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A new scare tactic - Grrrrr!  

post #1 of 15
2/5/08 at 12:43am
Thread Starter 
A birth I supported yesterday - mom planned to go intervention free (well, as much as you can in a hospital). When we arrived, she was 9 cms (yay!) and doing great. Gave the OB on-call and the nurse her birth plan. OB comes in 20 minutes later, agrees to most of the items (no IV/heplock, etc), but says she MUST do AROM before mom begins to push because "if you push while the membranes are intact, amniotic fluid can push into a blood vessel, and you will have an amniotic fluid embolism, which is almost universally fatal".


Of course mama agreed immediately to AROM.


I Know this CAN happen and may be one of those 0.0001% chance things, and it is terrible when it does, but geeez! Scaring the pants of all mamas that are lucky enough to have intact membranes throughout labor????

Blech. A new thing to add to my list of "stupid things your HCP might tell you in labor to scare you to agree to needless interventions".
post #2 of 15
2/5/08 at 1:12am
That's a really stupid thing to have said. I could even have understood if he didn't want to get a shower, but come on....
post #3 of 15
2/5/08 at 9:29am
Er no. I refused AROM and my water actually came out in a large sack AS I was pushing. They brought all the nurses in to see and showed me in the mirror. It looked like a big water balloon or a bullfrog's throat lol. It popped outside of me on my last push. Amazing!!
post #4 of 15
2/5/08 at 9:50am
There is actually no known cause of AFE.

But here are some theories (from eMedicine) *if this violates UA I'll change it because this information is important

Reported risk factors for development of AFE include multiparity, advanced maternal age, male fetus, and trauma. In a retrospective review of a 12-year period encompassing 180 cases of AFE, of which 24 were fatal, medical induction of labor increased the risk of AFE.8 In the same study, AFE was positively associated with multiparity, cesarean section or operative vaginal delivery, abruption, placenta previa, and cervical laceration or uterine rupture.

I'm sorry your mamma was bullied into AROM...

Heather
post #5 of 15
2/5/08 at 1:46pm
Wow. It's so hard to witness that kind of stuff.
post #6 of 15
2/5/08 at 1:51pm
That's too bad. Depending upon your client's heritage and religious/spiritual beliefs, her child may have been deprived of Second Sight. I would be very angry if this happened to me.
post #7 of 15
2/5/08 at 7:09pm
I wonder if it was really a scare tactic, or if he was just that dumb? If not I guess he just didn't want to get sprayed. I can't think of any other reason to want to get that out of the way that late in labor.
post #8 of 15
2/5/08 at 8:03pm
I was thinking he didn't want to get sprayed. If she didn't want it done, it shouldnt' have been done. And wanting it done under false pretenses doesn't count.
post #9 of 15
2/7/08 at 12:57am
Yikes, that's disgusting and a blatant abuse of "authority."
Stories like these make me a little ill. I am sorry you were witness to it, but use it as motivation to keep fighting to arm women with education and empowerment!
post #10 of 15
2/7/08 at 1:07am
What an arrogant doc! Ridiculous!
post #11 of 15
2/7/08 at 1:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by paquerette View Post
That's too bad. Depending upon your client's heritage and religious/spiritual beliefs, her child may have been deprived of Second Sight. I would be very angry if this happened to me.
I'd be beyond livid if it were my baby.

I wonder if the ob really believed it? It reminds me of the story of the woman who always cut the end off of her roasts b/c her mother did. Her mother did it b/c her mother did. When they asked grandma why, it was b/c she had a small roasting pan.
post #12 of 15
2/7/08 at 2:42am
Thanks for that, it made me laugh. How would the amniotic fluid get inside a blood vessel if the bag isn't ruptured?
post #13 of 15
2/7/08 at 12:39pm
Ironically, pitocin induction doubles someone's risk of AFE-- I doubt very much he has ever told anyone who was being induced that little gem.
post #14 of 15
2/7/08 at 1:07pm
So far, all 5 of my deliveries were with the membranes intact until the shoulders were delivering. Then, POOF!!! My doctors barely made it in the room, so they didn't get a chance to break it, just catch the baby, please.
post #15 of 15
2/7/08 at 4:30pm
I think it is just a belief of this particular person, and since there is no "known/proven" cause just tendancies like rapid birth... perhaps this person has a theory or theory/experience that leads him/her to think this is true- you could ask this person now why they think this is true, ask for more info, I don't think it is a common thought or threat--
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