Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Jan
22
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“Do You Want Me To Just Knock You Out Then?”
“Do you want me to just knock you out then?” – Anesthesiologist to mother during unplanned cesarean section when she stated that she could feel some pain.
There are 18 comments to this post.
No, just do your JOB right and make this epi work!!! Idiot.
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Kristin Reply:
January 22nd, 2012 at 8:48 am (Quote)
My thoughts exactly.
No one like a job done half way.
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Ethel Reply:
January 22nd, 2012 at 12:45 pm (Quote)
At that point there is no other options the anesthesiologist can offer folks! Too late for a spinal block and epidural placement takes time.
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Sheva Reply:
January 22nd, 2012 at 1:09 pm (Quote)
Unplanned does not mean emergency. It just means it wasn’t on the schedule that morning, and was decided upon during labor. Which means it is not too late for anything. And the epidural had been placed, it just wasn’t 100% effective. It can be manipulated, or replaced, if necessary.
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GranolaRN Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 9:33 am (Quote)
If the woman’s surgery is already underway then Ethel is probably right that the anesthesiologist has very limited options. He can’t manipulate or replace the epidural, if one is in place, because the woman is lying on her back with her abdomen being operated on. If she had a spinal instead then there’s nothing to manipulate, because they don’t place an epidural catheter for a spinal – it’s just a one-time injection. So yeah, if this was said mid-surgery, it is in fact too late for the anesthesiologist to do anything else with the spinal.
He or she still could have been more compassionate about the situation though.
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If she’s feeling “some pain” that means it’s almost working and you need to adjust it. I’d rather feel pain than be knocked out, personally, but that kind of anesthesia has coded my aunt (whose maladies I tend to share) more than once. It’s one of the main reasons I was so terrified of a cesarean: my aunt almost died during each of hers because of the anesthesia and her condition that causes her to react to it.
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I had something similiar, but the Anesthesiologist wasn’t a jerk about it. They could get it to tolerable pain, but not completely numb. He then let me make a choice to contine forward or put me under. He kept talking to me the entire time with what they were doing because my husband was speechless. Funny thing is, now a year later, he was the one I remember most, and came to see me afterwards. Even the OB didn’t check on me after the surgery. And more amusing I have several spots on my lower abdomen that have NO feeling to this day…
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This happened to me, but the doc was great about it. He put me under as lightly as possibly so I could wake up quickly. I was so grateful to not feel the pain but be able to see my baby quickly. Hopefully I can have a VBAC next time and won’t have to deal with it at all.
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This one is mine.
The spinal had actually not been given enough time to take effect, so I was trying to let the OB know, so he could give it a few more minutes. I was shocked when the Anesthesiologist said this, I actually said ‘Dude! NO!’. How he could ever imagine I would want to be knocked out and miss the birth of my child is beyond me.
While having a fantastic labor during my much anticipated HBAC, I asked my midwife to check me after about 8 hours of labor. The great news was I was already 7 cms but the bad news was my son was breech. Something none of us knew. He had fooled 3 midwives and my chiropractor who specializes in turning breech babies.
I didn’t feel comfortable trying to deliver him at home breech, having not delivered my first vaginally, so I was able to make the choice to transfer to the hospital to have a c-section.
By the time I arrived, I was 9 1/2 cm and pushing, and they freaked OUT! I got there at 12:30ish, and my son was born at 1:18 am. I don’t understand why they were so worried, neither my baby nor myself were in any distress. Even though I was ready to push, I was doing my best not to, as I had 3 nurses basically yelling at me not to push.
I knew going in I would hear things that were basically BS, and I did. Lucky I knew enough to just let it go in one ear and out the other.
As disappointing as the CBAC was, I know that I made the best decision for my son, who ended up having a very short & thin cord.
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C.Pratt Reply:
January 22nd, 2012 at 9:26 pm (Quote)
Mothers intuition seldom leads us wrong, good job momma! Do you plan to try a HBAC again? I hope so 
I think they probably freaked out because hospitals hardly try to do breech anymore, it’s becoming very alien to most of the providers there.
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Add Your Comment.
That has to be one of my worst fears. I have a VERY bad track record with anasthesia not working properly. I think if I ever had to have an emergency c-section I would have to have a general because the idea of actually feeling that operation terrifies me, and I’d be afraid there wouldn’t be time to adjust things if the epi didn’t work right for me.
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Jespren Reply:
January 22nd, 2012 at 12:01 pm Jespren(Quote)
I have the same fear, but opposite response. Due to a genetic condition analgesics just don’t work properly. Lidocaine, vicodin, even morphine is only barely effective. I’m afraid if I do need an emergency c-section the anasthesia won’t work. But my expectation is more along the lines of ‘just give me something to bite, I don’t want to miss my babe’s birth!’. I’d rather feel the cut then be put under. Or, even worse, be put under and *still* feel the cut (my dad actually woke up in the middle of one of his surgeries).
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Pur^7 Reply:
January 31st, 2012 at 2:39 pm Pur^7(Quote)
@Jespren: I, too, am immune to numbing medications. I had a long discussion with my anesthesiologist before having a surgery recently who told me the process they used to put people under general anesthesia. It’s pretty cool, but suffice it to say they monitor your level of consciousness and I did not wake up during the surgery, so no worries!
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