Saturday, January 1, 2011

Meet Dr. Justin Case

Meet Dr. Justin Case! (Click on this link to read the story)

This was one of the scariest, and most aggravating, articles I've ever read. Although we didn't have an experience like this at all, it could have become something like it very quickly. Our doctor is wonderful, but like Dr. Justin Case, he suggested/recommended things "just in case". I turned down two inductions that he gallantly scheduled me, and I was prepared to refuse many other treatments should the words "just in case" arise. I didn't have gonorrhea or syphilis, so the eye ointment for "just-in-case" infections after Lydia was born went out the window. So did glucose for "just in case" low blood sugar after birth (she latched on and ate a full meal 10 minutes after she was born).

In my birth plan, I had written that I wanted to deliver the placenta naturally, without the use of Pitocin or external uterine massage to stimulate a rushed delivery. I'm not sure where the disconnect was, because most of our birth plan was followed to a T, but when the time came after Lydia was born to leave us alone and let me do my thing again, I found my stomach being strongly massaged and a shot of Pitocin in my thigh, all during the time when Charlie and I were looking at Lydia for the first time. I looked between my legs at our doctor (who was a stand-in for our regular doctor) and gave a look of complete disbelief, and she said, "It's because of the risk of hemorrhage." She then yanked on the cord and pulled my placenta out. I was so dazed and confused, and had no idea why my wishes went unheard. Although I remember asking why I had delivered my placenta exactly OPPOSITE how I'd asked, I never got a clear answer. If it was a necessary procedure, then fine. But I have a feeling that it wasn't. My time with our new daughter was compromised, and I felt taken advantage of; was it that I was distracted and they used the opportunity to do their normal routine, foregoing what I had specifically said I wanted? Or was my tear (a 2nd degree periurethral tear, it basically tore up instead of down) bleeding too much and they wanted to get my placenta delivered and my bottom stitched up quickly?

I plan on asking at my next appointment. I'm not out to "get" anyone with it, but would really like to know why my call for natural went unheard, or unexplained. Was it "Just in Case" something would go wrong? Or was it something else? Has anyone else had this?

In that realm, does ANYONE do a birth plan anymore? There are so many traumatic birth/postpartum stories I am hearing that make me sick to my stomach. Without going into detail too much, my fiance's family members dealt with a sickening ordeal at their hospital after the birth of their son. Even though the doctor checked and said he was absolutely fine and okay to breastfeed (which he was doing with great gusto anyway), one of the nurses deemed him tongue-tied, clipped his tongue, gave him a bottle of FORMULA and sent him back to his mom. He wasn't able to nurse after that for quite some time, and the hospital made them sign a consent form AFTER THE FUCKING FACT to cover their FUCKING asses! I'm getting teary and outraged just recalling this story! And there are MORE! There are MORE stories just like theirs where they were emotionally compromised at their most vulnerable points. I HATE that we as mothers, and our babies and families, suffer for this!

Is anyone else out there mad about things like this? Or do my thoughts and feelings fall to the wayside, put out of mind because it's really the doctors who "know" best? Are any moms in my area seeking something against the norm in family health? Are we willing to take what our doctors say with a grain of salt and do our own research?

In our case, our doctor didn't know best. I was scheduled twice for an induction because he thought we were going way past our due date. I delivered Lydia at a supposed 41 1/2 weeks after 36 hours of naturally-occuring (and perhaps induced, winkwinkwink) labor, and the nurses and attending doctor said she showed NO signs of going past a due date, saying she was, and I quote, "a perfect 40 week baby".

UGH!

3 comments:

  1. YES! A spot to post a comment :)
    I am curious to know who your doctor was. We had Crabtree, and he pushed me to be induced with Stella. She was due on 07.28, and that was the day he scheduled the induction for. Lucky for me, I took a 3 mile walk the night before and bounced like a mad woman on my exercise ball. This definitely "induced" labor and I had her with no problem the next day without the Pitocin.
    I totally understand what you mean when you say that sometimes doctors and nurses think they "know best" and do things "just in case". This was an issue I was worried about as well. One of my concerns was having an appeaseatimy (wow... bad spelling I'm sure!). I read a lot about them and was adamant that I was not having one. Luckily, the doctor I chose was against them, so that wasn't a fight. I did have issues with the nurses offering bottles and pacifiers after I specifically said NO.
    Keep educating moms, Katie! There are so many scary things when you go through child birth the first time. And doctors can use this to their advantage. They convince us to do things we wouldn't be comfortable with or would question for the sake of our babies and our own "health".
    Great blog. I love reading it :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment is from Jenny Revermann!

    Fortunately, I have had wonderful births with an amazing midwife out of the twin cities. After moving to Slayton and deciding we were going to drive to the cities when labor began we got a lot of criticism. What if something happens? What if you can't make it there? Even "We will see about that" from the midwife we were seeing here. At 20 weeks we started seeing my midwife in the cities and then found a midwife to see from 32 weeks until delivery around here that was very supportive of our plan. Yes, I will admit there were plenty of things I did not realize I could decline with my first child but by the time our 4th was born we did many things differently.
    Unfortunately our second child was born prematurely and I had an IV place since we did not have a Group B strep result and I was running a fever but I felt that my midwife thought this medically necessary and not just something that "needed to be done". My midwife delivered and he was immediately whisked away since he was not breathing. I was left alone in a recovery room for 2 hours in shock and worrying about my baby. During his 5 week stay in the NICU, the pediatrician decided he needed a blood transfusion and began it without a consent form signed! I was not very happy. When it came to do a Hep B vaccine in the hospital I had signed a form declining it. Later the pediatrician and nurses pressured us into signing the consent for it saying "just in case" because of his blood transfusion. Should I be concerned that Hepatitis can be found in our blood banks today? If so, why were we as parents not asked to donate blood for him? My husband is type O! Was the transfusion really necessary? I ask myself all these questions now but at the time I was extremely vulnerable and very emotionally stressed. So frustrating!! It still makes me upset today - 3 1/2 years later.
    Katie - this is a great blog! I love reading it! I read the article also and it really gets your emotions going! Thanks for sharing all you insights and opinions! It's wonderful to see other people have beliefs similar to mine when it comes to so many topics related to children.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Katie, I miss you so much and I love reading your blog. That being said, I have to wonder after reading this entry and the article if it is the doctors and nurses to blame for these "just in cases." Our society as a whole is lawsuit happy and our health care system is their main target. Indeed, Drs are afraid to diagnose health problems until it's too late or recommend diet and exercise as a remedy for fear of being sued for malpractice. I think that we need to look at ourselves first before placing blame.

    ReplyDelete