Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Oct
31
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“…We’ll Break Your Water…If You Don’t Want Us To Do That, Then You Can Just Go Home.”
“We’re going to check you, and if you haven’t progressed we’ll break your water. And if you don’t want us to do that, then you can just go home.” -OB to mother in active labor.
There are 16 comments to this post.
This is my story, and it’s MUCH worse when you understand my situation. This little gem of a quote happened during the birth of my 3rd child. My first was born emergency c-section (I actually really like and respect the doctor who delivered him, but if I had things to do over again, I would have managed my labor VERY differently in hopes of a different outcome!). I was so determined with my 2nd child to have a VBAC delivery that I waited too long to go to the hospital and ended up delivering her at home accidentally! Fortunately for us, my husband had the presence of mind to call 911 when he realized what was happening and the EMTs arrived just in time to catch her!
So with my third, my goal was to have a natural delivery again, but in a hospital. I had NO idea how difficult this would be! We made it to the hospital just fine, but this doctor wanted to meddle with EVERYTHING, and it was really hard to stand my ground (and deal with contractions at the same time!). She was the same one, actually, who also said this from a couple days ago on this website: http://myobsaidwhat.com/2011/10/29/most-labors-dont-progress-unless-augmented-by-doctors/
Anyway, she breezed into my room and announced that they were going to check me, and if I hadn’t progressed at all, they would break my water. I informed her that I didn’t want my water broken. (I’m pretty sure that this was the first thing I did wrong which led to that first c-section!) And that’s when she said this, that if I wouldn’t let them break my water, I could just go home!
Given my history of an accidental home delivery, I was SHOCKED. And THEN she went on to explain about labors needing to be augmented by doctors, which is just wrong, wrong, wrong.
Fortunately, when she stopped blabbing and did get around to checking me, I had progressed 2 more cm, so the debate ended. And even more fortunate, her shift ended shortly after, so I didn’t have to deal with her any more. (Not that the next doctor was so great, but she was a little better.)
I successfully delivered my 9 lb 1 oz son without any drugs or medical procedures later that morning. My second VBAC! I’m now trying to convince my husband that whenever we have another one, we should just plan on a home delivery with a midwife. I don’t EVER want to have to fight with another doctor while in labor again!
[Reply]
Jane Reply:
October 31st, 2011 at 5:08 am (Quote)
You know, since you’d already been admitted, by the time the doctor actually processed the paperwork to get you released (which takes about two hours, in my experience) you might have had the baby. :-b
I don’t understand these doctors and nurses who think they have a legally defensible position to kick a laboring woman out of the hospital or refuse to care for her if she refuses even one intervention. I had a nurse say the same thing to me, and it’s just ludicrous. Can you imagine the lawsuit if something bad were to happen because the doctor threw you out of the hospital after you declined consent to an unnecessary medical test? (That’s all a VE is: a medical test to determine dilation.) I think any decent lawyer would be able to approach the hospital with that one and the hospital would have to open its checkbook. :-b
[Reply]
Knitted in the Womb Reply:
October 31st, 2011 at 6:11 pm (Quote)
There’s a handy little law called “EMTALA”-the Emergency Medical Treatment And Labor Act. Its a federal law that requires any hospital that accepts federal funds (Medicare, Medicaid) to treat any patient who arrives within about 300 feet of the ER. They can not legally discharge a patient until any immediately life threatening symptoms are treated, or in the case of a woman in active labor, until she has given birth.
[Reply]
Good for you. I would think a home delivery with a midwife would be a lot less stressful than a home delivery with EMT’s. That doctor should be slapped! You don’t announce what you are going to do if there is no progress before you even check. Then what she said about agumenting a VBAC is wrong wrong wrong!
[Reply]
Yes, except under federal law you can’t send a mother in active labor home, but thanks for playing. She can decline a procedure and, gasp! stay right where she is.
[Reply]
Christine Reply:
October 31st, 2011 at 8:42 am (Quote)
Absolutely – she was lying through her teeth, curbing or turfing a patient in labor is absolutely illegal. It’s called EMTALA. The hospital could lose their certification. They would sooner fire the doc than risk being unable to charge insurance for the care they provide!
[Reply]
At least the OP was given the option. My doctor grabbed for the amniohook and before I realized what was happening she had broken my water, then told me what she had done. My labour was going slow and steady until then and I was perfectly happy. After that is when I instantly hit transition and it all went to hell 
[Reply]
I was given the same line except replace break water with pitocin. Since I *truly was* high risk and have p labors and it took us several hours to travel a few miles in the blizzard we were having at the time we felt it best to stay in the hospital… however… NEXT TIME… I will either deliver at home ANYWAY (though I am worried about that as I was recently told that if something *does* go wrong that the baby would be admitted to the hospital but no guarantee that I would be admitted too.. or that we would be admitted to the same area of the hospital… since I chose to deliver at home I could be kept in the ER and then released or in a General area of the hospital while baby is in nursery, special care or NICU… and I would have no rights to the baby that a post partum mom has (baby brought to my room for nursing, etc).. It scared the CRAP out of me.. so if a homebirth isn’t in the cards I will just walk around in the lobby or weather permitting in the parking lot and camp out in my car for a few hours rather than risk the pitocin again or going home.
[Reply]
Add Your Comment.
Kay, bye!
[Reply]