Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Feb
9
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Thoughtful Thursday! “…You’re A Smart Woman & You Make Your Own Decisions.”
“Well, I don’t agree with it and I wish you wouldn’t but you’re a smart woman and you can make your own decisions.” – Family Practice Doctor to mother who was planning an unassisted childbirth.
There are 16 comments to this post.
I do like this comment- the practitioner is making his professional opinion known in a *gasp* professional manner without belittling the mother. And he has really hit the crux of the issue- women can make their own decisions, even if they aren’t necessarily good ones from a health outcomes point of view.
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This doctor is also a woman and the practice owner. We also disagree about which vaccines and when but she signs whatever I need to keep the school happy.
Its so nice finally having a doctor I can discuss things with.
I will say the one sad thing is that I got a very bad respiratory illness around 24 weeks pregnant and they saw me but told me they couldn’t see me again for any reason unless I brought in a note that I had seen an OB or midwife.
They weren’t mean about it but because they are Family Practioners that used to attend births and no longer do because of the malpractice insurance costs they were too scared that they’d get in trouble.
Which meant that I ended up UPing too!
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Jade Reply:
February 11th, 2012 at 3:14 am (Quote)
I find it impossible to comprehend why a FP would not see you. In Australia GPs generally do a lot of your prenatal care anyway and would see you regardless. And what is UPing?
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Lori Reply:
February 11th, 2012 at 3:15 pm (Quote)
UP – unassisted pregnancy.
Here pregnant women are supposed to see an OB for everything because everyone else is too scared too touch them.
Another mom in the area had a similar issue where she had a cough and ended up going to the ER for care where they admitted her to Labor and Delivery before anyone would prescribe her any medication.
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Lucky to have a medical community that is kind to you.
Having a child who was hospitalized due to an infection caught from a child who was not vaccinated, I wish medical practitioners would be less supportive of those who make this choice.
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C.Pratt Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 6:20 pm (Quote)
I’m sorry if this sounds rude, but that makes no sense. Are you saying your child was vaccinated against the thing they were hospitalized for? Do you see the flaw in the logic of that at all? I ask you to rethink your assumptions please. Most cases, (depending on outbreak) like 3/4 or so, of infectious disease actually occure in the vaccinated population. Some people don’t know that,oh heck, most people don’t know that. Look beyond the hype Elise.
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Lori Reply:
February 11th, 2012 at 3:18 pm (Quote)
Dear Elise,
Perhaps then my doctor should get to pick which children will be used as organ donors for those that need organs?
Vaccines are not harmless. As it happens I do vaccinate (although I support parents in whatever educated decision they make) but I am not willing to risk frying my child’s brain for someone else’s child’s benefit. I need to see a significant benefit to _my_ child before I will use a vaccine.
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Kit Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 6:23 pm (Quote)
My nephew caught mumps at a few days old when a crazy (not for lack of vaccines, but for other reasons) relitive brought her unvaccinated son to the hospital KNOWING he had mumps.
Thankfully my nephew is fine now, but it was a very scary time. So its possible for a child to catch diseases because of parents who refuse to vaccinate. Still, it *is* a parent’s choice, I just wish if parents are going to not vaccinate (or if they do and the kid still catches the illness) they would keep the kid at home until they are well. Being immuno-suppressed myself, I really don’t feel its a unreasonable request. i will keep my pneumonia and whatever that flu last month was in my own home if parents of sick kids can do the same. And trust me, you don’t want your kid to catch the bug going around our house. I have no connection to your (general you, not you in particular. For all i know you are very careful not to spread your family’s sicknesses, and if that’s true, thank you very much. 
) kid and *I* don’t want your kid to catch this.
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Billie Jo Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 10:35 pm (Quote)
MOST parents who do not vaccinate will not knowingly risk the exposure of the public if their child is sick. If anything they tend to be even more watchful of illness and stay home if they think a illness is present.
I am sorry your Nephew caught Mumps but I am surprised they even allowed an ill child on the maternity floor. Every hospital I have ever been to has a policy in place that if a visiting child is ill in any way they are not allowed on the ward.
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Lori Reply:
February 13th, 2012 at 10:03 am (Quote)
I am sorry for your situation. However, to my mind it emphasizes why it is crucial to have medical professionals that _will_ dialouge with everyone despite their opinion.
When doctors are mean/insulting/refuse to treat families who don’t vaccinate or selectivley vaccinate (or don’t have a ceserean after 3 generations of their family “needed” one -we have loooooooong first labors) it means we have no one we trust to call and say, “Hey my kid is sick w/ XYZ. How long is he contagious?”
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Kit Reply:
February 13th, 2012 at 11:06 am (Quote)
Nephew and Relitve’s Kid have the same pediatrician. He says he told Relitive NOT to take the child anywhere until he was well. And I’m pretty sure he isn’t insulting, he found us an alternitive to a particular vaccine my cousin was afraid of for her daughter. It ended up being more shots but is believed to be much safer.
But I absolutely agree that doctors should listen. I think some vaccines nare neccisary (heck, I even agreed to recieve a whooping cough vaccine for the good of our families babies, and I LOATHE needles with a passion) But I think ultimatly a parent needs to make the most educated choice for their own child’s best interests.
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Mamaspud had this to say,
Feb 10, 2012 @ 8:43 pm (Quote)
(cant reply to @C.Pratt and elise -on my phone) Not to get in the middle of a potential vaccination war, but…
It’s possible Elise’s child might not have been old enough to have received the vaccine yet. But perhaps the carrier was old enough but chose not to vaccinate. See what I’m saying? My one month old was hospitalized for meningitis and certainly wasn’t old enough to have ANY shots at all. Is that what happened Elise?
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C.Pratt Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 9:21 pm (Quote)
I’m not an expert on the subject by far, so my son is fully vaccinated based on the same logic you state here. I do want to mention though, that most vaccination boosters have been given by 3 months from what I can tell, and that I read -somewhere- that vacs before a year are not all too affective (I’m sorry I am not providing citations on this, as I really don’t spend much time on this crunchy subtopic).
To address your main point: It is entirely possible her child was not vaccinated due to age, and I recognize that, so that is why I asked my first question above. Sorry if that wasn’t clear. And if indeed this was the case the rest of my blathering would be admittedly pointless
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This is very similar to what the OB said with my 5th child. She ended up being my first hospital birth due to PROM at 20 weeks. He wanted to hospitalize me on bedrest starting at week 24. I declined and stayed on bedrest at home instead. He disagreed, and asked me at each weekly appointment if I was ready to be admitted, but he never pushed it. I appreciated him not trying to scare me or bully me.
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