Tonight, my surgery has been on my mind because I just went to hear Dr. Mayer Eisenstein speak about his career, during which he has done more than 15,000 home births. He reminded me of two things that I learned the hard way:
1) Once you are admitted into the hospital, the clock starts ticking. Before long, you will have the baby--one way or the other.
2) Non-stress tests and other diagnostic screens are meritless (and will lead to you being admitted into the hospital, at which time the clock will start ticking, etc. etc.)
I started having contractions on Wednesday and by Friday, Dr. Claudia Holland had coerced me into a c-section.
I was at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital on Wednesday at around noon having what had become a tri-weekly (I know! What was I thinking?!!) non-stress test and sonogram. The day before, Dr. Sharon Patrick (one of Dr. Holland's partners) had found 8 cm of fluids, but the sonographer on this day, Sharmista, said she only found 4 cm. (Sharmista was also the only sonographer out of several who kept getting fetal measurements that would make the baby macrosomic; in fact, my baby was 8 lbs 14 ou. at birth.)
The fact that each sonographer had such wildly different readings should have given me a clue that I should have refused to be tested.
Dr. Lois Brustman, a doctor in FEU (Fetal Evaluation Unit) who kept telling me to get a repeat cesarean each time I saw her, at first told me I could go home. When I got home, Dr. Holland called to tell me that Dr. Brustman and her had discussed it, and that I had to rush to the hospital.
When I arrived at the hospital, I was given another sonogram and this time, the doctor in question found 6 cm. of fluid. At this point, I should have been told to go home. Instead, he wanted to admit me and insert an I.V. immediately. My husband and I protested against the I.V., but he said that if there was an emergency, there might not be enough time to put one in.
At 5 a.m. Thursday morning, a nurse came in and started pitocin, which Dr. Holland had ordered without consultation with me. By 1 p.m., my water broke and then my fate was sealed.
Twenty-four hours later, Dr. Holland was shouting at me over the phone that I was "already scheduled" to be in the o.r. to be operated on by her partner, Dr. Kathryn Rutenberg.
The whole thing was like a textbook case of medical intervention leading to a cesarian.
A nurse said to me that obstetrics is a sub-category of surgery and that's what obstestricians know how to do. They don't know how to deliver babies. In other words, if the pregnancy isn't going perfectly, they have little knowledge of what to do, offer you options that are no choice at all. Whereas a midwife can tell you about different positions, using a breast-pump to induce labor, so on and so forth. Therefore, an obstetrician will either arrive just to catch the baby or to do the cutting.
1) Once you are admitted into the hospital, the clock starts ticking. Before long, you will have the baby--one way or the other.
2) Non-stress tests and other diagnostic screens are meritless (and will lead to you being admitted into the hospital, at which time the clock will start ticking, etc. etc.)
I started having contractions on Wednesday and by Friday, Dr. Claudia Holland had coerced me into a c-section.
I was at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital on Wednesday at around noon having what had become a tri-weekly (I know! What was I thinking?!!) non-stress test and sonogram. The day before, Dr. Sharon Patrick (one of Dr. Holland's partners) had found 8 cm of fluids, but the sonographer on this day, Sharmista, said she only found 4 cm. (Sharmista was also the only sonographer out of several who kept getting fetal measurements that would make the baby macrosomic; in fact, my baby was 8 lbs 14 ou. at birth.)
The fact that each sonographer had such wildly different readings should have given me a clue that I should have refused to be tested.
Dr. Lois Brustman, a doctor in FEU (Fetal Evaluation Unit) who kept telling me to get a repeat cesarean each time I saw her, at first told me I could go home. When I got home, Dr. Holland called to tell me that Dr. Brustman and her had discussed it, and that I had to rush to the hospital.
When I arrived at the hospital, I was given another sonogram and this time, the doctor in question found 6 cm. of fluid. At this point, I should have been told to go home. Instead, he wanted to admit me and insert an I.V. immediately. My husband and I protested against the I.V., but he said that if there was an emergency, there might not be enough time to put one in.
At 5 a.m. Thursday morning, a nurse came in and started pitocin, which Dr. Holland had ordered without consultation with me. By 1 p.m., my water broke and then my fate was sealed.
Twenty-four hours later, Dr. Holland was shouting at me over the phone that I was "already scheduled" to be in the o.r. to be operated on by her partner, Dr. Kathryn Rutenberg.
The whole thing was like a textbook case of medical intervention leading to a cesarian.
A nurse said to me that obstetrics is a sub-category of surgery and that's what obstestricians know how to do. They don't know how to deliver babies. In other words, if the pregnancy isn't going perfectly, they have little knowledge of what to do, offer you options that are no choice at all. Whereas a midwife can tell you about different positions, using a breast-pump to induce labor, so on and so forth. Therefore, an obstetrician will either arrive just to catch the baby or to do the cutting.
posted by 4Moms2B at 7:38 PM
4 comments
