Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Oct
16
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“Oh, He Isn’t That Big!”
“Oh, he isn’t that big!” – OB to mother who had a planned cesarean after being told it was not safe to attempt a vaginal birth with her *at least* 10 pound baby who weighed 8lbs 15oz at birth.
There are 35 comments to this post.
first time mommy had this to say,
Oct 16, 2011 @ 7:04 pm (Quote)
And neither is your brain OB…
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If that baby was “at least” 10 lbs by ultrasound, that ultrasound better have estimated *at least* 12 lbs!
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Kit Reply:
October 17th, 2011 at 8:20 am (Quote)
My cousin had an ultrasound and was estimated to have a 12 pounder at most (at 36 weeks!) The doctor told her “This doesn;t seem right, but I legally have to offer you my opinion, and my opinion is that this baby is measuring really big.”
The baby continued to measure big, but she (after her doctor told her that he was “Used to delivering toddlers, so don’t get too afraid of size”) decided to forgo the C Section and go to term. And beyond. At 41 weeks she was induced and had…. A 8 pound 6 ounce baby girl.
The doctor laughed and told her that he was going to “Put a picture of that little girl in his office as proof those scans can be wrong, wrong, wrong.”
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Tell it to my lawyer!
Oh, wait, no one would take the case. Unnecessary surgery recommended on the basis of quackery rather than evidence is not considered damage in the maternity ward. Maybe with the next baby, doc, you can swoop in again and “save” me from the ectopic pregnancy, uterine rupture, or placenta acreta you caused me to be at higher risk for by performing this surgery for no.farking.reason. Grrr.
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JoAnna had this to say,
Oct 16, 2011 @ 9:39 pm (Quote)
Doesn’t it make you wish that you could get OBs who pressure for a C-secrion solely on the basis of estimated fetal weight to sign some sort of legal document stating, “If [Baby] is less than [estimated weight], I will pay [parents] the amount of $1,000, to be paid out my own pocket, in partial compensation for the poor advice that led to an unnecessary surgical procedure.”
I wonder if that would help cut down on the number of “OMG baby is so big!” C-sections?
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Dreamy Reply:
October 16th, 2011 at 10:05 pm (Quote)
You know what would happen… Doctors would balk and say that’s unfair because it’s well known that U/S can be off by up to 2 lbs.
…exactly.
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Jane Reply:
October 17th, 2011 at 3:46 am (Quote)
$100 per ounce if the baby is more than a pound under the weight they stated in order to coerce the c-section.
That accounts for the plus or minus thing, but doesn’t give a ridiculous two-pound margin of error. So if the doctor says the baby is ten pounds and the baby is born at eight-six, the doctor has to write the mom a check for $2200 right there in the delivery room.
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Sounds like my current midwife. She doesn’t want me to gain more than 10 pounds total during my pregnancy for fear that my baby will weigh more than 10 pounds at birth. Um….huh? I gained 35 for my son and he weighed 8 pounds. I think she sees obese momma and assumes obese newborn. She’s also told me she has a fairly high rate of sending mommas to the hospital for c-sections because moms tend to be too sedentary and don’t move around enough for babies not to be breech and transverse (I’m 17 weeks and my daughter is breech right now, so according to her I have to start working now to change it, she’s also right on my pelvis which makes it e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y hard for me to even stand). I’m about to drop this b!tch like a hot potato.
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C.Pratt Reply:
October 16th, 2011 at 11:25 pm (Quote)
Good choice. Interview some replacement care providers while it is still fairly early and find someone who isn’t a complete freak. Good luck and best wishes! 
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silverhawkwarrior Reply:
October 17th, 2011 at 12:59 am (Quote)
The words ‘obese newborn’ just made my brain explode. Who looks at a newborn and thinks, “Man, Kid, you seriously need to work on dropping a few pounds!” Gosh sakes almighty.
I cannot remember by little brother’s birth weight, but he was so post-due that his soft spot was nearly entirely hardened when he was finally born. Broke my mom’s tailbone. BROKE her TAILBONE. And she STILL had him vaginally, pain-med free. Big babies scare me not at all after seeing something like that.
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BeckyJ Reply:
October 17th, 2011 at 6:11 am (Quote)
My husband’s shoulders were too wide to fit, so the doctor popped his mom’s hips out of place (how this helped, I have NO clue, I don’t think it would open the pelvis more) so that she could deliver him. Also no pain meds. You can imagine the screams. *shiver*
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BeckyJ Reply:
October 17th, 2011 at 6:08 am (Quote)
If she has a high c-section transfer rate, there’s a problem there. Either she is really unlucky and gets patients that end up needing immediate care by c-section, or she isn’t advocating properly for her patients and doing any preventive work. And if it’s the latter, do yourself and your baby a favor drop the crappy midwife. Sorry you have to deal with that.
