Strollerderby : ob-gyn

They Say: Doctors Have Feelings Too

Amy Kuras — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:32:00 GMT

Hmmm, maybe they are not coldblooded perpetrators of the "birth-industrial complex" after all: One in 10 obstetricians have been sufficiently impacted by the stillbirth or neonatal death of a baby they delivered that they have considered giving up their practice, and three quarters said they had profound anxiety, guilt and stress over such negative outcomes for their patients, according to a University of Michigan study of more than 800 OBs.

As somebody whose kids were both birthed via c-section, one emergency, one not, I am not a fan of the Ricki Lake-esque earthy-birthies in the first place. I've got no beef with midwives, homebirth, natural childbirth or anything else that lets someone give birth the way she wants, but I expect the same respect accorded to how I chose to give birth. I'm willing to concede the point that birth doesn't need to be medicalized, but some of us just do feel more comfortable with someone who went to school a lot longer than we did keeping an eye on things.

And aside from the smugness and belittling of other mothers for making dfferent decisions, my other major issue with the earthy-birthy crowd is this reflexive distrust of doctors. I was lucky enough to sort of stumble into a great OB and have heard some awful stories from others who weren't so lucky, but what this story reinforced is that most of them aren't unfeeling scalpel-wielders but people and professionals who want good outcomes for their patients.

Yet Another "Get Knocked Up Now" Story

Amy Kuras — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:33:00 GMT

Tick…tick… tick….

That's the sound of your biological clock, or it ought to be, according to this CNN story that reveals the groundbreaking news that waiting to get pregnant might make it harder.

I KNOW!! There's something we haven’t heard before, but each story boasts its own special flavor of annoying. This one comes in the form of inaccurate information from an OB-GYN quoted in the article, namely this: "The optimal time of the month for ovulation is 14 days after the first day of your last menstrual period," says Dr. Michael Randell.

Wrong, and I have two children to prove it. While it's true that ovulation comes around the middle of the cycle, cycle lengths vary from woman to woman and even month to month and ovulation can occur as early as day 10 as late as day 18 or so. The best way to know when you're ovulating is to chart your cycle for a few months using fertility awareness – which has the added benefit of maybe letting you know that you’re not ovulating at all.

Now, is there anyone left who doesn't know that fertility starts to decline at age 35? Admittedly, celebs like Julia Roberts and Geena Davis and JLo and way too many others who had that birthday in the rearview mirror years ago and refuse to cop to needing fertility treatment ("Twins run in my family" MY ASS) don’t help, but really, this should not be news to anyone. Unfortunately, life doesn't always line up with biological reality, but blaming women for waiting too long lets science off the hook for finding causes and cures for medically-based causes for infertility.

Weekly Check-Up: Natural Birth Like the Dutch

Kelly Mills — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:29:00 GMT

There's an interesting report on the Dutch tradition of giving birth from the perspective of a Reuters reporter. Basically, the Dutch believe birth optimally happens at home (30 percent of births happen this way, compared to a tiny fraction in the U.S.,) no pain medication is necessary, and that labor pains are part of the way the mother bonds with the baby. (If so, I ought to be practically fused to my child.) The bottom line is that birth is not seen as a medicalized process. Oh, and get this: A maternity nurse takes care of the family at home for a week and does cooking, cleaning, and infant care. Sign me up for that part!

While I've never been a convert to the notion of natural birth as essential--at least, not since the epidural became my BFF--I will freely admit that the Dutch system makes the whole thing sound kinda nice. However, it does sound like some feel that pain relief should be more readily available to moms in labor. As it stands now, there's no guarentee an anesthesiologist will be available, since it isn't seen as necessary. However, even those who want more options for women say it would be a shame to lose the Dutch perspective and practices in labor and delivery. But this is nice from an ob-gyn professor: "Giving birth at home, a unique Dutch tradition, should not be a goal in itself. What really matters is a good result of the pregnancy for mother and child." You said it.