Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Sep
16
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“Your Labor Isn’t Progressing Fast Enough & I Have A Flight To Chicago at 5PM…”
“Your labor isn’t progressing fast enough and I have a flight to Chicago at 5PM, so we will stop your labor and bring you back Sunday.” – OB to mother who had come in for a scheduled induction.
There are 36 comments to this post.
You know, there are some things that just can’t be undone.
So, you were worried enough about the baby hours ago to get her/him out NOW, but now your flight is more important?
I’ll take my chances with your replacement.
[Reply]
Jane Reply:
September 16th, 2011 at 11:50 am (Quote)
The baby was so nervous about the doctor’s impending trip, and worried that the doctor might miss it in order to attend to a birth, that the baby was in distress. When the baby realized the doctor would make his or her flight after all, the baby calmed down and was no longer in distress, so everything’s cool again, and Mom can stay pregnant.
[Reply]
Could be worse, could be “I’ll be taking you back for a section now”
[Reply]
Melissa Reply:
September 16th, 2011 at 12:21 pm (Quote)
I’m pretty shocked they hadn’t done AROM already.
[Reply]
My brain can’t even finish a word after reading that. So. Many. Things. Wrong.
1. I don’t give a flip about your flight to Chicago.
2. If you can stop my labor then I’m not in labor. Betcha you can’t.
3. Is there another doctor around here who isn’t an asshole like you?
[Reply]
Well…at least he was honest. That’s probably the only kind thing I can say about this though. UGH! I’m not a fan of scheduled inductions to begin with unless it’s medically necessary but what kind of dr would make her go through such a procedure (induction is painful from what I remember) and then just stop it and say “oh hey, we put you through that for nothing and we’re going to do it again in a few days!”???
[Reply]
first time mommy had this to say,
Sep 16, 2011 @ 10:58 am (Quote)
Then WHY did you schedule my induction on a day you were supposed to leave for Chicago for w/e reason?! *smacks head* And don’t give me the “your labor was supposed to progress by the time I left!” If you can’t handle my labor and birth, then get out!
[Reply]
“Oh, sure, Doctor. And when you come into my restaurant for a meal, I’ll be sure to serve you your drinks and then tell you to come back in a few days for the actual meal part, because I have other plans.”
Seriously, in what other profession would this kind of bull$hit be acceptable?
[Reply]
Actually, this doesn’t sound that bad to me. It is better that he stop and restart than blast the pit or just scare her into a c-section. If you body isn’t ready, it isn’t ready.
[Reply]
NMal Reply:
September 16th, 2011 at 11:18 am (Quote)
I totally agree. Better yet, stop the pit, send her home (if labor stops), and have her come back in when she actually goes into labor on her own.
[Reply]
Danielle Reply:
September 16th, 2011 at 8:48 pm (Quote)
I can see your point, however; if it was a medically necessary induction, then waiting for his sake is unacceptable. If it was an elective induction or an induction scheduled for his sake, then why not just wait until after he comes back from his flight in the first place? The bottom line is that the OP and her baby were not this OB’s first concern.
[Reply]
lemme guess, the Important Medical Reason for the induction was “I have a flight that evening so we’ll get the baby out that morning.” (aka baby’s too big/baby’s too small/low fluid/too much fluid/due date was yesterday/mom’s feet are too small/whatever.)
[Reply]
I don’t get it. If the labor IS progressing, how do you ‘stop’ it? Wouldn’t it be safer to let mom keep on laboring if she’s in active labor? Also–doesn’t the OB have a colleague on call? How does that work exactly?
I teach college, and if for some reason we are unavailable, even we have to have some kind of ‘backup’ (a phone number or email) where a student can get a real person to help (dept chair or a colleague, etc.) Yet OBs don’t???
[Reply]
Riiiiirght…because my body is on your schedule Dr. Now I get it.
This is bad as what happened to me a week ago when a family member requested that I go on bedrest to “delay” my labor; because if I could just hold it off for a week or two it would work so much better for their schedule. Aghhh the arrogance of it!
