Two Tips from Child Prep Class

jocie2581 · September 2013

Hey, took a child prep class yesterday. Learned two tips that I thought I’d pass along. (Might be obvious to others, but as a FTM I appreciated the advice)

1) Since we’ll be delivering in the fall there will be a bunch of new interns and residents in the hospital. Insist that the attending does your epidural.

2) Get in the habit of audio recording your doctor visits. Specifically when you’re in the hospital post-delivery. Doctors make their rounds at 6:30/7 am and it will be hard to remember and relay to others what they say. And perhaps more importantly once the pediatrician visits start. We will be sleep deprived and likely to forget all that was discussed.

JaysonandKristin · September 2013

SJacques7 said:

Agree with the first! But that doesn't just apply to fall. I had an intern do my spinal for DD in April and he stabbed me 6 times before my nurse noticed what was going on and said enough. The attending got it on the first try. It hurt like hell! That was the only bad experience from my csection.

Ya know... I'm second guessing my post. I don't want to scare anyone. Sorry!!

rbtrumpet · September 2013

haha - on #1, we had 2 nurses in my birthing class last week, and they actually said be happy we're not due in June/July because that's when all the interns first start, so at least by Nov they should have some practice.

I hadn't heard/thought of #2, but with my memory, that's a good idea!

Karadee1 · September 2013

#2 sounds like a good idea, or even just having your SO/support person make notes when the docs are talking. I spent some time in the hospital in my 26th week and it was so hard to remember what the morning docs were saying...and I didn't have any babies then!

SV917 · September 2013

Yeah, residents and interns start in July, so they should have a couple months of experience by the time November comes along.

Make sure you have your doctor's permission to record if you decide to do that. Depending on which state you live in it could be illegal to secretly record a conversation. Also, the doctor might not consent for legal reasons. I would be a little nervous if a patient asked to record what I said, as if they are setting up for the malpractice lawsuit. Having your SO take notes sounds like a better idea.

meabtahi · September 2013

On the intern/resident post keep in mind an anesthia residency is 4 years of training and interns are 99% of the time only observing so chances are you will get someone with a couple of years under their belt of training. Attendings also typically let their residents do this procedure so if you are at a teaching hospital the resident may vary well have much more recent experience then the attending. Just some food for thought as I know several anethesiologists both as attendings and in residency

mmm50 · September 2013

We had our after-care class at the birth center this week and the nurse and the second-time moms had one piece of advice: TAKE THE STOOL SOFTENERS! The moms said even if you weren't someone that normally needs them because you're so sore and digestions slows way down during labor-- they all recommended them. That's something I would have never thought about.

MannaPants · September 2013

I plan on going med-free, but this makes me so glad my hospital isn't a teaching one.

jocie2581 · September 2013

I completely agree, you should definitely get permission from your dr before you record. And explain that it's because you have an awful memory/sleep deprivation.

When I was on hospital bed rest a few weeks ago for five days, I got in the habit of emailing my DH a bullet-ed list of what the dr said during the 7 am visits. That worked fine, so perhaps instead of audio recording I will immediately write everything down.

mskatiep · September 2013

Sometimes it doesn't matter if you are at a teaching hospital. I work at a military hospital and we have residents come from the med school to do their OB rotation. Normally it is only a month long and the residents are not going to practice OB. They only have to have about 30 births to complete their rotation. I wouldn't mind a resident doing my delivery if it is toward the end of the month when they have actually caught a fair amount of babies. But if I go into labor at the beginning of the month No Way, they are too nervous and too fresh for me to feel confident in their ability. You ALWAYS have the option of not even allowing them into your room if you want.

[Deleted User] · September 2013

I had a newb do my epi with DD...ended up having to get a second one. Neither worked.. Boo.

inlove0509 · September 2013

Thanks for posting! The first is a really great idea to make sure!

The second, I wouldn't consider doing personally. From my experience (although I'm a speech therapist in public school), when parents ask if they can audiotape, guards come up. I don't want to put distance between my nurses/doctor and me. Plus, there was nothing substantial doc or nurses told me after DD was born. If there was, trust me, multiple handouts and pamphlets were given to me in a big folder.

annabobo · September 2013

Also, from the get go you can say you don't want students or people who are in training. That's what we're doing.

DebateThis · September 2013

annabobo said:

Also, from the get go you can say you don't want students or people who are in training. That's what we're doing.

Thank you. My hospital is a teaching hospital and my birth plan already has a bullet point about no students/interns. Make your wishes known to DH, your nurses, and your OB/MW and there won't be issues.

Also, most hospitals send you home with a packet of newborn care instructions plus your/baby's discharge instructions so you don't really need to record the OB/pedi either - just jot down a couple notes if you feel necessary.

CarrieB. · September 2013

I think it's great to have students or residents as part of the staff, although I probably wouldn't want one doing my epi. All doctors have to learn somehow! They really won't bother you. Be open minded.

Crazy story, for my last pregnancy, the resident who was on rotation at the RE's office and was there observing for for my IVF retrieval and transfer just happened to be in rotation at my OB's and assisted my OB when I delivered DD. so she got to see her from single cells to newborn. Amazing!!!

bmqcmg · September 2013

I had a resident step in on the delivery of DD. When I went to L&D with this LO when I was having some chest problems, they put notes into the system for the delivery of LO and asked if I wanted them to make any notes. I asked them to please put in there that I don't want any residents in my room. I had a very bad experience with the resident that stepped in on DDs. He came in late and my doctor got into an argument with him while DDs head was sticking out of me! I thought I was going to kill someone because my doctor had told me not to push until he said but was to busy taking care of the resident.

I know they need to learn, but I feel like I allowed one to learn with DD that I can pass this time around.

[Deleted User] · September 2013

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SV917 · September 2013

Residents and interns are doctors. They graduated from medical school and are now training for a specific field (or an intern is getting general medicine experience before starting residency). Sure, I wouldn't want a first year associate arguing my case before the Supreme Court any more than I would want an intern performing open heart surgery on me. There are times when experience matters and obviously it's every woman's right to decide who provides her treatment, but residents are more qualified than a lot of these posts are giving them credit for.

Jodiefoffel · September 2013

I totally agree with #1. With ds2 an intern put my epidural in the "wrong space" and it froze my brain stem. This stopped heart and lung functioning for me and definitely affected babies heart rate. They wanted to do an emergency c-section. When I eventually came out of it I couldn't feel anything below my ears! Definitely asking for the attending if I decide to have an epidural again.

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