Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Feb
10
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“…I’m Going To Head Out Before This Snowstorm Hits…”
“Well, I’m going to head out before this snowstorm hits.”- OB as she was putting on her coat less than 5 min after baby was born.
There are 34 comments to this post.
On the plus side, at least the OB won’t be around to pull on the cord to get the placenta out faster!
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Heather Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 11:13 am (Quote)
He actually probably already had. I was a doula at a homebirth transfer to hospital. The birth itself ending up being really great. Baby was born at about 6 am, and the OB on call had a MARATHON to run at 7 am. He had the placenta out and the minor tear stitched in 10 minutes, maybe less. We just looked up from the baby and he was finished and leaving to go. He was fantastic for the birth though, just super fast afterwards.
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Jen Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 5:44 pm (Quote)
Seriously, a marathon? Why would he not trade call with someone else? What’s he going to do if he gets paged at mile 16?
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Heather Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 5:51 pm (Quote)
I think his shift ended right after the birth, but we all were thinking he was crazy for being up all night (and he was, he stayed with her quite a bit).
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Serene Reply:
February 16th, 2012 at 5:47 am (Quote)
Yeah but that kinda crazy can be good. It shows you care enough to think about others AROUND your social life. I mean having the placenta OUT that fast probably not good, but at least he didnt push her for a CS so he could sleep in the on-call room…
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Since Jane hasn’t gotten here yet…
“Remember, folks, this is why you have a baby in the hospital! So a qualified professional with an MD can see you through the entire process, ‘just in case’ something bad– like PP hemorrhage, shock, etc.– happens!”
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Melissa C Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 2:44 pm (Quote)
How hard must one yank on a placenta to have it out and one’s coat on 5 minutes after the baby was born? Sheesh. Safety first, birth in the hospital! :eyeroll:
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I don’t have a problem with this. I’m assuming we are in a hospital. There are plenty of nurses? Baby wasn’t just rushed to the NICU? Mom is fine, no special worries there? And snow storms severely suck. After my first c-section I don’t remember a darn thing until the next morning. After my second c-section the OB (who was wonderful) placed me in the care of the nursing staff and went off to open his office for the day. He might have stopped by during lunch or something. After my third surprise c-section, he hung out with me while I had the shakes, but I doubt it was more than 20 minutes, and that was after a 3rd emergent surgical delivery.
There is always that depressing moment when you wake up in an empty room or they have just taken your baby to the nursery and your husband has disappeared to tell the older kids, take the doula back to her car and get some sleep when you go hey wait a minute. Then some nice nurse brings you your baby and everything is okay again. Now watch the OP has something crazy going on at the time or 5 minutes later and I just stuck my foot in my mouth.
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Details Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 11:28 am (Quote)
1) Does Superman stand around after he rescues somebody? No he hands the damsel in distress to the nearest cop or EMT and disappears before you can thank him. They have to keep the swope in, save the day, and disappear act up if they want to be heros!
2) 5 minutes after the baby is born does not equal 5 minutes after the c-section is over. If any of my doctors had removed the baby, removed the placenta and told the nurses to close her up I’m outta here because of a snow storm I would have freaked out! There is a certain amount of observation that goes on during the repair stage of a c-section. I would say it take longer to close than to open.
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Jane Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 12:25 pm (Quote)
If it was a normal delivery and the placenta was already out and mom didn’t need suturing, then I agree with you.
If the doctor left before the placenta was delivered or didn’t suture the mom (or didn’t suture her properly) then the doctor needed to be reminded of why she was in this job in the first place, and that there are places for doctors to sleep in a hospital.
On the plus side, if the doctor knew she wanted to be out of there five minutes after the birth, she was probably less likely to cut an episiotomy because she’d rather gamble on no tearing so she could get out of there faster. 
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Dreamy Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 12:48 pm (Quote)
Well, yes and no. See my Jane impression above. The problem is that they don’t stick around… which on one hand might kinda be okay under normal circumstances (especially if a MW replaced them once they left) but is certainly not the impression given by the medical establishment/our culture/whatever. There’s this prevailing idea that it is SO IMPORTANT to give birth in a hospital with an OB, “just in case” something bad happens, and yet they’re often barely in the room, and much of the care given is by nurses or– let’s face it– machines. Yet having a homebirth with a midwife, who generally stays with you the entire time and is more qualified to attend to all aspects of birth than an L&D nurse (who isn’t there the entire time, either) is supposed to be terribly dangerous.
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Details Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 1:11 pm (Quote)
I liked your Jane impression.
