Intervention: What thought disturbs you more.

[Yael]

If the head is out and not the shoulders, and i couldn't have got her out they would have given me an epi. My friend had the same experience, and even with an epi they couldn't get the baby out, and they used the vacuum to help tug her out.

If they were monitoring me after my waters broke, and she was in distress then, then i would have ended up with probably a late c/s.

Yes my waters were broken, and it was also 15 mins before she was born, so although it is technically an intervention, they were probably just about to break anyway. At which point the same thing (i.e. late distress) would have happened anyway. I declined the offer for them to be broken at 6cm (and my obs respected my choice), as i felt that it was an unnecessary intervention, and in the future i would make the same choice with subsequent births, that the waters are there to protect the baby for a reason.

The point of my story is to point out that even without obvious signs of something going wrong, things can change at the last minute, and this does lead to surigcal intervention when necessary. And i would have been happy for them to do an epi if my daughter needed it, becuase i trust my care provider that he would only do these things if necessary.

[OceanPrincess]

... becuase i trust my care provider that he would only do these things if necessary.

Hear hear

[Inertia]

Thanks for all this guys - it certainly is food for thought. I am guessing in the case of Lyta, they would have opted for a c-sec anyway if their planned induction didn't work. Of course it still annoys me that they were outside discussing "what to do with me" without involving me in the discussion at all - while I am actually delivering the baby by myself with my DH thumping the nurse call button, lol. In their opinion I had stalled (from a check they made 4 hours before hand). Another point on why I don't want the continual checks. I most certainly am not going to be rushed! Going through the public system, I wont have a choice of care provider - although my regular doctor is on the antenatal registrar at the hospital I am going to and gave me his after hours number - so they really don't want to push me to use it because my Doc is very much about supporting me - not his bank balance.

I am very much against the epi because the whole idea seems redundant when I am not at risk of tear anyway - so that will be on the plan. I really dislike the foetal monitor so can I opt for a doppler or other form of intermittent monitoring? Obviously if/when my membranes rupture spontaneously then I have no objections to them checking on my baby, but I find the monitor actually centralises contraction pain to an almost unbearable level - and then everything slows down.

I swear, if it were not for all the options my birth preferences would read like "Stand at the door and I will let you know when I am done!"