Babies: 9 - 12 Months

OK I read the 3rd tri c/s PPD post

and I kind of agree with her.  Now granted, she has never given birth and doesn't know WTF she is talking about LOL.

But--I do think there are too many medical interventions being done needlessly and too many c/s and too many inductions.  And there is a link between c/s and PPD.

A healthy mom and baby is the most important thing, obviously.  But how a woman feels about her birth does matter.  And if she feels pushed into a c/s that may not have been necessary, it can contribute to PPD and that can affect how she cares for her child.  PPD is awful and maybe if we could change some of how birth is handled, we could help more women.  

Our bodies were made to give birth--not in the sense that no one ever needs medical interventions.  Of course they do.  Recently I posted the story about non-doctors doing c/s in rural Africa to show how lucky we are to have obstetricians, quality hospitals and safe c/s.  I am grateful for that.  But I say it in the sense that I think we can do away with some of the routine interventions that medical studies have shown are not effective, and that we can safely reduce our c/s rate. 

But as a mother, I also understand that when you are being told to have an induction or a c/s and it's your precious baby on the line, not some statistic, it's a totally different ballgame.  Who is going to refuse a c/s their doctor recommended, or an induction, to bring down those numbers?  Not me.  That's what the OP didn't understand because she has never had to face that choice.

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Re: OK I read the 3rd tri c/s PPD post

  • Yes

    I was just reading through all of that c/s-PPD stuff, and you just put everything into words for me. 

    I lurve you.

    I agree that we are BLESSED to have OBs and interventions when necessary. I also am an advocate of natural birthing. But I believe wholeheartedly that there has to be a better balance. Not everyone is able (or willing) to give birth vaginally or naturally, but I do wish that interventions were not used so irresponsibly sometimes. 

    I say this as someone who has had one very high intervention birth (that we luckily didn't need a c/s in the end) and one totally natural birth. Even if looking back, most of the interventions I had with Evan were actually due to my hospital's stupid policies and the fact I had a voluntary induction - IN the moment, I made the choices to agree to everything because I truly felt that my son's best interests were at stake.

    What I went through during labour with him, and how powerless I felt after it - like it had all happened TO me, without much participation on my part, did contribute to my PPD, I feel. It's not totally unbelievable for me to see the connection. Some people aren't emotionally affected by their births, and some are. 

  • iris427iris427 member
    Exactly, Mrs. P.
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    Big sister {September 2008} Sweet boy {April 2011} Fuzzy Bundle {ETA July 2014}

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  • ITA. I'm glad now that my OB doesn't automatically schedule inductions for 41 weeks. I was upset at the time, but then I went into labor on my own at 41w, 1 day and had a quick, easy vaginal delivery. I was having non stress tests regularly, so we knew the baby was safe. But had my baby been in jeopardy, I would have let them do whatever to get her out of there safely.
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  • Now see, your post makes complete sense, and she just sounded like a moron.

    You're right about medical interventions being somewhat forced. ?I felt really pressure to induce when my water broke and contractions didn't immediately follow. ?I would have liked to have been strong enough to wait for labor to kick in on it's own, but I wasn't going to risk infection and other complications.

    I`m so grateful for my awesome OB and a great hospital. ?

    Great post.?

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  • I also don't see what the big deal was.

    There is nothing wrong with encouraging women or trying to inform them. Honestly, what's wrong with watching the Business of Being Born when pregnant? I would have never even considered a natural birth had I not seen it. I would have done whatever my doctor told me. I don't think a lot of women know that there are decisions that they can make and that don't necessarily need to be made by the doctor... and that sometimes a doctor's decision may lead to something that they weren't banking on.

    I went into L&D with the idea that I would go with the flow and see what happened, and was fortunate enough to have the med-free birth that I wanted. I also told my doctor that I did not want to be induced and would go the whole 2 weeks past my due date without it if all was okay, and I'd go longer if I had the choice. Thank goodness I wasn't too overdue.

    Women do have the right to birth the way they want, but I don't think everyone is fully aware of what choices they actually have and what effects those decisions have, and I saw that post as more of a PSA. Maybe I am still naive. I know that a lot can go wrong during labor and delivery, and know that there is a place for medical intervention but it doesn't always have to be the first step.

    And I think wishing a bad birth experience on anyone is pretty crappy.


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  • Perfectly said, iris.  Her post came off as sweet, earnest, and admittedly naive about something she has never been through yet. 

    But even though it may have been said without some necessary tact, she was not wrong.  And some of the responses to her were shocking in their nastiness.

  • Iris - I believe I was promised a rant, related the birth story where the doctor told her she would probably never go into labor, at 38 weeks. Now seems like a good time...Smile
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  • Iris, I agree with you completely.  The OP's naive hubris (not the word I want but close enough) about it kind of rubbed me the wrong way but I agreed with a good bit of what she posted. 

  • lanie26lanie26 member
    I said this last night, so I agree. It was much ado about nothing.
  • Honestly, she sounded a whole lot like us when we were in 3rd tri!! Things change though, and you can want with all your might for it to go one way and it doesn't go that way.

    I also believe that there are direct correlations with how the birth goes, and the aftermath. I truly feel that my PPD was a result of me just not being happy with how things went down compounded by the WTF factor of having a newborn and dealing with the recovery from a c/s.  I agree with Mrs. P's point above that some people are emotionally affected by their births, and some are not.

    I also believe our bodies were made to handle birthing in general, but interventions are also necessary in some cases. It's the cases where they aren't necessary that I think gets everyone all heated, because well, it's creating needless intervention which could lead to emotions after birth about the experience itself.  There has got to be a better balance.  

    I do agree that she sounded cooky in her wording, but dude, so did we.  So did we!! :o)

  • iris427iris427 member
    haha blondie!
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  • ITA! On an individual basis I think a lot of people are really sensitive about this, and you can't really argue with someone (and why would you want to) who says a particular intervention saved their life or their baby's life.

    But taken as a whole, if you just look at the apparent stats on this board (or the national or regional stats), they don't jive with ACOG recommendations. It seems like a ton of people jumped out last night saying 'I would have died without a c-section'. I am so glad that none of us died, and that our babies are ok, but TBH I really don't believe that so many of us needed those interventions. I wouldn't want to pick out who did or didn't, because I'm not qualified to do so, but I just don't believe it was that many.

    Plus I think the OP was more aiming at women who choose a high intervention, medicated birth out of fear or insecurity, and that definitely happens. I have met several women who are terrified of giving birth, and she was attempting to give a 'you go girl' kind of encouragement to them.

    You're so right about facing the situation yourself, though. I think you can put yourself in the best hands and best place possible, but at the end of the day you have to be able to trust the people attending you. Even my c/s, which was for breech and therefore neither 'emergency' nor strictly necessary, is something I probably could have fought. But not having an OB who is experienced or willing to attend a vaginal breech birth, I was totally prepared to have a c/s in that situation.

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