Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Dec
6
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“You Need To Stop Shaking Or Else I Am Going To Give You A Blood Tranfusion.”
“You need to stop shaking or else I am going to give you a blood transfusion” - OB to mother during a painful repair.
There are 34 comments to this post.
And a total non-sequiter for the win!
Seriously, I was shaking uncontrollably after DD’s birth, and I had minimal blood loss. It was a quick and easy birth with no complications. I wouldn’t even hold my daughter for about 15 minutes because I was terrified that I would drop her I was shaking so badly. What good is a blood transfusion supposed to do in this situation? And even if mom needs it, why is a medical procedure being used as a threat?
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I love docs who think that we are shaking on purpose. I had that with the first — doc was so pi$$ed, he gave me 10 mg. of Valium IV — I don’t remember much of the rest of that day, and DS was born at 5:45 AM!
I have NO clue what the heck a transfusion would do. That is like telling your child “if you don’t stop crying, I’m going to smell a rose”. ???
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I had a third degree tear with my first son and was shaking really badly while the OB was doing the surgical repair. I apologized to her and she told me not to worry. She said she had been doing this for 30 years, and my shaking did not affect her ability to reapair the tear. In fact, she told me shaking was completely normal. She also stopped to give me another lidocaine injection because my epidural was wearing off, and I was starting to feel pain.
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DurangosMama had this to say,
Dec 6, 2011 @ 8:55 pm (Quote)
Does shaking only happen for women who have an epidural or can it happen to anyone like shaking after an orgasm? (I don’t have any kids, I’m just informing my self to be well armed if I encounter any Dr. Dipsh*ts, Nurse Nimwit or Moronic Midwives when it’s my turn)
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Bonita Reply:
December 6th, 2011 at 9:27 pm (Quote)
I have had the shaking problem after an epidural birth and after a homebirth. After the epidural birth the nurse told me the shaking was from the epidural wearing off. It was a good 2 hours after the birth, so I tend to agree with her. After my homebirth (obviously all natural) I started shaking uncontrollably 10 minutes after the birth.
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wickesi Reply:
December 7th, 2011 at 8:51 am (Quote)
I had a pit induction. no pain medication. I was shaking so hard I was nearly vibrating for about 15 or 20 minutes after my daughter was born. It felt like adrenaline and low blood sugar: my doula snuck me some OJ while the ob wasn’t looking: it helped quiet the shaking but it didn’t stop it, after the OJ, it definitely felt like an adrenaline overload.
She had been feeding me from the cooler we “brought for the doula and my husband” the entire time: but about an 90 minutes prior to transition I started retching, and was interested in nothing but water until after I was done.
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HeatherB Reply:
December 7th, 2011 at 9:53 am (Quote)
I was shaking like crazy after my drug-free home birth. Every time I complained about the shaking, my midwife assured me it was totally normal, and then offered me some juice from my fridge.
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Kathy Reply:
December 7th, 2011 at 10:37 am (Quote)
The only shaking I had was after my c/s (had a spinal), and after my d&c (had MAC). I never had any shaking after any of my three homebirths.
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Liss Reply:
December 8th, 2011 at 5:43 am (Quote)
In my work as a doula I have both seen and heard a lot of accounts of uncontrollable shaking after drug-free birth, birth with an epidural, and cesarian birth. I have come to believe it’s a normal physiological response to the hormones and physical intensity of birth. Some women also shake during transition. One good thing to know is that being held firmly can feel really good at that time, so if someone can sit behind you with their arms wrapped around you while you lean your back against his or her chest, that can really help. It doesn’t stop the shaking, but it can help you feel a little more grounded. Of course this isn’t going to be possible in every situation, but I think it’s still useful information.
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Robyn Reply:
December 10th, 2011 at 7:57 pm (Quote)
After the hospital birth with my son (unmedicated and moved fast enough that the doctor didn’t show up until 10 minutes after he was born), I shook really bad. I don’t know if it’s as the other women have described; the adreneline rush and the hormones after the birth. I do know that I felt cold and I thought of the shaking as shivering. After my home birth with my daughter, I don’t recall shaking at all. It was the middle of the summer and the AC in the house sucks; I most definitely was not cold.
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Cattaca Reply:
December 18th, 2011 at 2:55 pm (Quote)
I had an unmedicated birth in a hospital. By the 12th hour of labor (active or otherwise) my legs would shake uncontrollably with every contraction. I didn’t feel all hyped up on adrenaline or anything, I didn’t feel low blood-sugary at all either. I think my legs were just exhausted and by the time I started pushing, the rest of me was as well.
