My OB might just be 1 in a million.

[snowbird25ca]

While I"m still not thrilled with the idea of having to have a hospital birth, reasonably & safety wise it seems like that's what'll happen. (Some of you might've seen my other post here about post partum hemorrhage...) And I can't really complain about my other hospital births, I just would've liked to have done things on my own for once...

Anyways, when I had to be referred to an OB I specifically requested this one because one of my friends had her & told me she was very non-interventionalist, anti- c/s as long as there wasn't an emergency, that kind of thing...

So today I told her I didn't want any cervix checks prior to labor, (still have to discuss once I"m in labor, never thought of bringing that up today,) and she didn't even blink an eye and just wrote it on my prenatal record. She's also been fine with me not doing the glucose tolerance test and has agreed to not clamping or cutting the cord until it stops pulsing.

Baby steps I know, but it's nice to not feel like I have to fight for what I want. And to have her tell me her thoughts but not expect that I'll do what she says just because she said it.

I know a lot of times there's so many bad stories you hear about dr.'s & ob's, I just wanted to share my positive experience thus far.

[mamabain]

just a thought, but any future questions you have i'd phrase differently if i were you. i'd ask: what are your policies on vaginal exams during labor? what do you typically do when X happens? Those questions leave out your bias and allow the care provider to tell you what they NORMALLY do in such a situation. Because, when push comes to shove, they will end up doing what they NORMALLY do, not what you had requested. this was my own experience with a (medically inclined) midwife, not an MD, but i'd assume the same would be true of most care providers.

just my two cents...

[boscopup]

Congrats on finding a great OB! I too have a great one, although I'm not planning to birth with him (he knows I plan to do out-of-hospital with a CPM). I chose him because he respects women's choices rather than forcing his own opinions on them. Love it! So far, I've easily refused the GTT. I'll also be refusing vaginal exams at the end of pregnancy, when I hopefully get there (was preterm last time - that's why I am seeing an OB).

My OB recently did a waterbirth at the hospital (first waterbirth for OB and hospital)... Actually, he says "I didn't DO anything", which is true. He leaned against the wall and watched. But he didn't give the mom flak for any of the "weird" things that were requested, like waiting for cord to stop pulsing, using some kind of cord rings instead of clamps, no Vit. K/eye goop/Hep B shot, etc. They had discussed everything prior, and he went along with what his patient wanted. It's too bad that this is such a 1 in a million thing though! I wish every OB was like that!

[elanorh]

I love my OB -- I think that there is a natural "default" to more medicalized births for most OB's (all?) as, after all, that's how they were trained ... but we chose our OB (no midwives in our area at the time) because he was practical and coached my cousin through an unplanned homebirth over the phone (rural area).

He was absolutely 100% OK with NCB, never mentioned meds to me/dh once he heard we didn't want them (earlier in the pregnancy) -- didn't act like I was weird (totally matter-of-fact, "of course" sort of response) .... Very calm and noninvasive/nonmanaging during my labor with Ina ... pretty much let it happen, KWIM? No episiotomy, etc. He's pro-bf, even pro-"extended" bf .... when we had our m/c, I thought he might comment about my bf during pregnancy "causing" it, but he just said to make sure that Ina nursed frequently to help with healing .... And he didn't push his own opinions on us in terms of whether to m/c naturally or etc. I could go on ....

(Of course, I did discover that he always gives a pitocin injection after baby is delivered for "delivery of the placenta," something I hadn't realized was commonly done and wouldn't have wanted done -- but he hadn't thought of it as non-NCB and just did it ) ....

Since Ina's birth I've learned a lot more about labor/delivery (something I hadn't researched with her, as I was "just going to do NCB," and how hard was that?) -- I brought in some research to discuss delayed cord clamping, natural 3rd stage of labor (no pitocin), etc. with him and he was agreeable to everything. Said they weren't common requests but that as long as I/baby were not in medical danger, they are something he is comfortable with.

So -- I would say -- yes, it's important to know what the doctor's default is, but really, I think that the doctor/midwife's reaction to the "unusual" requests is also a good sign of how they'll handle it during labor. I feel really confident that we'll be able to deliver this baby the way we want to, up to and including no pitocin (unless I'm starting to have PPH).

I've a college friend who's an OB now. I would hope that she is similar in approach ... I don't know, I haven't seen her since she was in her residency and it's the sort of thing I don't bring up in conversation with her ("talking shop" as if I'm fishing for advice, KWIM?) .... And we've another good friend who's a FP. Knowing him, he's supportive (but probably relatively clueless) about bf -- and more knowledgeable about ncb ... but also knowing him, he's not an ego-driven guy, I'd imagine he'd be VERY likely to make an LLL or LC referral (one of our mutual good friends is, after all, an LLL Leader) -- which is probably even better in the end.

[wifeandmom]

At my last appt, I overheard my OB discussing with a patient in the hallway exactly why inducing at 41 weeks was NOT necessary, and could very well lead to c-section if her body wasn't ready. Apparently the mom in question had come back around the corner as the doc was going into an exam room and basically insisted she have this kid NOW instead of waiting another week.

Anyhow, he'd done an NST and BPP on the baby, both showing all was peachy at the time, plus her cervix was apparently NOT ready for an induction.

She was not happy at all, but I was pretty impressed that he kept reassuring her, told her she could come back in 4 days instead of 7 and he'd re-check her cervix then if she felt better with that plan, but 'Until your cervix shows some signs of readiness, the baby shows some signs of being in trouble in there, or you hit 42 weeks, there's really no reason not to give this a few more days, as it could easily mean the difference between a miserable induced labor that goes nowhere but to c-section and a labor that starts on its own and results in a normal vaginal birth.'

The military hospital I delivered my twins in absolutely would not even entertain DISCUSSING the notion of inducing prior to 42 weeks without medical reason. The next one was a bit more relaxed about it, although it largely depended on who you were seeing.

I don't think that approach is common, but it is nice to hear that sometimes women are told 'I know you're sick of being pregnant, but waiting another week isn't likely going to kill you, and it could very well keep you from a very difficult delivery.'