elective ceasarian at public hospital

hi guys this question is on behalf of a friend of mine. She had a very difficult birth with her first child. the labour went for ages and baby was born blue with umbilical cord around his neck. (thankfully he is fine now). She is now pregnant with her second and attending a public maternity hospital. She is so stressed about the same thing happening and asked her doctor if she could have a caesarian. He was so arrogant to her and dismissed her worries. Surely shouldnt she have the option to choose.She cant even sleep at night due to the worry.

Tianar,

Can she discuss the issue with her GP or the midwives who are doing her shared care? Maybe they can help her out a bit.

The doctor she spoke to may not be on duty when she delivers so perhaps a few other opinions might be of benefit.

Regards,

Mel

im actually going to suggest to her to seek a second opinion from another (hopefully more sympathetic doctor) from the same hospital. The first doctor sounded like such an arragont person. He actually rolled his eyes when she spoke of the stress she was under.Considering her first born almost died and they had to wait years to find out if he had any lasting damage from being deprived of oxygen it makes me sick to hear of his cavalier attitude. I wonder why he became an obstetrician in the first place.

its horrible hearing such bad stories of obs.

it upsets me to think that they are in the profession they are.

hope she finds someone who can help her.

Sorry to hear about your friend. What state is she from? city? then we can help recommend OBs to you?

Bel

Shes from WA and the only hospitals available for her are King Edward or Woodside

When Angus was born he had the cord around his neck 4 times and there was also a true knot in the cord. Thankfully he was fine but it has taken me ages to get the what ifs out of my head.
I had a fantastic chat with my OB at the 10 week visit for this PG about the possibility of it happening again and he totally put my mind at ease. Basically he said it happens so much it is a non event. They see knots and cords around necks all the time. My OB kind of shrugged it off but I don't think he was arrogant about it. Maybe that was her OB's way of trying to communiate to her that it a common thing.

Tianar, (hugs) for your freind - its awful meeting such an unsympathetic care provider. He obviously had a terrible bedside manner but he may just feel that since every pregnancy and every birth is differant the chances of this happening again are very slim and probably don't warrent the risks associated with a c-section. Despite the fact that its a very common operation and people tend to see it as an easy option its far from being risk free for mothers or babies. Our bodies are designed to recover from childbirth far more rapidly than from a c-section which involves cutting through layers of muscle and tissue. On top of that there is the risk of infection. When we go into labour naturally our babies' breath differantly for a couple of days before hand which is a final step for breathing air not amniotic fluid when we have a scheduled c-section (usually at about 38 weeks)our babies don't get the oppurtunity to prepare thier lungs for breathing outside which is why so many babies delivered via scheduled c-section need help to start breathing.
I have no doubt that your friend's labour and birth experience was really horrible and traumatic so it may be of benefit to her to talk to a differant Dr at her hospital about her fears and recieving some counselling before she makes a final desicion.
I hope she has a happy and healthy pregnancy and her baby is delivered safely, whatever method she chooses.

If the eye rolling ob is from king eddy....i know exactly what your friend is talking about. :fuming:

You should definetly get your friend to ask for a 2nd opinion and also request that she dosnt get said ob again when she go's in for later appointments.

Might also help her to see a gp between her appointments to ease her worries as public hospital appointments have pretty big gaps between them.

It may also be helpful for your o get some info for herself on the risks of it, how common it is as much info as she can. I think almost all my clients have had babies with the cord around at least once. It is common and having a c/s may not stop this from harming the baby. If the cord is very short and strangles the baby this can occer before birth and can not be helped no matter the mode of birth.

Ideally you friend might find it helpful to talk to a pregnancy and birth counsellor. Fear wont help her either way. Talking to someone experienced and empathy can help tremendisly. Ultimatly you can also keep seeing different care providers until she feels heard.

Cheers