[Reply]
Because labor is an artificial process which is and always should be under complete medical control, and absolutely, positively, never *inconvenient* to the doctor’s schedule, God forbid!
(I’m guessing that rather than let the poor mother continue laboring and some other doctor get paid for the delivery, this doc wanted to have his cake and eat it too?)
[Reply]
Okay if the woman requested the induction (not the doctor suggesting it) and her body isn’t responding; indicating that she really wasn’t ready, then I’m all for sending her home assuming that turning off the pit results in labor pretty much coming to a complete halt. But this coming back Sunday is for the birds. Heck when I had my first c-section and they turned off the pit and labor magically stopped I would have been in favor of getting a good nights sleep and seeing if maybe I woke up in natural labor once I got a break for the IV of continuous torture. But my water had broken 20+ earlier and they had checked me every hour on the hours and twice at shift change. So the chance of that happening was pretty much zero. Heck if I was one of these VBAC women who agree to induction (big no-no in my book) I would want the option to go home if it didn’t work pdq and wait a few more days. Better idea that another c-section or a ruptue.
I’m sure in this case it was the doctor’s idea to induce and now he thinks he is going to induce again on Sunday. What a quack! I think I would accidently on purpose go visit my mother in the next county and deliver with strangers than deal with this joker or even set foot back in the hospital that has extended him privilages!
[Reply]
This is my story, this is what happened. I was being induced due to pre-e. I go in for my scheduled induction and I sat in my room waiting a good 2-3 hours before they started anything. They kept pressuring me to break my water and I refused. I did not want to be put on a clock that said I had to have a csection by a certain time. They kept asking me every hour and i kept refusing. by 1pm my dr comes in with an attitude asking why I’m not letting them break my water, and I explained my reasons. He said “well if you had just broken your water like you were supposed to then you would probably have had this baby by now. I have a flight to Chicago at 5pm so I’m just going to send you home and bring you back Sunday” I told him there was no way I was going to allow this, I had made arrangements for my other kids and I already had been given pitocin and was in labor! He started raising his voice at me and saying he had been planning to go visit his family in Chicago for weeks and he could not afford to miss that flight. I told him “Look, if you don’t want to deliver my baby because Chicago is more important, then fine. You can leave now. I’ll find a different doctor that will be MORE than willing to make the money.” At this point a nurse walks in because we were both so loud and asks whats going on. She sees me sitting there about to cry and she makes him leave the room. At 7:55pm that evening another doctor delivered my son. 9 lbs 3 ounces 20 inches long, and pitocin was the only intervention I allowed. I also did not get the epidural, even though my “doctor” said he wanted me to get one because the pain might raise my blood pressure. Funny thing, my blood pressure was fine the whole time EXCEPT for when he was in the room.
[Reply]
Sarah Reply:
September 18th, 2011 at 12:00 pm (Quote)
Way to set the sOB straight! Congratulations!
[Reply]
Danielle Reply:
September 18th, 2011 at 3:45 pm (Quote)
I was afraid that you were being induced for a medical reason- I mean really, pre-e and he was just going to send you home? I don’t know a lot on the subject but it seems irresponsible to start an induction due to pre-e and then just walk away. If he felt it was that important to induce you in the first place then it should have been important enough to stay with you and miss his flight! I’m so glad to hear that you set him straight, got a different doctor, and didn’t get bullied into anything you felt you didn’t need! Great job standing up for yourself and your baby!!
[Reply]
Jane Reply:
September 18th, 2011 at 4:22 pm (Quote)
Wow! What an irresponsible doctor!
Were you able to report him later? Because that’s downright irresponsible of him to threaten to send you home.
[Reply]
Details Reply:
September 22nd, 2011 at 10:52 am (Quote)
Exactly when was it that doctors stopped allowing their covering doctor to cover for them? Wouldn’t it have been more responsible for him to say well I have to catch a flight let me introduce you to Dr. Back-Up-Plan? Certainly more responsible than screaming at a patient with a blood pressure issue! His hospital privilages need to be revoked!
[Reply]
Add Your Comment.
Oh. Wow. I have no words.
[Reply]