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genniemom Reply:
October 17th, 2011 at 6:56 am (Quote)
I agree with other posters-it’s a good idea to find a new provider. Midwives have a tendency to be better informed about real gestation and childbirth, but don’t fall into the trap of thinking that a doctor is bad just because he/she is a doctor. Interview doctors, too, and you will have more options to consider (If you’re planning a hospital birth, that is. I don’t know of many homebirth doctors.)
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Dawn Reply:
October 17th, 2011 at 12:49 pm (Quote)
I don’t want a home birth, but I also don’t want a hospital birth, so I figured a birth center would be my best 3rd option. I had a hospital birth with my son and the only time I couldn’t stand the contractions was when they started the Pit on me and refused to take it off, citing that I was in labor too long already (I delivered at the 17 hour mark).
I know this woman is a midwife in training and won’t be there for the duration of my pregnancy, and I also know the owners who are CNM’s are kind and sweet and gentle, but IDK how I’m going to get through the next few visits with this woman. The other problem I have is I’m on Medicaid and in my are of TX there’s only a few Midwives that take Medicaid.
Last week I had a cough so bad that I woke up the next morning with my throat feeling as if razor blade edges were scraped over them all night. I called up in tears begging for them to help. They said the only thing they can do is suggest I take Robitussin, drink warm tea with honey, and take Tylenol. Apparently, nothing else in the world is safe. There’s not one cough medicine or pain killer in the world that’s safe during pregnancy. That evening after everyone was in bed, I ended up gargling with a few ounces of wine which was literally the ONLY thing that took even the slightest bit of pain away. Not the best solution, but I also have a 5yo that was born 26 days too late to start Kindergarten that I have to keep up with. Don’t tell my midwife, though. I’m convinced she’ll have my child as a ward of the state in utero if she knew.
I’m going to talk to the owners on Wednesday and see if there’s another option than seeing this woman for the prenatal visits. The girl I saw my very first visit was great. When she did my internal exam she exclaimed excitedly “Wow! You have more than enough room to deliver a 10 pound baby if you need to.” I haven’t seen her around the practice since 
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Dawn Reply:
October 17th, 2011 at 12:51 pm (Quote)
BTW, my son was born just shy of 42 weeks and was all of 8 pounds. I can tell this woman is very “wet behind the ears” and going by book knowledge.
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Jane Reply:
October 17th, 2011 at 1:46 pm (Quote)
Dawn, come up with a bullet list of all the things you’ve told us, including dates if you have them. Once you’ve got all that, call the office and ask to speak to the CNMs. Ask not to see this midwife-in-training again.
They will ask you why, and then you can calmly and unemotionally read off your list to them. Then restate that you love their practice but wish not to have prenatal care with this woman.
My bet is that if you handle it that way, not only will you not have to see this midwife again, but they may take her in the back and give her some retraining. And you might even get an apology from her.
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Kemi Reply:
October 17th, 2011 at 12:52 pm (Quote)
Drop her! Drop her fast!!!!!!!…..Have you dropped her yet?? She’s not just a freak, she’s dangerous. She honestly needs supervision and updating or striking off the register but she definitely must not be let loose on poor unsuspecting mothers and babies. Makes me cringe with shame when I hear that representatives of my profession are behaving in such a disgraceful way.
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Dawn Reply:
October 17th, 2011 at 1:44 pm (Quote)
You ladies are so wonderful! I was beginning to believe that maybe she was right and I’m just being a fat, lazy, stubborn American or something. Wish there was a bulletin or message board or a chat room here that we all could chat on. Is there a FB group set up for this site even?
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I will admit, that the thought of having a big baby scares the crap outta me because our family has a history of tiny babies (I was the largest baby at 6 pounds 1 ounce, 2 weeks overdue) and after I went through everything during my son’s birth, I just found out that my hips are badly misaligned to the point of not being able to birth a full term baby. My son was born at 33 weeks, and he barely fit (5 pounds 8 ounces, and HUGE in my opinion for a 33 weeker). I’m seeking treatment for my condition (that also makes many other *ahem* “things” not fit) but in the meantime, I’m terrified.
That being said, this post makes me angry because a woman was conned into something that she wouldn’t have chosen otherwise. I’m terrified because I’ve got a condition that might or might not go away (or reappear) but to be told your baby is bigger than average and then be told he isn’t that big is wrong. My first thought would be something along the lines of, “Did something happen to him between then and now to make him lose weight?!” and then “You f—ing bastard!” But then again, that’s just me.
