scary birth stories - Page 4

[GoBecGo]

Coming from a family full of vets, farmers and biologists, actually lots of animals die during pregnancy and birth too. And not just those animals we have domesticated (and arguably manipulated in ways normal evolution wouldn't have) but wild creatures. And lots and LOTS of young baby animals die. I can remember hearing about a friend's horse who nearly died during labour (the foal's forefeet tore through into the rectum, labour arrested, the foal died, come morning they found her and the vet came up and cut the foal out piece by piece to save the mare, it had gone so badly and been so long since the initial fistula they couldn't even sew her shredded vagina and anus up properly, she had to have major reconstructive surgery 6 months later. Her pregnancy was normal, the foal was not over-large, there was no reason to suspect anything would go wrong. It just did. My uncle was a vet, his c-section rate for cows was 10% for heifers, around 3-5% for cows, but he never did a c-section when the calf would probably die anyway, they were cut out like the foal, to save the cow the surgery. Birth is dangerous, all births, for all creatures.

[Annoia]

Originally Posted by Romana

I have seen this attitude far too often in the natural birth community. It is unhelpful and unacceptable.

Unfortunately, I doubt that is restricted to MDC, or the natural birth community.

It sounds like Attribution Theory (AT). AT attempts to explain how people interpret success and failure. Some studies suggest that women tend to attribute success to outside sources (in our example, the method of birth) and failure to internal sources (lack of ability).

You may notice it more on MDC or the natural birth community as these groups are predominantly female.

[onlyboys]

Liz, I am very, very sorry that you lost your sweet child. I am especially sorry that you didn't get the care you needed and deserved. Although, my son didn't die, it was a close call with weeks in NICU. He was harmed by my OB. Born healthy and then damaged. I was also harmed by this same OB, and have experienced the lasting effects of that for the 14 years since his birth.

It's all about experience and risk/benefit relationships. I would have NEVER used another OB, though I know in my rational brain that different OBs would have treated my son and I differently. I have seen OBs take such sweet, careful care of mothers that our birth center transferred, and give them and their babies EXACTLY the care that they needed, that our MW staff couldn't provide. But for me and mine, the risk is just too high to chance. So, I do understand your perspective, though I cannot imagine your pain at losing your child.

And, I fully, completely agree (and this will likely get me some flames) that the vast differences in midwifery education for professional (non-nurse) midwives and the lack of a consistent back-up system does more harm than good for mothers and babies. If a midwife is worried about or scared to transfer a woman in a timely manner, or she's practicing without protocol or a system of accountability, women and babies are not safe.

It's why I feel that legislation is very important. It protects consumers, their babies, the midwives and the profession. It only takes one bad apple, well, you know the rest.

My sincere condolences on your child, and I hope you're on your way to peace.