Feeling Frustrated...

[MamaRue]

Hi Sister Homebirth Mamas,

So I have to vent a little. I have been posting over in the October Due date forum (just found out I am preggo again!). It just seems as though so many of the Mamas are already getting all gungho about their first ultrasounds and all that jazz. I know I am really extreme in my feelings around the importancy of natural pregnancy/birth, and it is true that there is a thread over there where some of us are debating the risks/benefits of u/s (you should check it out if you are interested...I posted a ton of good info for thought)...but it is just so hard to hear mamas who don't even question it's use and, and that of doppler as well.

I dunno...I just needed a place on MDC to vent a little. I guess I expected more totally natural mamas, and maybe this is where they are hiding??!!

I am a doula, and of course understand there is a time and a place for technology. But the non-medical, routine use of ultrasound (among other technologies...u/s is just the beginning!) just really gets to me.

Does anyone else feel the same??

xo

[alegna]

I feel ya.

-Angela

[RachaelsMommy]

There are several people in my DDC who aren't having u/s or doppler. Most people I know IRL or on other message boards we're freaking out b/c I didn't even see my midwife until I was almost 14 weeks. They look at me like I have 2 heads when I say I'm not having u/s.

I don't understand why so many OB's have routine u/s so early when it's too soon to even see if anything is wrong.

[Peony]

Yep. I understand.

[AnnR33]

Oh yes, I got ripped on for questioning the need for early u/s for "normal" pregnancies. No one questions them anymore. Drs didn't used to ever do them before 12 or even 20 weeks and now it's common for a 6 wk u/s- whY????
I know it's a sad fact of life but there's nothing you can do to prevent a m/c that early. I know, I've had them.

I agree there's a need for them for at risk situations or to check on health issues, but I can't believe how common it is for some offices to do them every month because it's their "policy" yikes! And it's even more sad when I encourage these "normal" pregnancy moms to refuse the u/s because they aren't needed they look at me like an alien and have said-"the dr must know what they're doing" "I wouldn't want to make him mad" :
These are the poor moms that are going to end up w/ unnecessary c/sect because they were induced a week early or the baby is "measuring big on the u/s" -my all time biggest gripe!

People don't trust the body's natural pregnancy and birth progression anymore...it's sad.

ok, off my soapbox now

[BtotheG]

Hi MamaRue,

I'm in your DDC -and I'm planning a homebirth with a midwife. I will not be seeing an OB for care at all, nor will I be getting routine ultrasounds. I'm going for as few interventions as possible.

I think there are plenty of us in the October DDC - so please don't get discouraged.

B

[barefootpoetry]

I agree that it's strange most people don't even bat an eye at all the ultrasounds they're getting that are "routine." With both my pregnancies I only had the one 20-week ultrasound, and I could have denied it. It's bizarre to me that women are getting them at 6, 8, 10, 12 weeks for no real reason!

[Bromache]

Originally Posted by BtotheG

Hi MamaRue,

I'm in your DDC -and I'm planning a homebirth with a midwife. I will not be seeing an OB for care at all, nor will I be getting routine ultrasounds. I'm going for as few interventions as possible.

I think there are plenty of us in the October DDC - so please don't get discouraged.

B

What she said.

I think the issue with ultrasounds -- well, at least this is MY excuse -- is that they've been around forever, you don't hear of problems, and midwives use 'em too. I guess because of all those things, I didn't even question it. Not that I had more than the one at 18 weeks, but I certainly had the doppler used at all my appointments. Now I feel really guilty. But it seriously didn't cross my mind to investigate the risks becuase, unlike vaccinations as an example, it's not something I ever heard about.

That being said, I'm not one who ever thought the 4D ones for gender prediction or videos were a good idea, or anything other than one routine one unless there was a really good reason for it, but I just didn't realize the potential harm. And I'm a person who researches stuff a LOT and is pretty cautious. So I can see how other people that are less inclined to look into things and/or less leery of medical interventions wouldn't have any clue of the dangers at all.

Just to give some explanation...

[Jilian]

Try not to let it bother you too much. Lots of people just do what their OB/MW sugests, even people here on MDC. I find that the due date clubs tend to draw bigger crowds and few of those mamas stick around after their babes are born. So the DDCs are usually less crunchy. My DDC is loaded with high risk mamas so we have lots of interventions already too but I can completely understand their choices. To each his own, but I do think it is great that you are sharing info on u/s. I've always loved the Mothering mag article on the risks of u/s that they did a while back. It was a real eye opener for me.

I'm hoping to be a second time homebirther this time around but we need a bit of intervention because DS2 surprised us with a heart defect when he was 2 weeks old. We're hoping to only have to do a 20 week scan and a fetal echo then I can go back to being "no risk" and enjoy my pregnancy

[Jilian]

Originally Posted by barefootpoetry

It's bizarre to me that women are getting them at 6, 8, 10, 12 weeks for no real reason!

There is a mama in my DDC who has an OB that finds the heartbeat with a u/s rather than a doppler at every visit! I think this is becoming more and more routine so they can bill for u/s and sort of cover their a$$es when it comes to liability.

[claddaghmom]

I tried for an all natural U/P U/C.

I did opt for a voluntary U/S aat 24 weeks. I was on the fence about an U/S but thought it was prudent b/c we were doing U/P and U/C. I did limit it to less than 5 minutes.

In the end though, we had a back up MW assist us. She used a doppler every 10-15mins (just guessing lol I was too busy at the time) for my 5hrs of pushing.