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Holly Reply:
October 24th, 2011 at 5:46 pm (Quote)
PLEASE, don’t count yourself out of the “vaginal birth” ability!! My oldest was 7lbs 11oz. She had shoulder dystocia and scared the crap out of me. My next child was 5lbs 4 oz so no problems… he practically FLEW out lol. (Think water slide lol). Next was 5lbs 10 oz.. same thing.. flew on out. Then 7lbs 8 oz.. again.. easy peasy. THEN I moved states. In giving my history I mentioned the shoulder dystocia.. HUGE mistake I had Gestational Diabetes with him. He was “estimated” at over 9lbs at my 36 week appt.. I had been having preterm labor so the dr did a VE to check for dilation. During that he did a MS and induced labor. Little man was born at 8lbs 4 oz. And guess what?? He came out with three pushes too!! I was HEAVILY advised to do a c/s with him since he would be “too big”. He was NOT Same thing with his little brother… He turned out to be 7lbs 1/2 oz. Again, HEAVILY advised to have a c/s to avoid complications with my “big” baby. Born Vaginally, 4 (ish) pushes and born fine. I say ish because he got briefly stuck and I remember growling “Someone get this kid OUT OF ME” at the nurse… mid push.. so one of the pushes was extra long but still was only one push lol.
The point is that just because you had difficulties with THIS one don’t count yourself out and unable! Every baby is different, every pregnancy is different and every labor/delivery is different! Because something went “difficult” with baby #1 and there were some complications does not mean that every child will be difficult to birth! ((HUGS))
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Crittersmom had this to say,
Oct 17, 2011 @ 7:21 am (Quote)
My sister in law was told that her baby was going to be Huge! From 32 weeks on she was told it was going to be a 9 lb baby. At 38 weeks she was told it was going to be 10 or 11 lbs. She was getting nervous even though this was her third baby and the others weren’t that big.I kept up with positive chatter to balance the negative vibes she was getting and sure enough her baby was 7lbs 9 ozs! U/S is not the be all and end all.
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Laura--The Sushi Snob had this to say,
Oct 17, 2011 @ 12:41 pm (Quote)
My mom had a ten-pound baby, although he did break her tailbone. But with all due respect, she had broken her tailbone prior to the delivery and it had barely healed, so who knows what would have happened if she hadn’t broken it previously.
Oh, and her OB said that she could have birthed a twelve-pound baby without a problem. She never did, but nice to know that her OB was not surgery happy.
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1. Baby weight guesses are almost always false. Very flawed methods.
2. People CAN and DO safely birth “big” babies every day, and docs have NO way of knowing whether or not a mother cannot do this, but it is rare. Unless you have some special skeletal or muscular condition, you are more than likely capable.
That is all.
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My midwife told me she had never been more than 200 grams of. She was of by more than a kilo. She guessed 2700grams att the most. 3800 He was and I knew she was wrong because my other children were also quite a big bigger than the estimates. the first 3300 (midwife guessed 2800) The second 3500 she guessed 3000. My babies obviously gain a lot of wait the days before their delivery… I always laugh my head of when women start telling about how much their babies weigh in their uterus. Most of them are so convinced the medical specialists are right… and they truly believe that their babies most have lost or gained weighed when the numbers are off. Pathetic.
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Heidi had this to say,
Oct 18, 2011 @ 7:49 am (Quote)
First, it is possible to birth big babies vaginally. My four were 8.11, 10.2, 8.12, and 9.13. I will say that third baby came out with no pushes, so it was “easier” to get her out, but the labor was still hard in its own way.
Second, ultrasound weight estimates are crap. The only time I had a U/S close to term was when I asked if my second baby was breech because I felt “kicking” very, very low. The U/S showed my baby was head down– the kicking was punching from a baby with big, meaty fists! The tech told me, “By the way, the weight estimate is 8 lbs., 4 oz GIVE OR TAKE 19 ounces. So you’re looking at a 7-9 pound baby.” Five days later, he was born, a mere 30 ounces more than the U/S estimate!
With my 4th, I asked the doctor if he might be “really big,” because he was almost two weeks later than my other three and I FELT huge. The doctor just said, “No, I don’t think he’s that big. Besides, you’ve had a 10 pound baby!”
What he said worked perfectly. He conveyed, “I am not worried,” and “Even if the baby is big, I know you can deliver him vaginally.” I also told myself, I’ve really never had a prolonged pushing phase, so even if the baby is 11 pounds, I might be able to get him out vaginally! As it was, he was 9.13 and was pushed out in about 20 minutes.
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That was almost me. It makes me so angry to hear this crap.
I’m so thankful my oldest decided to come a little early. The estimated “monster” baby was under 7 lb.
I went on to deliver a 9 lb 15 oz baby, and then a 10 lb 8 oz baby. So even if the “big baby” diagnosis is correct, that doesn’t automatically spell disaster.
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As a mom who has had two 10lbers at home this enrages me for this poor momma. She was sliced open after being threatened with the safety of herself and her child based on a lie. Ultrasounds aren’t reliable and drs LIE when they make judgements based on them, knowing that their accuracy is sketchy at best.
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