Confusing description of actress' birth

[Claire98909]

This excerpt is from "Special Agent Scully: The Gillian Anderson Files", by Malcolm Butt.

On page 40 he describes the birth of her first child: "There was a large amount of blood being lost, and the screaming child appeared to be unable to break free. The masked experts standing around the woman were shaking their heads and watching, concerned. All manner of tubes and machines bleeped and surged in the cold, sterile room. This was no episode of the X-Files - this was Gillian Anderson's labour. Although the process had started normally, the baby's head proved too large to exit the pelvis so an emergency cesarean had to be performed. Gillian was doped up on Tylenol and codeine for the major surgery. Luckily, all went well and along came Piper Maru Anderson, weighing in at a healthy 8lb, 10oz, twelve days late."

The author (Mr. Butt) says that the gruesome details of the first paragraph were Gillian's labor, but it sounds to me like he was describing the c-section itself, not the labor that preceded it. If the baby's head was too large to fit through the pelvis, then obviously the baby couldn't have been screaming because she was still inside her mother, and he seems to be describing an operating room (sterile, cold, masked doctors, lots of blood) rather than a delivery room. What does it sound like to you guys? Do you think the author got his details mixed up (and perhaps embellished them) and his "screaming child unable to get free" description was the surgeon trying to pull the baby out through the abdominal incision, or do you think that Gillian had some sort of freak labor where the baby's head was already outside of her body and was screaming (which wouldn't make sense, since apparently her head was too big to go through the pelvic bones and if it was already out then they obviously would have been able to continue delivering her naturally) and they then had to perform a cesarean and drag the baby BACK through the birth canal and remove her through the abdomen? That would just be weird.

[BroodyWoodsgal]

Seems like bad writing, to me!

I think your guess is right on. The author seems to be describing the surgery.

[Just1More]

I think he's never seen a birth...c section or otherwise...

[lisarenee25]

Sorry, I just had to laugh.

What a joke.  It just plays into everyone's fears on birth.  What bad writing.

I'm going to read about beautiful and empowering birth stories of the real women of MDC - in their own words.

Men.

[Almi]

Originally Posted by lisarenee25 

Sorry, I just had to laugh.

What a joke.  It just plays into everyone's fears on birth.  What bad writing.

I'm going to read about beautiful and empowering birth stories of the real women of MDC - in their own words.

Men.

This.

That story is beyond ridiculous.  People just don't understand birth.

[Baby_Cakes]

Originally Posted by Claire98909 

This excerpt is from "Special Agent Scully: The Gillian Anderson Files", by Malcolm Butt.

On page 40 he describes the birth of her first child: "Although the process had started normally, the baby's head proved too large to exit the pelvis so an emergency cesarean had to be performed. Gillian was doped up on Tylenol and codeine for the major surgery. There was a large amount of blood being lost, and the screaming child appeared to be unable to break free. The masked experts standing around the woman were shaking their heads and watching, concerned. All manner of tubes and machines bleeped and surged in the cold, sterile room. This was no episode of the X-Files - this was Gillian Anderson's labour. Although the process had started normally, the baby's head proved too large to exit the pelvis so an emergency cesarean had to be performed. Gillian was doped up on Tylenol and codeine for the major surgery. Luckily, all went well and along came Piper Maru Anderson, weighing in at a healthy 8lb, 10oz, twelve days late."

That's how I would edit that paragraph.  

[Claire98909]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. One more thing I'm curious about is this quote of Gillian's from a magazine interview:

"Everything's a little off balance, not aligned yet. Even walking up and down stairs, my knees can go out a bit."

I'm just confused as to why pregnancy would put things out of alignment.  I've heard that once a baby is born a woman's center of gravity is messed up and she stumbles, but I never before heard of things actually going out of alignment.  Why would this happen?

[grumpybear]

Expansion of pelvis, loose tendons and ligaments, certain birthing positions, patterns - all of these things contribute to putting things out of alignment. Very typical in pregnancy.

