One Born Every Minute - Page 2

[bubbledumpster]

I watched most of this episode yesterday (I had to turn it off when my SO came home because he's not into birth shows :P ). I thought it was really awful. The nurse for the woman who ended up with the c-section seemed really rude and disrespectful right off the bat when she was asking about dilation. I got the impression that everyone who came into that room was being really derisive. I felt so bad for that mama.

The producers of the show obviously have a very low opinion of natural birth, but I don't really believe that all those sideways glances and grins were really a reaction to the natural birth couple's vocalizations. It seemed like really hokey editing to me. I think their nurse had all of the best intentions, but she did say she's been in nursing for something like 17 years, so I think medicalized birth is really all she knows so there was a huge communication barrier between her and the doula and the birthing couple. Would I want her as my nurse in that situation? No. But I wouldn't call her a Nurse Ratched, because I think she was coming from a genuinely well-meaning place.

The dental hygenist saying "You wouldn't get your tooth pulled without anesthetic, why would you have a baby that way?" Ugh. You really think of your baby as a tooth? Are you going to toss it into a biomedical waste bin afterwards too, then?

[ASusan]

Originally Posted by Blanca78 

I agree about the depiction of the nurse--I didn't think she seemed that bad, and she truly did seem to feel conflicted and well intentioned.

That said, I agree with everyone else here, too--I found the show to be incredibly upsetting. Not only in the condescending assumption that anyone who doesn't want meds must be crazy, but also in the seemingly callous treatment of the young woman who was afraid of a c-section. Despite her fears and her expressed desire to avoid an epidural because she was afraid it would slow her down, the staff seemed completely indifferent and dismissive of her concerns. The snide remark about the size of the baby's father was upsetting, as was the fact that, despite Tasha's clear fear and desires to avoid certain interventions, the nurses still made remarks about big babies and other things that it seemed would exacerbate her fear. On top of that, her family members didn't seem to be doing anything to support her emotionally or physically, when she was clearly having a hard time. It seemed to me that Tasha is someone who did have strong preferences for her birth, but lacked the support and information she needed. As a result, she was really flailing, and not once did they depict anyone offering her love and encouragement (except the baby's father during the c-section). Even after the c-section, all the attention immediately went to the baby, despite the obvious fact that the mother had just been through emotional and physical trauma, and could have used some love. It seemed like she was devalued and abandoned by everyone in the room. And I have to wonder how much of it was a race thing on the part of the staff.

I'm due in April and I found myself starting to feel short of breath from anxiety watching the show. That said, my doula Jen is the one depicted on the show, and I am eager to get her perspective! Watching it has raised a lot of questions for me about what staff is really like (luckily, I'm not delivering at Riverside) and how common the natural birth couple's experience was. I'm looking forward to having Jen as a support person during my labor.

I highlighted the bolded statements, because I think this was a very accurate description of the nurse/staff at Riverside. They talked about me at the nurses' station, and I could imagine them rolling their eyes during my very vocal 6 hours of labor, just the way they rolled their eyes on the show. They may be indicative of medicalized births everywhere and typical human behaviors in a work environment. And I think that is important for all to see. I'm glad they don't edit those parts out. For a critical viewer, they are very telling about the environment in which most women labor and birth today.

Glad to see you have doula support and are able to give birth at a hospital where they might be more supportive of natural birth (Grant and St. Ann's are two that are better than Riverside in that respect, I've heard.).
 

[Blanca78]

My insurance only covers OSU :( But from what I hear, that's better than Riverside--several people have told me they had great natural birth experiences there, and my doula says in her opinion my doctors (it's a practice of two) are good ones.

I agree w/the PP about the nurses' eye-rolling at the vocalizations seeming to be more a product of hokey editing, but who knows.
 

Originally Posted by ASusan 

Glad to see you have doula support and are able to give birth at a hospital where they might be more supportive of natural birth (Grant and St. Ann's are two that are better than Riverside in that respect, I've heard.).
 

[GreenGranolaMama]

Those hippie freaks and their 'natural childbirth'  

Defiantly won't watch this show again... 

[EchoSoul]

My future mother in law wanted my fiance and I to watch this show....fortunately I think she forgot when it premiered and we've luckily missed it! We had no intentions of watching it anyway, we were pretty sure we'd be infuriated by it. 

[terese17]

you guys should check this blog out http://thefeministbreeder.com/lifetime-tv-shows-theres-one-unnecessary-intervention-born-every-minute/

she also has an interview with the mother that had the NCB in the show. 

[Nicole730]

Originally Posted by bubbledumpster 

The producers of the show obviously have a very low opinion of natural birth, but I don't really believe that all those sideways glances and grins were really a reaction to the natural birth couple's vocalizations. It seemed like really hokey editing to me. I think their nurse had all of the best intentions, but she did say she's been in nursing for something like 17 years, so I think medicalized birth is really all she knows so there was a huge communication barrier between her and the doula and the birthing couple. Would I want her as my nurse in that situation? No. But I wouldn't call her a Nurse Ratched, because I think she was coming from a genuinely well-meaning place.

