A Live Birth on the Today Show Tomorrow!

[MegBoz]

Guess I wont' be watching the Today show tomorrow morning! They're having this series of stories "inside the operating room." They didn't say if it was a planned CS, but considering the state of American Maternity care, odds are very, very good that it will be highly medicalized!! So if it is vaginal, I'd bet a lot of money it'll involve at least an epidural, if not also pit, AROM, coached pushing, vacuum, managed 3rd stage, immediate separation of mama & baby, etc.

This stuff infuriates me so I will not be tuned in tomorrow!

BTW, I think this is also the same show that interviewed a doc on doulas, didn't bother getting any other opinions or actual SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH & acted like they were a dangerous, risky thing to be involved with.

[Turquesa]

Um, isn't that Matt Lauer's show? The one that recently bemoaned the evil "perils of home birth?" Yea, this oughtta be good.

[SashaBear]

She had a scheduled c-section because babies run big on both sides of their family and she was overdue.
"two indications that a c-section is a lot safer than a vaginal." that poor woman and every poor woman watching that will believe that.

[leavemealone]

Yeah, it was a scheduled c-section. They said it wasn't scheduled to accomodate the show, but rather for "big baby". Yeah, it was a 10 lb baby, but lots of women birth babies that size and are just fine (myself included). It was too bad the woman wasn't given a chance and that women watching will buy into the "big baby" theory.

[SilverFish]

that big baby thing drives me BONKERS. my sister had a c/s for a "big" baby... 10lb 6oz... no wilting flower, for sure, but incidentally the EXACT SAME SIZE as my sister was when my mom pushed her out at home. and then the OB had the gall to suggest that my sister would "need" to be sectioned ever after, or monitered and induced early, to prevent another "big" baby.

[MegBoz]

Originally Posted by SilverFish

that big baby thing drives me BONKERS.

Oh, same here. I posted my Facebook status as, "Why do I torture myself?!" I had been willing to bet that it would be an asinine, infuriating reason for the CS & I was right.

Anyway, the stupid OB didn't even know the US CS rate! When they asked, she replied, "Oh, it varies in different areas, 25-30%." No, it's 32% & change!!!!!!!
I like how she starts out saying that it varies. Yeah, cuz women's health is definitely different in different regions of the USA.

They asked the OB what are common reasons for a CS & she said big baby was a common one, & baby in distress is very common. & of course, that just further reinforces to the women of America how horribly dangerous birth is & we're so lucky to have swift access to OBs who "save" our poor babies from the damage our uterus & vagina would otherwise do to them.

Since late-term estimates of fetal weight can be off by up to 2#, I was SOOOO hoping the baby would actually weigh like 8 & a half! I was wondering what, if anything the OB would say. But he was 10# even.

Finally, isn't it true that ACOG doesn't recommend CS for "suspected fetal macrosomia"????
There are enough idiotic, anti-evidence stuff that ACOG does recommend, so it infuriates me that an anti-evidence based practice they don't recommend is still so common & unquestioned.

Yeah, a friend of mine gave birth to a baby just shy of 10# at home just back in December.

[sellendie]

Since late-term estimates of fetal weight can be off by up to 2#, I was SOOOO hoping the baby would actually weigh like 8 & a half! I was wondering what, if anything the OB would say. But he was 10# even.

I was hoping for a lower weight too! Just to prove the point of how unnecessary major surgery is for this reason alone. I could play a pretty vigorous round of a drinking game if you had to drink every time she stated that something was "completely normal".

[leavemealone]

Originally Posted by MegBoz

Since late-term estimates of fetal weight can be off by up to 2#, I was SOOOO hoping the baby would actually weigh like 8 & a half! I was wondering what, if anything the OB would say. But he was 10# even.

A small part of me hoped the same thing. I didn't wish anything bad to happen, but a small part of me hoped that the baby would be like 7 lbs. I know lots of people who would still think that 8 1/2 was a "big baby". I had my second in a hospital and they said it was "their policy to test the blood sugarall big babies - any baby over 8 lbs" - mine was 9 lbs 10 oz. I didn't think 8 lbs counted as a big, but whatever.

[emnic77]

Originally Posted by SilverFish

that big baby thing drives me BONKERS. my sister had a c/s for a "big" baby... 10lb 6oz... no wilting flower, for sure, but incidentally the EXACT SAME SIZE as my sister was when my mom pushed her out at home. and then the OB had the gall to suggest that my sister would "need" to be sectioned ever after, or monitered and induced early, to prevent another "big" baby.

Yep, right after I pushed my first baby, a 10lb 4oz baby girl out of me, my OB told me we'd have to induce at 37 weeks next time. Ok, thanks for making sure you won't have ME as a repeat patient!

[Turquesa]

Hey ladies, check this out. The home page for the Today Show features that story. Then below it, there's a link to this story.

Last time they ran that anti-homebirth story, (referenced in my post above), they were flooded with emails and petitions from critics. I wonder if this latest move is to appease us "birthies."

[Turquesa]

http://blog.ican-online.org/2010/02/...isinformation/

[trippingbillies]

Originally Posted by SashaBear

She had a scheduled c-section because babies run big on both sides of their family and she was overdue.
"two indications that a c-section is a lot safer than a vaginal." that poor woman and every poor woman watching that will believe that.

Well golly gee-considering the average size of the babies in my family of origin was 9lbs and I was almost 2 weeks overdue, I should have had a cesction. May I vomit now?