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I cannot BELIEVE this show gets away with this crap...

post #1 of 25
1/26/04 at 11:03pm
Thread Starter 
Wow. I am just in shock.
I just saw an episode of "Maternity Ward". I wasn't going to watch it, but as I was flipping through, something the ob. said caught my eye. (Or, uh, ear )
There was a woman, almost flat on her back, with her legs up in those leg rest thingies (I guess they don't call them stirrups anymore: ). She was covered in those blue surgical sheets; everyone present had battle gear on... Geez, face masks, surgical suits, those booties you put over your shoes... I thought something really serious was going on!!!
But, no. The doctors had to INDUCE HER because they thought the baby was going to be too big! They then went on to say that everyone in the room was very concerned that this baby was going to have shoulder dystocia because of his size..... THEN WHY WAS SHE LYING ALMOST FLAT ON HER BACK???? I can't believe these "doctors" don't know about these things!!! And I can't believe they get away with this crap!
So, anyhoo, babe comes out, no problem, and the doc says "Good thing we induced! He was almost eight pounds!":
Everyone was cheering that they averted this tremendous disaster. Then the doc was in the hallway after the birth, and he said: "You always have to prepare for the worst. I always prepare for a disaster, and if things go smoothly, I'm overjoyed." What a nice freakin' attitude. I can't believe they get paid for that crap!
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post #2 of 25
1/26/04 at 11:33pm
I saw that one, I watch them all so I know what to avoid. The doctor also said something about the baby being posterior (since dd was posterior I was intrested), anyway the babies head I guess was a little tilted but not sunny side up like they all kept saying.

When will the world stop treating birth like a disease.
post #3 of 25
1/26/04 at 11:49pm
I can't watch that show!!!!

And Baby Story....ARGH!!!

How Brutal!!!!!!: : :
post #4 of 25
1/26/04 at 11:50pm
: UGH!

How sad and annoying.
post #5 of 25
1/26/04 at 11:56pm
I agree- I watch to know what to avoid. I can't believe there are actually docs like this!!! It makes me so mad!
post #6 of 25
1/27/04 at 1:08am
ERgh

Thats almost as good as the Birth Day I saw today.

The woman was having her 4th kid and didn't want an epidural, to which the doctor said "I know she wants to go "natural" but I personally dont see anything natural about being in pain".



And yes........this woman too was FLAT on her back while pushing....
ergh
post #7 of 25
1/27/04 at 9:52am
That is just ridiculous. And of course, ol' doc is the hero.
post #8 of 25
1/27/04 at 10:30am
Obstetricians are notorious for practicing heroics.

Obstetricians are like fireman in that they both save lives.

However,...

...firemen do not usually start the fires.
post #9 of 25
1/27/04 at 11:14am
Ugh, I watch that show (LOL, I watch them all) but my least favorite is that Room for Baby one...the decorating show? They induce all of those mamas so they can film & decorate the nursery and everything on schedule. Except half the moms end up with c-sections and babies in the NICU because it was too early!!! I can't stand to watch it anymore, makes me SOOO mad!

Michelle
post #10 of 25
1/27/04 at 12:43pm
Quote:
Originally posted by anothermama
ERgh

Thats almost as good as the Birth Day I saw today.

The woman was having her 4th kid and didn't want an epidural, to which the doctor said "I know she wants to go "natural" but I personally dont see anything natural about being in pain".



And yes........this woman too was FLAT on her back while pushing....
ergh
Was it Divina Pappas, dark-complected black hair, pretty, using Bradly birthing techniques w/ her hubby, birthing as a 'high risk' patient because of her kidney problem?

I have seen that episode a thousand times, and it is the 'best' birth I have seen on Birth Day...mom requests an episiotomy, and the same "why go thru pain" high-risk OB says he cut one right along the old scar. UGH!

I used to watch those shows to see what my birth would be like w/ baby #1. Then I watched them to see how horrible and wrong things are. Now I can't watch them, because I can't let my dd see that #%^* on TV.
post #11 of 25
1/27/04 at 2:38pm
Quote:
Originally posted by tinyshoes
Was it Divina Pappas, dark-complected black hair, pretty, using Bradly birthing techniques w/ her hubby, birthing as a 'high risk' patient because of her kidney problem?

I have seen that episode a thousand times, and it is the 'best' birth I have seen on Birth Day...mom requests an episiotomy, and the same "why go thru pain" high-risk OB says he cut one right along the old scar. UGH!

I used to watch those shows to see what my birth would be like w/ baby #1. Then I watched them to see how horrible and wrong things are. Now I can't watch them, because I can't let my dd see that #%^* on TV.
YES!!!!!!!!!

I know..it was the best one I'd ever seen on there....it's great how it was clear she KNEW how and when to push as opposed to women who get epidurals and seem to really struggle with it. And her and her baby were both SOOO awake afterwards, which, again, is strikingly different from most of those births.

And, yeah, that episiotomy part just grossed me out!!! Ugh.