The dental hygenist saying "You wouldn't get your tooth pulled without anesthetic, why would you have a baby that way?" Ugh. You really think of your baby as a tooth? Are you going to toss it into a biomedical waste bin afterwards too, then?

I completely agree with you about the nurse for the natural couple.  She even said she doesn't have the "intuition" about the baby and that's why monitoring makes her feel more comfortable.

Also on the dental part - Childbirth is a natural part of our existence, our bodies are made to do it.  Pulling teeth is not a natural progression in our lives.  So using medicine for that is totally different.  (Although if you think about children's baby teeth falling out, they don't use medicine for that because it is also natural)

[Agatha_Ann]

I'm watching this right now for the first time and I'm getting pretty irritated!

-I think it is really rude the way the nurses are talking about the teenage couple.

-I loved the "after six hours she is still not complete" quote by Jamile Lee Curtis.

-The joking mom when she was sitting up for her epidural the nurse warned her before she sat up that moving makes the pain worse.

-The csection at the beginning was really vague right? There was no reason really given why she was having one, but then during it the Dr said, "Thank God for csections" Did anyone gather what was so wrong before or during the operation? I didn't get what was going on. I was getting queasy watching them rip at her stomach though

-My heart was breaking for the joking woman when her epidural quit working and she had no tools to manage her pain. Then the staff was totally unhelpful! She's totally panicking and the nurse just stands there on the computer! And can you imagine having to wait for permission to push when everything in her body is screaming at her to push?

Ugh. All of that being said, I bawled when each baby was born.

[Nicole730]

Originally Posted by Agatha_Ann 

I'm watching this right now for the first time and I'm getting pretty irritated!

-I think it is really rude the way the nurses are talking about the teenage couple.

-I loved the "after six hours she is still not complete" quote by Jamile Lee Curtis.

-The joking mom when she was sitting up for her epidural the nurse warned her before she sat up that moving makes the pain worse.

-The csection at the beginning was really vague right? There was no reason really given why she was having one, but then during it the Dr said, "Thank God for csections" Did anyone gather what was so wrong before or during the operation? I didn't get what was going on. I was getting queasy watching them rip at her stomach though

-My heart was breaking for the joking woman when her epidural quit working and she had no tools to manage her pain. Then the staff was totally unhelpful! She's totally panicking and the nurse just stands there on the computer! And can you imagine having to wait for permission to push when everything in her body is screaming at her to push?

Ugh. All of that being said, I bawled when each baby was born.

I watched this episode last night.  I think she had a c-section to "avoid the pain". 

I also felt bad when the epidural wore off and she was stuck on her back...yikes.

I also thought it was interesting when the teen mom was complete and they sat her up for 45 minutes to help the baby travel down before she could start pushing.  Based on my two birth experiences I I really cannot comprehend not pushing when my body is ready to push.  Because of the epidural does she really not feel an urge to push and her body doesn't do it on it's own?  With my first I pushed during a contraction without even knowing it was going to happen.  After feeling that there is NO way I would not be able to push when my body want to push. 

I really don't care for the tone of Jamie Lee Curtis in any episode.  It's disappointing.

[Blanca78]

I'm generally pissed at Jamie Lee Curtis for condoning this show!
 

Originally Posted by Nicole730 

I watched this episode last night.  I think she had a c-section to "avoid the pain". 

I also felt bad when the epidural wore off and she was stuck on her back...yikes.

I also thought it was interesting when the teen mom was complete and they sat her up for 45 minutes to help the baby travel down before she could start pushing.  Based on my two birth experiences I I really cannot comprehend not pushing when my body is ready to push.  Because of the epidural does she really not feel an urge to push and her body doesn't do it on it's own?  With my first I pushed during a contraction without even knowing it was going to happen.  After feeling that there is NO way I would not be able to push when my body want to push. 

I really don't care for the tone of Jamie Lee Curtis in any episode.  It's disappointing.

[bonjourmama]

Absolutely outrageous! I wasn't really expected it to be much better, but honestly I am disgusted. 

[bonjourmama]

Oh, and I am so sad JLCurtis is the narrator. Yuck!

[minkajane]

I chose not to watch the show because I'm going to have this baby any day now and I want to stay positive. I live in Columbus and I know where I'm NOT going if I need to transfer! Doctor's Hospital is my backup. I also don't plan on applying for a job at Riverside after the baby's born (I'm a medical assistant). If the atmosphere and attitude is that bad in L&D, it's going to be like that in the whole hospital when someone questions anything.

ETA: I thought about it and decided that I can't really talk about it if I've never seen it, so I watched episodes 7 and 8 online. I blogged about my impression of the show here.

Edited by minkajane - 3/31/11 at 8:09pm

[chelsmm]

I am so frustrated that nurses are being portrayed this way!  I hope people realize that all nurses aren't like the ones shown.  :(  While I'm not a labor and delivery nurse, I have been a registered nurse for 15 years and most certainly support natural births.  (that's why I worked hard to make my second birth a natural one after a not so natural first birth).  I hate how shows like this make it seem like this is normal.