Dec 4

Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.

“Do You Know How Dangerous It Is To Birth At Home With Complete Placenta Previa?”

“Do you know just how dangerous it is to birth at home with complete placenta previa?” – Anesthesiologist to mother who had been planning to birth at home prior to the previa diagnosis and had transferred care weeks before.

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There are 20 comments to this post.

Sheva had this to say, Dec 4, 2011 @ 4:37 am (Quote)

Uh, yes, genius. That’s why she’s here. She risked herself out of home birth because she’s EDUCATED.
Home-birthers aren’t stupid. We just want a safe birth, and know that if we’re low risk, we’re more likely to get it at home.

Sarah Reply:
December 4th, 2011 at 8:40 am Sarah(Quote)

And when that balance changes, the decisions change. My thoughts exactly.

Jewels Reply:
December 4th, 2011 at 5:02 pm Jewels(Quote)

Yes yes yes to both of these comments!

Kristy had this to say, Dec 4, 2011 @ 5:26 am (Quote)

No, really?… I changed my plans at the last minute because I decided on a whim to come here just for the pleasure of your company.

Allie had this to say, Dec 4, 2011 @ 5:42 am (Quote)

Clearly, thanks Captain Obvious!

Sorry OP, I lost out on my home birth due to Cholestasis, I’m still very upset about it, obviously like you I wouldn’t risk it, but it’s still hard to give up that dream birth.

BeckyJ had this to say, Dec 4, 2011 @ 5:50 am (Quote)

“Well, no. I had decided to transfer care because I realized that birthing at home was SOOO yesterday! Don’t you know I’m too Posh to push?”

sabrina had this to say, Dec 4, 2011 @ 6:23 am (Quote)

Do you know how to find me another anesthesiologist? I prefer one that actually grasps the concept of cause and effect and understands what is going on around them.

Ruth had this to say, Dec 4, 2011 @ 6:28 am (Quote)

Um, obviously. That’s why I transferred care when I discovered the previa!

Jane had this to say, Dec 4, 2011 @ 6:34 am (Quote)

“I sure do! It’s fatal, and that’s why I’m just as glad as you are that my midwife sent me here once it was diagnosed! I’m so glad you appreciate an informed risk analysis and taking proper precautions!

“…Oh, wait, you were just insulting me? Oh, then yeah, I now appreciate my midwife EVEN MORE.”

Maria had this to say, Dec 4, 2011 @ 7:20 am (Quote)

Yes a-hole. Jeeezzzz….

Rebecca had this to say, Dec 4, 2011 @ 8:49 am (Quote)

We suspected a placenta problem and went for an ultrasound around 29 weeks. That’s when we confirmed I had a complete previa. I transferred care immediately and started seeing an OB knowing that I’d have to have a c-section for the safety of myself and the baby.

I had complications a few weeks later and went to the hospital knowing we’d likely be having a c-section very soon and end up with a premature baby. They had all the various doctors involved coming in to talk to us about what to expect with the c-section and premature baby (I was 33 weeks along) when this gem came from our anesthesiologist. She said this to me as I laid in the hospital bed worried sick about my baby who I knew needed to cook a bit longer! He was born later that same day and I had to be under general because my hemoglobin wasn’t high enough for an epidural. I had to have two blood transfusions in the process. I was well aware that I was in no condition to birth at home. (And this was after two prior OOH births so I was also well aware what we were missing out on.)

When she said that as I laid in the hospital bed I wondered how she thought I got there or WHY she thought I was there at all? Did she assume I had been arrested at gunpoint and dragged into the hospital in handcuffs or something?

Jane Reply:
December 4th, 2011 at 8:55 am Jane(Quote)

There was absolutely no call for the scolding! Sheez. :-b

I wonder if the anesthesiologist didn’t think you’d known about the previa and had been brought in only that morning rather than appropriately transferring care the month before. Even then, though, her words are inappropriate. *sigh*

Rebecca Reply:
December 4th, 2011 at 9:01 am Rebecca(Quote)

I’m sure it’s possible! She also had my chart in front of her so seems like she’d know the situation. But I got all sorts of unnecessary lectures while I was there. (Which accomplished nothing accept to confirm that choosing to birth at home when I was low risk was absolutely the RIGHT decision.)

Jane Reply:
December 4th, 2011 at 9:06 am Jane(Quote)

Then they’re a bunch of idiots who feel threatened by an informed mother: you screened for problems and when you found a problem you approached the correct professionals to have it handled appropriately.

Rebecca Reply:
December 4th, 2011 at 9:10 am Rebecca(Quote)

The very happy ending is that I have since had an awesome HBAC with a full term big healthy baby!

Stephanie Reply:
December 4th, 2011 at 11:31 am Stephanie(Quote)

Great job handling each birth the way it needed to be handled. Too bad the doctors don’t always understand that.

Kate, Ren's Mama had this to say, Dec 4, 2011 @ 9:34 am (Quote)

I had the exact same kinds of comments for a surprising number of people after my planned homebirth turned into a hospital birth when I developed preeclampsia. A lot of “well, thank GOODNESS you were in the hospital!” as though it were a fluke and not a conscious decision to birth safely given my condition. Also a lot of “well, now you can see how DANGEROUS homebirth is!” as if we hadn’t just proved the opposite, and as if women planning hospital births don’t develop pre-e. Sigh… people are dumb.

OP, so sorry you had to deal with this on top of a premature baby and needing surgery, but I’m glad everything ultimately turned out ok.

Cara Reply:
December 4th, 2011 at 12:47 pm Cara(Quote)

Yes, I got a lot of the same. Mostly I heard “You were so LUCKY!” No, my midwife DID HER JOB.

Jewels Reply:
December 4th, 2011 at 5:30 pm Jewels(Quote)

Hah! I had a few people try to say that to me & I just about bit their heads off for it!

We transferred during labour – no emergency, just as Sarah said above, the balance changed, so the decisions changed. My son was birthed reasonably safely (no thanks to most of the hospital staff), hospital then took him away for tests, when they gave him back they said he was sick & we had to stay longer for more tests, then he got sicker, then I finally decided to trust my instinct & fought back. I started doing what I should’ve done all along (questioning everything, requesting delays/stops to everything I could, following my instinct to nurse & hold him rather than their instructions to give him formula & leave him) & my son magically got better overnight. When I asked the hospital about the original test results it turned out that he had been perfectly healthy until they made him sick (& had I followed heir instructions, he would still be sick), but he was all better now, so “all that matters is a healthy baby”.

Everyone who told me that I was “lucky” to have transferred (because I hemorrhaged after they pulled my placenta out? Lucky I was there so they could treat the problem they caused!) or that it was a “good thing” (that the hospital staff were there to diagnose an illness he didn’t have & cause him to get a real illness instead???), got a MAJOR telling off. It was neither “lucky” or “good”, it was simply the most logical choice at the time. Some people have even dared to ask if I “learned my lesson” now (meaning, have I learned to just sign up for a hospital birth from the beginning rather than trying something so silly as a homebirth)! I always reply: “Yes, I have! I’ve learned not to transfer unless something is actually wrong! I’m never going back to that horrible place again unless I really have to!”. That generally gets them to stop, haha!

Tee had this to say, Dec 4, 2011 @ 2:24 pm (Quote)

You know, most women that birth at home educate themselves and take the safety of themselves and their child(ren) very seriously! This anesthesiologist was a complete jerk!

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