--
Anna Meenan, MD
You do not know me, I just kinda lurk and read that ob/gyn forum. i
have to admit that someof it I am shocked by.
I just wanted to tell you my experience of birth..... It was awful lol.
I had been put under alot of pressure to have an induction because I was
term+ something at the time, i eventually buckled despite knowing that I
was 2weeks less than that (I knew it the consultants etc refused to
believe me). SO in toddled with a very heavy heart. I had been looking
forward to a homebirth and it wasn't to be (although it could have been
if people had listened to me, I am a person not an incubator).
The induction was started and stopped over 3 days due to delivery rooms
being full. I was in pain, I was exhausted and I was emotionally
drained from being messed around mentally and physically. On the 4th
day they decided to break my waters if they could. Despite failing
miserably on the bishops score they did it anyway and it hurt like hell.
The contractions started and they hurt like hell too, there was no warm
up, one minute I was fine, the next I wanted to curl up and die.
I eventually relented to an epidural which had to be resited (although
they didn't believe I was suffering for 1-2 hours). I wasn't giving the
full amount of pushing time, the midwife lied to the Obs. The Obs was
very nice until I refused an episiotomy, after that he was awful, he
refused to give me a local for my second degree tear when he was
stitching. He sewed me up wrong and now I suffer pain but no one will
fix it because they have all banded together. He shoved great big
clumps of absorbent material into me so hard during stitching that it
made my body judder and as an after thought, without asking for
permission or even telling me, he shoved a suppository into me really
hard which again made my body judder.
I hurt bad after that, emotionally and physically. I am pregnant again
(still breastfeeding my daughter who is only 13 1/2 mths, this pregnancy
was an accident lol), I am terrified. Had I been given the support
throughout labour, if I had been treated like a human being, if I hadn't
been left so scarred I might not feel this way. I still have
nightmares.
I am planning a home waterbirth this time, am hoping to become an
antenatal teacher and then a midwife, I am currently training to be a
breastfeeding counsellor.
Some of what is said on the forum does offend me, simply because it is
incredibly important how a baby is born. As long as both mum and baby
are physically healthy is not enough. Whats the point in that if
through PTSD etc due to a bad birth experience caused by her treatment
she ends up feeling suicidal, self harms etc etc etc. I just feel that
sometimes the women are forgotten about and it scares me and makes me
sad. After all the suffragettes did, women still have few rights in
pregnancy and beyond.
At Fri, 27 May 2005, Anna Meenan, MD wrote:
>
>Cheri, you expressed exactly how I feel about it. I don't have your way
>with words, but you've definitely got it in a nutshell. Thanks.
>
>--
> Anna Meenan, MD
>
>At Thu, 26 May 2005, Cheri Van Hoover wrote:
>>
>>rmodugno@aol.com wrote:
>>
>>> And that doesn't hold for Cesarean birth?
>>
>>I haven't experienced Cesarean birth, and I certainly can't speak for
>>all women. I can only speak for myself.
>>
>>Labor is an extreme physical and emotional test. I'm not a marathon
>>runner or a mountain climber, but I suspect there are similarities with
>>those experiences. Not only are there physical challenges, but the
>>hormonal changes that happen during labor are profound and cause an
>>altered state of consciousness. You truly do go to a different place.
>>
>>Like all of you, I hold a healthy baby and a healthy mother as the
>>highest good and the absolute most desirable outcome of pregnancy. I am
>>not inexperienced with birth. My 30 years of experience have given me
>>considerable respect and caution. I do not consider Nature to be a
>>benevolent and kind force. Nature is fearsome in her power. Human
>>beings as a group have decided that some of Nature's apparent plan is
>>unacceptable to them. So have I. When Cesareans are necessary to
>>prevent harm to mothers and babies, I am behind them 100%.
>>
>>Not every woman chooses to experience labor in the same way. That is an
>>absolutely individual choice, which I respect and honor. I am
>>convinced, however, that doing something as profoundly difficult and
>>consciousness-altering as labor and completing it under your own power
>>can be a life-changing event in the best possible way. Laboring
>>heroically, then needing a Cesarean as a way to prevent injury to self
>>or infant is in no way inferior, but may feel less satisfying to some
>>women, just as having to drop out of a marathon because of exhaustion or
>>injury, or leaving the mountain on a stretcher instead of walking down
>>after reaching the summit may feel less satisfying to those who
>>experience those physical and mental tests.
>>
>>An amusing aside...(or amusing to me, anway)....
>>
>>I've recently returned to Washington State after living in San Francisco
>>for 32 years. I've long been a fan of mountain climbing disaster books,
>>although I've never been (and never would be) a climber. My extremely
>>loving and thoughtful daughter gave me 2 of them for Christmas. The
>>contractor who is remodeling my kitchen saw one of them on the table
>>when he came to take measurements and became very excited. Turns out he
>>has dozens of these books, but hadn't read mine yet. He returned the
>>next day with one of his favorites for me to read. I loaned him the one
>>I'd finished. Then I returned his and he came by with yet another. He
>>brought back the one I'd loaned him and the general contractor snatched
>>it up. He's still savoring it. I mentioned to my new dentist that I
>>was reading these books. He got all excited and started telling me
>>about his favorites. The next day his receptionist called me up and
>>told me he'd brought in a book for me to pick up and read. I've fallen
>>into some kind of den of climbing disaster afficionados!!
>>
>>What I like about these books is the human drama. The choices people
>>make that lead them to this state of affairs. The personal
>>characteristics that pointed them towards these choices to begin with.
>>The varying reactions that they and their companions have as things
>>start to turn sour. The ways they try to cope with the challenges,
>>applying whatever emotional and intellectual resources they possess.
>>Then the inevitable moment of truth when they realize what they will
>>have to do to survive this mess and they decide if they are willing to
>>do that. And finally, their struggle to live.
>>
>>So maybe the answer for "Josephine" is to go ahead and take on that
>>karate instructor.
>>
>>--
>>Cheri Van Hoover, CNM
>>Faculty, Midwifery Institute at Philadelphia University
>>