I think the other cultural bias is that if something is going to go wrong it is at the moment of birth. That is why the doctor gets away with (and even gets extra points for) showing up at the last minute and being the frist one to leave. That is why they scream at you to push (not that I’ve had that experience (insert frowny face) That is why they are so fast to cut the cord. That is why they give you (another) dose of pit rather than put baby to breast and watch and wait. The truth is that the PP Hem might happen at 20 minutes or 4 hours. (I have a friend who was in the 4-8 hour time frame when she suddenly started bleeding.)
Probably the biggest reason midwives have such safe records is because they show up early and stick around awhile. If they ran off like doctors do plenty of women would be in serious danger.
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Dreamy Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 1:13 pm (Quote)
Yep, which is why your superhero analogy is unfortunately apt.
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Melissa C Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 2:47 pm (Quote)
It’s my standard line that I’m safer at home, attended my entire active labor by at least one experienced midwife (usually 2), than in the hospital, attended by a machine and 1/3 of a nurse (and that’s no slam on nurses who don’t determine staffing levels).
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I actually delivered in the middle of a snow storm….it began at 10 pm, I delivered my son at 1243 am. Doc was gone by 1 BUT he made sure I was stitched up (I tore due to controlled pushing =( ) and placenta was out, my stats normal and I told him to leave.
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my doc did the same thing! but I was OK with it seeing as he doesn’t leave by airplane often and he warned me that he had a plane to catch..but he did push the flight back 3 times and basically handed me my daughter, stitched me up, birthed the placenta and took off for his flight! I was SOOO happy he actually attended my birth instead of passing it off on the ON call or someone I don’t know! and he called 3 hrs later and talked to me…I loved that doctor soo much!
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My doctors left right away too. I can understand though how the mom felt seeing him do and say that.
The nurses are the ones who do all the work checking up. Besides, my doctor checked on me the next day. So if the mom is ok and baby is ok or being treated for whatever minor things there shouldn’t be a problem. Besides if baby needs help the pediatrician should be there not the OB
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In reality, the doc probably was in the hospital for a while after leaving the room – just doing the paperwork from the birth takes quite a while. And who knows what other patients were waiting to be seen – in the office, on the floors of the hospital, maybe even at another hospital! Driving in a snowstorm can be dangerous and if you don’t need to do it you should avoid it. I generally stay near but not in the room for about 1/2 hour after a mom gives birth and the placenta etc are all handled in case of issues, but really what the mom usually needs most is for everyone to leave her alone for a while to get to know the baby. I really don’t understand why this was seen as a negative comment.
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Jane Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 2:10 pm (Quote)
The OP says the doctor was putting on her coat as she said this, so she probably didn’t stay in the hospital for a while after leaving the room.
Five minutes isn’t really enough time to have delivered the placenta, which is a fairly important part of the delivery. The mom needed her provider there with her, not out the door in a hurry.
And here’s another consideration: if the doctor was really rushing to make it back home before the snowstorm, how many things were done to the mom during that birth NOT because she and the baby needed them or would benefit from them, but because the doctor only wanted to speed things up?
I don’t know how medically dangerous the situation was. THis certainly isn’t the worst quote that’s been up on this site. BUT…it shows that the doctor’s mind wasn’t really on this delivery at a time when it should have been.
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Five minutes isn’t nearly enough time to assess how well the mother’s body responded to the birth. I had a client once whose doctor appeared as the baby was crowning, then proceeded to yank the placenta out and walk out of the room. It was probably all of about 5 minutes that he was there. The mother began to bleed so heavily I thought she was going to die right in front of me. Because the doctor was so hasty to remove the mother’s placenta, he caused a catastrophe. If he’d waited until her uterus contracted on its own, or at least considered to stay after using traction to ensure she wasn’t bleeding profusely, she may have had a much better, safer experience.
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only complaint after baby #2, the OB took off.. i mean, i had kept her up all night, but i didnt get a nap until 3 hours after baby was born, after i experienced a little excessive bleeding that the nurse was too distracted to come assess because she was going to get in trouble for not doing eye ointment etc fast enough… for 10 minutes after it started. and then had to call for another nurse to help and change my whole bed, and then go get the meds the OB had left in case something did happen etc….. so i really wish she’d have just stuck around for an hour to make sure i was doing better and that the nurse was able to take care of me instead of being paranoid about timing.
ONLY COMPLAINT.
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ummm? errrm? uhhh? oookkk? uhhh? *confused* Sooo if i’m at work and a snow storm is about to hit an hour later, but I’m not scheduled to leave for another two hours, it’s OK if I pack up and leave too? Oh, wait no. I’d get FIRED.
What makes doctors think they’ve got special rights?!
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Vy Reply:
February 10th, 2012 at 11:43 am Vy(Quote)
Our job sends us home, actually. But my mom’s job wouldn’t. She works in a hospital. Kind of like the place this baby was born…
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