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Re: Mid-wives (Child birth is normal!)
From: anonymous@obgyn.net
Wed, 14 Jul 1999 11:29:33 -0500 (CDT)
Thank you Dr. Hill for your response. I'm glad a doctor responded to
this post, so it got more than a half-crazed, sleep deprived Mommy
response! :o)
At Tue, 13 Jul 1999, anonymous@obgyn.net wrote:
>
>At Tue, 13 Jul 1999, Adrian wrote:
>>
>>We keep forgetting that childbirth is natural, normal and has taken
>>place for some time.
>
>Let's put this seemingly harmless statement into perspective. Each
>*year* 500,000 women die worldwide in childbirth. This is the same
>number of deaths that would occur if 7 airliners, with about 200
>passengers each, went down without survivors, every day, 365 days a
>year. In fact, in Africa about 1/20 pregnant women die. In the United
>States in 1935, the Perinatal Mortality Rate (PMR; defined as a pregnant
>woman's death per 10,000 live births) was about 600/100,000 pregnant
>women. However, due to prenatal care and advances in medical science,
>the U.S. PMR is now about 8/100,000 which is a 75 times reduction in
>PMR since 1935.
>
>Clearly, pregnancy is not always a benign situation. There are
>countless conditions that women and their partners discuss with
>volunteer health care professionals on this and similar forums. I have
>had pregnant patients die. Hemorrhage, seizures, infection, stroke,
>heart attacks, blood clots, diabetes, lupus, and many other dangerous
>conditions afflict pregnant patients. Sure, pregnancy is "natural," but
>so are heart attacks, broken bones, cancer, and headaches. Hopefully
>the pregnant woman will have a true low risk pregnancy, but often this
>does not occur. The goal of health care providers caring for pregnant
>women is to deliver a healthy baby to a healthy mom. When a medical
>condition develops that may prevent this, the ob/gyn, midwife, or family
>physician hopefully works with the mother to help her deliver as safely
>as possible.
>
>>Doctors in particular constantly look to control the natural order with
>>lots of tests and fears about birth, its their way of keeping control
>>and making money.
>
>How disturbing that you would post such a shameful comment on a forum
>where doctors volunteer their time. Doctors do not get any additional
>money for ordering tests in the US. There are no "kick-backs" or other
>incentives for doctors to order tests (although some might argue that
>fear of malpractice drives doctors to order expensive tests "just in
>case"). You will hear no apologies from me for my income. I work 100
>hours per week on behalf of my patients, and spent 8 years after college
>working over 100 hours a week to learn my profession. There are
>obviously some bad doctors. However, to suggest that I, or the majority
>of my colleagues, would manipulate patients for monetary gain is
>extraordinarily insulting.
>
>>Any women, with a few exceptions, should be able to give birth at home.
>
>This is a controversial issue in the US. Some studies show that low
>risk patients deliver at home with the same success as in a birthing
>center or hospital. However, as someone who has delivered over 3000
>babies, I can assure you that even the healthiest pregnant patient can
>develop uncontrollable hemorrhage after a smooth vaginal delivery,
>requiring multiple medications, blood transfusion, and even life-saving
>hysterectomy. There are women on this forum who have had this happen. I
>have had babies die because the afterbirth (placenta) separated from the
>wall of the uterus in-route to the hospital. If this happens at home,
>will the ambulance make it to the house, then to the hospital, in time.
>Most readers on this forum purchase homeowners insurance for fires or
>other disasters. How often does this happen? Having your baby in, or
>close to, a hospital equipped for a disaster is another form of
>insurance.
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