OK. What I’m about to blog about is probably controversial and some won’t agree with my opinion on this.( i want to emphasize OPINION). But here goes:

My patient last night was a 35 years old having her second baby.  BUT:

A: She was a non-compliant gestational diabetic.  She happily admitted to eating what she wanted, not taking her insulin or even checking her blood sugars.  When I asked why, she said “I don’t believe in that.”  I checked her sugar.  It was 693.

693

yeah…………

B: She was here for an induction because she was past her due date.  41 weeks and 2 days.  When I asked why did she decide to wait so long to be induced, especially since she was a gestational diabetic and they tend to have bigger babies, she replied: “Well, my first baby was 9 pounds and I got her out with no problem.”

I looked at her belly.  That aint’ no 9 pounder in there I thought.

C: She had a birthing plan.  Now.  In labor and delivery,we nurses call birthing plans c section plans. Yes.  I know.  It’s like failing a person before they even start.  The reason we always say that is because you CAN’T plan labor.  Especiallyif you are being induced.  Nature is out the window. When you try to mess with what nature has planned( especially since you are already being induced), you usually hit a brick wall.  The c section wall.

But Ok, whatever.  It’s your labor, “do you” I always say.

If you don’t want pain meds and want to roll around on the birthing ball, or sit in the rocking chair, that’s up to you.  Whatever gets the baby out happy and safely.

But her baby started having deep decelerations in it’s heart rate. 

 Finally, after a particularly long deceleration, the doctor explained that a c section might be best.  It had been 10 hours, and there was no change in her cervix AT ALL.  And the baby’s head was still waaaaaaay high.

The doctor and I had come to the same conclusion: the baby was too big for her.( I empahzise HER because I have seen a 13 pound baby come out of an intact vagina.)

She refused.  For the next 2 hours, I listened helplessly as that baby’s heart rate went down down and down over and aver and over again.  the doctor tried to explain that the baby’s brain was being deprived of oxygen EACH and EVERY time the deceleration happened.  She explained over and over that this could lead to brain damage.

No c section. For the next 3 hours, she refused.

Finally, after a series of back and forths, she consented.

The baby came out blue, not breathing, stained green from meconium and 12 pounds 8 ounces.

This folks, is what happens when you are non compliant and do not listen to your Dr.

ALL of this could have been prevented if she

1. monitored her diabetes
2. got induced at the recommended 38 weeks for a gestational diabetic
3. listened to her Dr when she said we needed to do a C Section the first time.

Yes, I believe in inductions.  For the right medical reasons.  Normally, I believe in Pitocin.  It gets the job done when it is used in the correct manner.  Induction does not always lead to c section even though it did in this case.   So there is no need to resist/deny one just because you want to go “natural.”

Everything has it’s place.

I have no problem with a mom going natural.  When a woman and her family are prepared and know what they are getting into, it is a beautiful thing!  But I also want women out there to acknowledge that just because you had a c section or took an epidural, or had pitocin does not make you a failure as a woman or as a mother!  I see so many women cause unnessesary damage to themselves and their babies all in the name of going natural and delivering vaginally. 

Sometimes It’s just not meant to work out that way! 

Isn’t the most important thing supposed to be a healthy mom and a healthy baby?

I know, there are concerns about breastfeeding after a c section.  I’ve seen the majority of my patients who WANT to breastfeed, go on to do so depsite the c section.  I had one myself and went on to breatfeed for almost 11 months.  WITH NO PROBLEMS.

Bonding: that baby knows you are his momma.

I end this by saying that miraculously, that baby is alive in the NICU intubated to help him breathe.  His welcome into the world was more traumatic than it had to be.  I want women to read this rambling post of mine and realize that when you are a mom, your baby comes first.  It’s not always about you.  And what you want.  Sometimes it becomes about what the baby needs.