 

Originally Posted by Claire98909 

Thanks for the replies, everyone. One more thing I'm curious about is this quote of Gillian's from a magazine interview:

"Everything's a little off balance, not aligned yet. Even walking up and down stairs, my knees can go out a bit."

I'm just confused as to why pregnancy would put things out of alignment.  I've heard that once a baby is born a woman's center of gravity is messed up and she stumbles, but I never before heard of things actually going out of alignment.  Why would this happen?

[Annie Mac]

A c-section with just tylenol & codeine? She's got some amazing pain threshhold, and some craaaazy doctors!

[Claire98909]

Just curious, at what point in pregnancy does the pelvis start to expand and the tendons and ligaments loosen?

Originally Posted by grumpybear 

Expansion of pelvis, loose tendons and ligaments, certain birthing positions, patterns - all of these things contribute to putting things out of alignment. Very typical in pregnancy.

 

[cameragirl]

Originally Posted by Annie Mac 

A c-section with just tylenol & codeine? She's got some amazing pain threshhold, and some craaaazy doctors!

No kidding! I couldn't do it with Vicodin, but more power to her if she could.

[Claire98909]

I just read that sometimes the hormones that are produced to make the bones and joints more movable for delivery can affect bones in the ENTIRE body, and that some women even need different shoes afterwards because the bones in their feet shifted during pregnancy.  Is this true?  Could this be what Gillian was referring to by things being "out of alignment"?  At what point in pregnancy do those hormones begin getting produced?

[kythe]

Originally Posted by Annie Mac 

A c-section with just tylenol & codeine? She's got some amazing pain threshhold, and some craaaazy doctors!

She was actually described as "doped up" on tylenol and codeine.  I don't know if the article was trying to be cute/light-hearted, or if this person is truly this ignorant.  Tylenol with codeine is a narcotic, but it's actually much milder than some other stuff out there.  There is nothing wrong with taking pain medication when needed, it doesn't make you "doped up".  That makes her sound like a drug addict, or something. :(  And obviously, that's not the anesthetic used anyhow.

Originally Posted by Claire98909 

I just read that sometimes the hormones that are produced to make the bones and joints more movable for delivery can affect bones in the ENTIRE body, and that some women even need different shoes afterwards because the bones in their feet shifted during pregnancy.  Is this true?  Could this be what Gillian was referring to by things being "out of alignment"?  At what point in pregnancy do those hormones begin getting produced?

That's a good question.  I've heard this too, and I believe it from personal experience.  But I don't know the physiology behind this phenomenon.
 

[Claire98909]

Is it possible that the baby was asynclic and was exiting face first so the face was actually out and screaming, as the author said?  Could such an awkward position have resulted in the rest of the head not being able to fit through the pelvis?  Or does that sound absolutely ridiculous?

Edited by Claire98909 - 1/14/12 at 1:05pm

[kythe]

Originally Posted by Claire98909 

Is it possible that the baby was asynclic and was exiting face first so the face was actually out and screaming, as the author said?  Could such an awkward position have resulted in the rest of the head not being able to fit through the pelvis?  Or does that sound absolutely ridiculous?

Babies can be born face first, but the baby still wouldn't be screaming since she wouldn't have taken a breath yet. A baby's lungs can't expand while being squeezed through the birth canal. Babies having a vaginal birth are not able to take their first breath until at least their chest has emerged.

[Claire98909]

Is it possible that when the author wrote "baby's head proved too large to exit the pelvis" he meant that the top of the head was out but the more caudal part of the head (the part of the head closer to the neck) was what got stuck?  Gillian Anderson herself said in interviews that her labor was difficult.  Or by stating her labor was hard was she more likely referring to it having been long and/or possibly "back labor" in the event of an OP baby?

[fruitfulmomma]

I would say bad writing as well, but there is actually a technique for dealing with shoulder dystocia called the Zavanelli maneuver which involves pushing a delivered head back into the canal to perform a cesarean, which as I am sure you can imagine is extremely risky and often fatal.