i guess so much comes down to what you accept as gospel. my ob said even with full blown GD he doesn't set an induction date until he can see signs that there is risk to the baby or parent - he scans at every appointment - refuses to look for "large" baby - he ONLY checks blood flow through the cord to ensure there is no reason to take action. yes, some OB's may work differently to this, but again, it comes down to education.
fortunately there IS a lot of information out there for pregnant women to access (in comparison to what you can access about something like carpel tunnel release surgery) - and so much of what you get from your doctor comes down to what you're prepared to ask. i don't walk out of any appointment without all my questions answered - it's something i refuse to do. but that's ME. i guess it comes back to society as a whole. if we (in general) want childbirth to be viewed as a natural and normal part of life, what need is there for you to be educated in detail by a medical professional?? there is a LOT of emphasis on ensuring Ob's are only involved in "abnormal" birth - that is their specialty. so it comes down to finding a balance of resources. why, if we want them ONLY involved in abnormal birthing situations, should they spend hours explaining to us what a "normal" birth involves.
having specialised surgery (ie carpal tunnel release) isn't an every day event. child birth is. IF society wants child birth to STOP being seen as a "medical" condition (which i agree with) society as a whole, also needs to take responsibility for normal education - if it's not a "medical" condition why should "medical" professionals and "medical" resources be used to educate people???
yes, i'm argumentative today (and i'm damn good at it
) but i'm trying to make a point - you can't expect the medical community to step away from the birthing process and yet still invest time and resource into educating as to what is and isn't normal. you can't judge those that aren't educated on what is normal for believing in the medical professionals around them if the only option to get information is via that same medical professional! if you want to de-medicalise birth, you need to de-medicalise the education process! you can't do a half-assed job of it!
i will stand by my earlier statements that we need to be VERY careful how things are worded in a thread like this. yes, being told at 30 weeks that you'll need to be induced because you're likely to have a large baby again is a crock - however, we don't KNOW what the context of the conversation was. we dont KNOW how traumatic the initial birth was for the mother. was don't KNOW why the decision to induce early was made. yes, it's sad. but we don't KNOW and can't judge. the emotional and physical trauma of a large baby getting stuck and having to be ripped from it's mothers pelvis in a c/s can impact a mother forever. my SIL is, 7 years after this happened with her son, STILL traumatised by that birth. so yes, it's good to be educated, but being educated and STILL making a decision that goes against the grain doesn't mean you're making a mistake.
and again, from a first time mother perspective - it feels VERY judgemental when your choices to follow your Ob/GP/midwife are being called into question. we all have our own reasons for choosing our mode of care, our own reasons for putting our faith in these individuals etc. it's not nice to read comments that insinuate that you're "blindly" being led by a medico. no doubt there are people who have blind faith in their medico, but most of us are smart enough to question the comments and decisions at every appointment. i'm not "blindly" being led and the insinuation that i (or any other first timer) am is just offensive.
THIS is why i'm in here again - to try to ask people to show respect. just because our decisions aren't your decisions, just because our choices may mean we fall outside the realm of "normal" birth doesn't mean we're being led astray by our carers. they're OUR decisions and should be respected!
ETA - lulu - if you're going to quote me, please quote the WHOLE statement so that you get the FULL context of my statement. the statement i made was
if someone goes around reading the Ob bashing that seems to be happening in threads like this, they may decide just to ignore the advice WITHOUT educating themselves. if you're uneducated and blindly trust a forum of this sort, you MIGHT put yours or your childs life at risk. i'm quite sure those ladies who've had late onset and severe pre-eclampsia would kick themselves if they'd decided to ignore their Ob's advice to be induced (Hollye?) and something gone wrong for themselves or their baby. i'm sure, in the heat of the moment, some of those ladies HAD to have blind faith in their carers. what a horrible thought - to put your faith in the people that saved you and your child...
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And it's not just Obs that perpetrate it - it can be any pregnancy care provider. Just as many women have the **** scared out of them about big babies by midwives too.
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well said!
Ryn, I acknowledge that you found your first birth experience to be beyond awful. I am convinced however, that there could be a way for your second birth (if you have another bub) to be different, as in better, without needing to freebirth. Now, I don't know what that would take, I don't know the UK system. It might take a lot. You might need to hire an expensive midwife/doula, you might need to birth in a different country (can't tell you how often I've dreamed of moving to NZ just for the birthing options!).
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