To me, though, it was the OB and the narration that just make it unbearable. The OB saying all that crap and the narration talking about pitocin like it's no big deal.....erg. The show is such caca! Why do I torture myself!!!
post #12 of 25
1/27/04 at 3:40pm
A couple of times I've seen that show. Once, an OB was playing with the forceps she was about to use on a baby with some nurses out in the hall.

I would think that this show would reveal to women the absurdity of most modern births. However, I think it just scares women and makes them think that birth is so scary, thank goodness they're having their baby in the hospital.
post #13 of 25
1/27/04 at 3:59pm
Ha ha, anothermama, thank you for lending credibility to my assertion that the Divina Pappas birth is the best Birth Day birth!

She is featured on TWO different episodes, so I'm sure that's why I (and you, and other tragic birth show junkies, too!) know Divina's tale all too well.

'Member how Divina Pappas was all, "well, I can PUSH better when I can feel it, can't I?" in response to the "get your epidural" harrassment from the staff.

One last tidbit--I do think the OB was kinda blown away by the unusally normal qualities of the birth, as he was a high-risk OB and so used to waaaaaaay high tech interventive births (that in some cases, were probably warrented, for a change.)

I wonder how his perspective changed after Divina's successful med-free birth, something he'd never seen before.

What would happen to this OB if he saw a woman birth in a position other than flat on her back?!?!?!?!?!

edited to add this:

Quote:
Originally posted by pamamidwife
Once, an OB was playing with the forceps she was about to use on a baby with some nurses out in the hall.
Aren't forcep births a time-sensitive situation, i.e., there's no time for salad-tong tomfoolery in the hall when preparing for an operative vaginal birth!?!?!

I saw an episode where the L&D nurse used her teeth to open a packet of KY jelly to lube her fingers for a vaginal exam, as if it were a ketchup packet from McDonald's.

I agree, this show should be used in Exhibit A lawsuits for malpractice and as a unbiased warning about the dangers of hospital birthing.
post #14 of 25
1/29/04 at 2:26pm
Yeah, I tend to torture myself by watching those shows too! I saw one where the Dr. was acutally up on the delivery table over the mom. He was pushing very hard on her belly and screaming at her to push harder and counting to ten with each push. Of course, everyone was all decked out in their "sterile" outfits and the mom was all draped up too. It made me so mad! If someone was yelling and telling me to push, I really think I'd hurt them! Bad!
post #15 of 25
1/29/04 at 3:11pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Doodlebugsmom
If someone was yelling and telling me to push, I really think I'd hurt them! Bad!

:LOL :LOL :LOL

Yes, those shows are TORTURE for me.

In so many of them it just looks so ODD to have this woman who can't feel what she's doing trying to do these measured 10-count pushes when she clearly doesn't have the urge. It just seems WEIRD!
post #16 of 25
1/29/04 at 3:47pm
I have just started assuming that anything that is called "Maternity Ward" isn't going to be about mother and child friendly 'normal' bith and avoid it....

Baby Story OTOH has been know to have some really cool home/birthcenter/natural hospital births. I know ALOT of people complain that there is not more, but percentage wise it is probably right on with the # of women who choose that kind of birth KWIM?

Anyway I did catch a good/bad episode of Baby Story yesterday where the mom was doing hypnobirthing with a doula. The plan was to stay at home, then go to the doulas house until the last minute and then go to the hospital. THe mom was doing AWESOME and you could tell the hypnobirthing was going great! BUT as soon as they got to the hospital the first thing the ^&$ dr said was "ok lay down we are going to break you water' WTH???? SHe was almost totally complete and progressing JUST FINE!!! Then you could tell the mom was gettting out of her 'hypno' state - and started groaning and screaming to which the dr said something like you need to stop screaming and start concentrating..........the poor doula was doing everythign she could to shield the neg dr.s comments - PLUS they had her FLAT ON HER BACK!!!! The doula and the husband helped get the bed more upright for the poor mom!!!! It is made me so mad!
post #17 of 25
2/1/04 at 7:36pm
I'd bet the % of natural births on those shows is even less than in the general population because women who educate themselves on birthing naturally know that birthing would be harder to do in front of a camera crew of strangers with bright lights on them! Talk about pressure to perform!
post #18 of 25
2/1/04 at 9:54pm
discussions like this make me glad i don't have a TV... and renew my commitment to keeping one out of the house!

k
post #19 of 25
2/2/04 at 11:45am
And most people who are uneducated about natural childbirth think this kind of stuff is NORMAL. I hate the reaction that I get from most of my friends when I talk about not wanting drugs or unnecessary medical intervention. It's the same reaction I get when I talk about our cloth diapers. I KNOW I don't have a third eye!!

I can't watch those shows anymore. I made the mistake of watching too many when ds was an infant, and I felt that much more isolated.

The good news is that one of my more mainstream friends just had a beautiful Bradley birth! I'm so pleased for her! I've been trying to decide what to get for her to celebrate - maybe a subscription to Mothering.
post #20 of 25
2/2/04 at 11:53am
Quote:
Originally posted by applejuice
Obstetricians are like fireman in that they both save lives.

However,...

...firemen do not usually start the fires.
:LOL I think you hit that one right on! I don't know how people that are supposed to be so smart can be so stupid?!?!
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