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How does this OB not know that shaking is a normal, physiological reaction, that the mother can’t control? I was told (by the nurses in the OR) to stop trying to stop the shaking, that doing so actually makes it worse. And, not only do threats have no place in the doctor patient relationship, this one makes no sense at all.
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Jessica had this to say,
Dec 6, 2011 @ 9:36 pm (Quote)
If you’re going to “treat” my shaking with a blood transfusion can you at least make sure it’s the right blood type? You DO know there are different blood types, right? Maybe you should just put down your needle and find a more educated OB just to be safe.
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Heidi had this to say,
Dec 6, 2011 @ 9:37 pm (Quote)
Shaking can definitely happen without an epidural.
This comment is mean. I have heard that it takes extra effort to recover from a blood transfusion, so it shouldn’t be done lightly. Plus, what a waste of blood
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Holly Reply:
December 10th, 2011 at 12:39 am (Quote)
Not to mention the risks associated with a blood transfusion! When my iron was 6.5 the doctor said we had two choices. Blood transfusion or iron infusion. When I asked about risks/benefits ( I had never heard of infusions and had never even considered a transfusion, much less researched it) she said she would rather not do a transfusion on someone with a young, healthy heart. That if I was older or had a weak heart a transfusion would be better as it is faster but since my heart could withstand the low iron blood for a bit we could do infusions and she was more comfortable with that as the blood “could” “potentially” be contaminated. As I am a nursing mother as well that was all I needed to hear! After some research that night hubs and I were very clear that the infusions were where we wanted to go! Using the transfusion as a threat, with no medical need/benefit is wrong on so very very many levels 
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Heather P had this to say,
Dec 6, 2011 @ 9:55 pm (Quote)
In addition to all the comments about the physiological shaking the occurs after a birth, I’ve got to comment on the transfusion. I’ve had one and I was near dying without it. Blood supplies are always needed. Threatening to give one to a woman for no good reason puts other lives in danger. I can’t even express how angry this makes me.
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Jenny Islander had this to say,
Dec 6, 2011 @ 11:43 pm (Quote)
It’s our old friend, failure to wait. “I have places to go and things to do, so I will command you to stop an inescapable physiological process so that I can do this repair right now. Still shaking? Okay, you ungrateful little womany woman-woman, here’s the deal: I can’t promise that I won’t slip and puncture you all over again, and this time somewhere that will require a blood transfusion. And it’ll be YOUR FAULT ’cause you WOULDN’T QUIT SHAKING. So THERE.” For his/her next trick, the OB will threaten to sue the airline when he/she is stuck in an airport due to a sudden blizzard.
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Laura Marsh had this to say,
Dec 7, 2011 @ 5:26 am (Quote)
Oh yeah lets “scare her ” into stopping shaking! That should work because after all she is doing that on purpose!
Maybe she was bleeding…heavy bleeding will also cause you to shake.
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Following the birth of my first child I shook uncontrollable for an hour. I was in shock (he was born in full code) and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. Luckily, there was an amazing OB present who explained that my reactions were totally normal and that I was going to be fine. She brought me a heated blanket and a cup of hot coffee (bless her for that) and held my hand when I was alone.
With my second baby I shook like mad during transition. The nurse covered me with warm blankets and told me I was doing awesome. She even put my socks in the microwave to warm those up, too. Oddly that was almost my favorite part of labor. That nurse was a genius.
I’m pretty sure that both approaches were far less work than messing with a transfusion and probably just as effective, if not more.
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Liz had this to say,
Dec 7, 2011 @ 6:39 am (Quote)
This is mine. I transferred from a home birth due to hemorraghing. I had extensive internal tearing as well as a 2nd degree tear. This OB waited 12 hours to stitch me up at which point I was shaking uncontrollably from the pain because he hadn’t numbed me completely. He said this then threw down his gloves and said I ‘I have to finish this in the OR.’ If you can recall from a previous post this was the OB who did a D&C without my permission. The horrible part was that I needed a transfusion but they never gave me one and made it seem like a transfusion was a horrible thing. It took 4 months to get my strength back. I hemorraghed with my next birth as well, got a transfusion and was back to normal within a few hours.
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KDB Reply:
December 7th, 2011 at 7:03 am (Quote)
Holy crap!
I’m so sorry it went down like that!
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Jane Reply:
December 7th, 2011 at 7:12 am (Quote)
Wow, what a loser of a doctor. I’m so sorry you were so badly treated.
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Heather P Reply:
December 7th, 2011 at 9:15 am (Quote)
So he threatens a Hemorrhaging woman with a transfusion and then doesn’t give her one? What does he think transfusions are for? Even worse than giving an unneeded transfusion is denying a needed one.
I’m so sorry you were treated like this Liz.
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