HELP! Refusing Interventions Gently

BalancingJane · May 2016

I haven't been on this forum since I was pregnant with my daughter more than five years ago, but I just got some news from my OB that has me seeking some advice.

I'm almost 38 weeks pregnant with my second baby, and I've had a pretty uneventful, healthy pregnancy thus far. At around 33 weeks, the baby started measuring (by fundal height) two weeks ahead, so I was scheduled for a growth u/s last week. The estimated weight at 37 weeks was 8.5 lbs, with a projection for an 11 lb baby. My OB automatically recommends c-section for anything over 90th percentile, and this baby measured at 91st percentile.

She knows how important it is to me to avoid unnecessary interventions, and the EXACT same thing happened with my daughter. They told me she would be 11 lbs and started trying to convince me to schedule a c-section or early induction. I went into labor on my due date, had her (unmedicated) the next day, and she weighed 9 lbs.

Because she knows how much I want to avoid a c-section if possible, she is giving me until 39 weeks to go into labor on my own. I am dilated to a two, have been having some off and on contractions that fall into a pattern (4 hours at 12 minutes apart; a week later 2 hours at 8 minutes apart, etc) and showing signs of progression. But if I haven't gone on my own, she wants to break my water at 39 weeks.

I have been thinking a lot about it, and I don't want to do it. I honestly don't believe that this baby is going to be 11 pounds, and I don't think that the single risk of a suspected "big baby" is enough to weigh out the multiple risks of a c-section, including my heightened risk factors for post-partum depression that I fear will be exacerbated by a more isolating recovery.

Unless there is some medical indication that the baby needs to be born sooner, I want to go until my due date without such drastic interventions. I know that if they break my water, I'm on the clock. I'm willing to do membrane sweeps and will continue to do the squats and exercise ball motions she recommended. But when it comes down to it, I want to wait as long as the baby and I are both healthy enough to do so.

I know I have the right to refuse interventions, but I want to do it in a way that shows my care provider that I hear her concerns and value her opinion. I do believe she is hearing me and trying to work with me, and I don't want to make this situation more combative than it needs to be. Does anyone have any advice on how to have this conversation?

rooftop · May 2016

I would start by asking open ended questions such as, what research makes her feel that a big baby is even an issue?, what other options for helping labor along might there be, and when is the latest date she is comfortable with waiting until? Good luck

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