You mean baby girls can get distressed? Who knew?

Failure to break the ice. Just cut me open and don’t look at me because I won’t look at you!

Ok I would have been really upset if this was said to me but I have to admit this made me laugh.

I would find this funny because I already joke that my daughter was the easiest birth because the boys have to be like men and make things difficult. But obviously not everyone’s going to have the same sense of humor….

I think it’s funny. It’s totally something I would say!

I can see it as funny – in the right circumstances These obviously weren’t those, given that it’s here.

Dear OBs:

If a CS is for fetal distress, the mother’s probably worried sick as well as unhappy that she has to have UNSCHEDULED EMERGENCY MAJOR SURGERY. This is probably not a good time to try out your amateur comedian routine. Stick to calm, reassuring, and kindly.

Love, Everybody

OP I would be offended as well. Don’t joke about why you just cut me open OB.

The OB who did my unplanned CBAC, only due to a surprise breech, joked that my son didn’t turn because his balls were so big. I didn’t think it was funny at all.

There is a time and a place for comments like this. Under the correct circumstances, it definitely would have been funny. But when it’s practically the first thing you say to a woman you have never met who is scared and confused going into an unplanned c-section to possible save her baby’s like…. TOTALLY inappropriate.

While I have to admit that I chuckled a bit, I’ve always been a big fan of the word “hello” upon meeting someone. But maybe that’s just me.

This sounds like this is one of those situations where it’s a matter of bad timing as opposed to being entirely inappropriate. Either way, I’m really sorry you had to put up with it, OP.

This also makes me feel like, if you’re joking around like that, is it fetal distress, or is it “fetal distress?”

It seems like it might have been an attempt at “distracting” the mother and trying to make her relax…at least, I hope that’s how it was intended.

As much as a c-section is like, my worst fear, if I needed one and this statement was made, I’d laugh, but it wasn’t what you needed to hear OP and i’m sorry.

While I understand that it would be distressing for the momma, and pappa… I would find it reassuring to hear my doc making little jokes.
If they are still making little jokes and talking about random things, means they are not stressed and everything is going well.
My doctor did this during the delivery of my first. Not about baby sex, but about how another driver was being adouche and not letting her pass on the way to the hospital.

While I do think the IDEA is a little funny, I think the way it was said was a little weird. The “I wouldn’t be surprised to find a penis in there” bit was the part that leaves me unsettled. He couldn’t have just said “are you sure its a girl in there? It would be just like a man to pull a stunt like this” then it comes off as a slightly funny without the “creeper, why the heck are you talking about my child like that?” vibe.

I agree the first thing that should have been said is, “Hello, I’m Dr. So-and-so and I’m going to make sure you’re both okay.” It would have been much less weird if he’d cracked the joke after that instead of while strolling into the room.

Totally inappropriate. But after reading this site for a long time, it’s kinda refreshing to hear about a doc saying something besides “it’s all your fault you horrible weak defective mother” during labor or surgery.

Am I the only person who doesn’t find man bashing funny? I just really dislike the modern habit of acting like men are always incompetent dads or obstinate babies/little boys. Maybe I’m just extra sensitive from my recent hospital experiences, though. My son, who is barely 3, just had to have surgery. I begged for them to allow my husband to accompany him into anesthesia just long enough for them to gas him out, and then he would leave. The doctor tried to get all conspiratorial like this, saying that they were afraid he might faint. I wanted to kill them all. The anesthesiologist just kept telling me that having parents present was “an advertising ploy” and that there was “no medical benefit.” I wish I could say I was able to do anything about it or that I’ll never go back there, but they kind of have me by the balls with my insurance and medical situation.

I did laugh….
But for me, my son was the more cooperative birth. My daughter’s heart rate kept dropping…..because, as we later discovered, her cord was around her neck twice.