doctor should respect it because those are the mom’s choices. Shaming the mom because she used a different template to voice those choices is rude.
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Something makes me think that it was a WhatToExpect.com birth plan. It’ll print out all the icons with it and where it came from.
But in response to this: I have a birth plan printed out from the internet to give to my OB today in case my homebirth plans go awry. It actually came from the Montana Dept. of Public Health website and it’s mostly suggesting handsoff care, which I LOVE.
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Sarah Anderson had this to say,
Sep 15, 2011 @ 10:24 am (Quote)
Okay, I’m probably going to get blasted for this, but he probably asked that because she requested two opposing things(or more) on the birth plan. Such as: I don’t want an IV or Foley catheter, but I do want an epidural. It’s often an indication that the patient has just pointed and clicked at everything she liked without doing the research.
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Weep Reply:
September 15th, 2011 at 10:55 am (Quote)
Something tells me though that that is not the case here… and beside that is is an absolute lack of respect for the patient. I myself wrote my birth plan with help of the internet because I do not have the medical know how, but do know what I do want to happen to me and not want to happen to me. It was actully my midwife who suggested to me to look at on line birth plans because it can be a great help, in figuring out what you want or do not want. He should have asked if she realized those things if she wrote contradicting statements in the first place.
It is still better to have an internet birth plan than not a birth plan at all. And this is sadly written out of experience.
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jaed Reply:
September 15th, 2011 at 5:59 pm (Quote)
Or that she doesn’t understand all the medical implications of her decisions, which is the cue for the doctor to say, “I see here that you’ve indicated that you want an epidural but don’t want a catheter. However, when you have an epidural, a urinary catheter is generally necessary because the epidural numbs you and partly paralyzes you, so you may not be able to urinate normally.” Whereon follows a discussion which may show the mother hasn’t thought of this, or possibly that she meant to say she wants an epidural if she wants one at the time, and otherwise doesn’t want a cath, and needs to clarify her plan.
Unfortunately what actually follows most of the time is the doctor saying something that boils down to, “You’re a silly little woman and I don’t have to pay attention to your requirements, lalala.”
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cottonlily had this to say,
Sep 16, 2011 @ 7:40 pm (Quote)
I’m kinda with Char Haas. The first online birth plan I looked at wound up being like 2 typed pages just full of somewhat redundant stuff. I’m honestly trying to trim mine down to one sentence. I think some BPs are quite noticeably pulled from the web and can be as impersonal as not having one at all.
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Add Your Comment.
It’s none of your business but yes, I did. Do you have a problem with it ??? A-hole !!!
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