Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Oct
29
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“I Only Do Episiotomies When They Are Necessary…Babies Are Bigger Than They Were In Caveman Times.”
“I only do episiotomies when they are necessary, but about 95% of the time women need them. Babies are bigger than they were in caveman times.” – OB to mother during a prenatal visit when the mother said she’d prefer not to have an episiotomy.
There are 19 comments to this post.
Samantha had this to say,
Oct 29, 2011 @ 6:25 am (Quote)
While it’s true that babies are bigger, so are women. We all are, thanks to better nutrition. But Dr. cut happy, maybe you should get a woman off her back, actually support her pernium and you won’t need to cut it. Maybe actually have some faith in the female body’s ability to stretch and accommodate her baby journey into the world. It’s also amazing that midwives dont feel the need to cut 95% of their mothers. Hmmmmm.
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The World Health Organization must deal largely with cavemen, then, because don’t they say there’s no reason for an episiotomy rate higher than 5%?
The mental justification going on in this doctor’s mind is incredible.
1) I am a good person.
2) Good people don’t cut other people’s genitals
3) I cut women 95% of the time
4) Therefore those women must have needed to be cut
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Jenny Islander Reply:
October 29th, 2011 at 8:05 am (Quote)
That’s about the shape of it, unfortunately.
Like the last post: “Something went wrong in your labor, so there must have been something wrong with your pregnancy all along even though we couldn’t see it. It couldn’t possibly have been us sticking our fingers, needles, and/or scalpels where they weren’t needed or forcing your labor off course for no good reason, because we’re good people and we don’t hurt our patients.”
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Mandie Shoemaker had this to say,
Oct 29, 2011 @ 8:57 am (Quote)
I went to my cousin’s birth and that was the worst part was the *sound* of the episiotomy! There were NO discussion about it, no informed consent, it was just gross! I cannot describe the sound of cutting through those muscles made. I almost threw up!
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jenni Reply:
October 29th, 2011 at 9:13 am (Quote)
Thats awful! i’m so sorry for your cousin!
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Evelyn Reply:
October 29th, 2011 at 11:16 am (Quote)
I had flashbacks from that sound when I was in labour with my first. An episiotomy was something I was really frightened of. At least at that point the epidural finally kicked in so I didn’t have to experience the needles of local anaesthetic as well. Ended up with PND as a result of my experience though and had 3 happy natural homebirths since then 
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Sigrid Reply:
October 30th, 2011 at 9:13 am (Quote)
Yes! The sound is horrific. I am a newborn nurse and I attend many births to care for the baby afterward (offering mild resuscitation if necessary.) I cannot describe to you how disgusting I find episiotomies and even more disgusting is the cavalier attitude behind them. There is one group of popular OBs in particular at my hospital that ALWAYS cut them. They are so quick to cut– no discussion. On the other hand, my midwife of ten years said she has only cut THREE in her entire career. She has even gotten lectured at the hospital for not cutting enough– what the heck? How is not doing a harmful practice that is not evidence-based something to get lectured about???
I was able to naturally birth a 9 lb 8 oz baby with a big 14.5″ head without tearing. SO glad I wasn’t sliced!!! I thank God for a PATIENT midwife. I mean, honestly… crowning for just a couple extra minutes saves weeks of healing time!!!
There are VERY FEW instances where it may be necessary… but 95% if the time??? HA!!!
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I hate to think of wether I needed an episiotomy for my first or not. I’ll never know if I “needed” one. I was 17, drugged and gullible. AND trusted my OB cuz, ya know “they know what’s best.” I’m pretty sure it didn’t need to be done, though.
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Since episiotomies make severe tearing more likely, the fact that babies are bigger is a reason to do FEWER episiotomies. The real reasons to do them (need to get baby out ASAP, etc) are relatively rare. Hasn’t this person read the ACOG guidelines? If you look at the stats, you can see that even most OBs don’t cut them routinely any more.
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The Well-Rounded Mama Reply:
October 30th, 2011 at 2:44 pm (Quote)
EXACTLY. An episiotomy for a big baby is going to make extensive tearing more likely. Ugh!
A former babysitter of ours is going to medical school to become an OB. She did an informal internship with a local OB while she was getting her undergrad degree. He was generally better than most OBs about inductions and cesareans but cut episiotomies regularly. She told me a horror story of the damage that was done to a woman after the OB cut an episiotomy on a woman having a 10 lb baby. They were repairing her for a loooong time.
She was fascinated that I had my 10 lb. baby without any tearing whatsoever. Difference? Waterbirth and NO episiotomy.
Episiotomy can sometimes be necessary for getting a compromised baby out quickly, but for suspected macrosomia? That’s a recipe for disaster.
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Add Your Comment.
This is incorrect on so many levels. Maybe I’ll expound on that thought later, but I’m on a cell phone now. Sometimes my cell posts can be incoherent.
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