My heart sank everytime. I knew my babe was fine. But I couldn't really refuse it.

[MamaRue]

Thanks Mamas....

I know this is just part of life being a natural pregnancy/childbirth believer...I encounter it everywhere. As a doula it is always a fine line between educating without being pushy and still supporting what my clients feel is important. (This whole multiple routine scans thing is crazy...I tell my clients to really press their docs/cnms for reasons and make sure they have an open and honest discussion BEFORE going for the scan. Then we talk about the discussion they had and go from there.)

I think it is good to be pushed to dig deep within ourselves to understand better why we feel strongly about things (such as avoiding unnecessary u/s, etc) because it forces us to become more clear and then we can help other mamas understand out points of view. These forums are a good way to be pushed and pushed others but in a respectful, fun, and educational way. I am thankful for that.

In some ways it is like being in activism training I suppose!

I do see my DDC does have rockin' mamas in it...including some of the mamas who aren't necessarily as leary of things as I am! In general, it is a great group of women. I think I will linger between here and there...not that I have a ton of time for posting but I like reading/writing when I can.

I need to start thinking about interviewing midwives. When my son was born, we lived in Bar Harbor, Maine and I LOVED my midwives. It will be wierd to not use them again. But I am sure there are some awesome ones around here (Central Vermont). Just gotta figure out who!

love to you all!
Sarah

[MamaRue]

Oh yeah...
Jilian...how is your little boy? I had to see a heart specialist with my son because he had what they considered to be an "abnormal murmer" (Scary!!!) but it turned out fine.

That must have been an intense time...2 weeks old is such a new and precious time!

Oh my gosh I just watched the video you made about it. Serious waterfall. Wow...what a strong beautiful family...Evan is amazing and what an amazing Mama you must be to have gotten him through that time. Thanks so much for the warning signs...I am going to pass them on and always remember them for myself, my clients, friends, etc. I am totally blown away.

xo

[PassionateWriter]

yep, i get it. im pretty much teh oddball almost anywhere i go. lol!

[Abismommy]

I had one US, and my MW uses a doppler IDK I am not for over use of US but the doppler gives me a piece of mind. Although it is not used much!

[Carlin]

I think there's a bigger range than you might think. I know in my ddc some are having lots of ultrasounds and testing, some are having none, and lots are somewhere in the middle. Lots of us have done our own research and come up with a compromise answer, somewhere in between the two extremes.

However, I'll never post "guess what! I'm not having an ultrasound tomorrow!" or similar, so you are going to see a lot more of what is happening than of what isn't. Make sense?

[Gena 22]

Just to share my $0.02: I had an routine u/s at 20 weeks. Would have considered skipping it, since I had a perfectly healthy and normal pregnancy, but I did want to see the babe. Even invited my parents to come see it with my DH and me, since they never got to see an u/s.

We waited and waited. Finally we got in at the end of the day and the tech groans "this is going to take a while." We asked why, and found out I was carrying twins!

Now, it's worth knowing you're how many babies to expect. It figures into weight gain, preparation, etc. Maybe a good midwife would have spotted it further along, but those early weeks are important. For that reason alone I'll have an u/s at about 20 weeks and recommend one to all my family members.

I definitely understand wanting to skip any and all unnecessary testing and procedures. But the chance of having multiples is high enough to make a routine u/s a legitimate choice.

[applejuice]

I am a homebirth mom of four healthy adults who never had an u/s scan. It is entirely possible to do that.

Dr. Alice Stewart of Oxford University expressed concern over routine u/s scanning in pregnancy; she is the doctor who did the studies that showed that xray pelvimetry as a routine prenatal test was of dubious value and potentially dangerous to both the mother and the unborn child.

As for diagnosing multiples, I know of a woman who was diagnosed with two u/s scans as having twins, was going to have the natural birth filmed by Margie and Jay Hathaway of the Bradley Method, had the lie of the two babies drawn on her belly for the film, and then gave birth to only one baby.

True story.

By the time she returned to the recovery wing, her records had been changed to removed any mention of twins.

This is a true story told to me by Margie and Jay Hathaway and Dr. Robert Mendelsohn.

Who knows what was really on that scan.

[conniebonnie]

I feel you! I get so tired of hearing "do you know what you are having yet?" and then the blank stares when we say we arent using ultrasound at all. "How can you not want to see your baby...?!!" I DO want to see my baby. When he or she comes out is fine.
AAAAAH.
We are using a doppler occasionaly because this pregnancy immediately followed a really traumatic miscarriage, and its just really reasuring.
But we are with you.

[Jilian]

Originally Posted by MamaRue

Oh yeah...
Jilian...how is your little boy? I had to see a heart specialist with my son because he had what they considered to be an "abnormal murmer" (Scary!!!) but it turned out fine.

That must have been an intense time...2 weeks old is such a new and precious time!

Oh my gosh I just watched the video you made about it. Serious waterfall. Wow...what a strong beautiful family...Evan is amazing and what an amazing Mama you must be to have gotten him through that time. Thanks so much for the warning signs...I am going to pass them on and always remember them for myself, my clients, friends, etc. I am totally blown away.

xo

Thanks for asking, he's doing really well now! I'm a labor doula too, and it is really hard to sit back and watch people you care for make choices that you would not necessarily have made. It is one of the most frustrating parts of being a doula! In the end all you can do is throw the info out there and let them do what they will with it. Sometimes I feel pushy too I guess it comes with the territory. :