Regarding "The Business of Being Born" - Page 2

[gwerydd]

Originally Posted by ErinBird

The issues I had with including Abbie's birth were how it was done. I would have much preferred a HBAC mom being shown, or a greater inclusion of discussion around Abby's birth. What I saw was 'OMG, breech! (and a little early) BUT BREEECH!!!!!', lots of panicking, then a cut to Abby justifying her C-section as necessary (maybe it was, but honestly- from my perspective, most moms who end up with an unexpected surgical birth justify it as one of the rare necessary ones) and her issues breastfeeding without a lot of followup on anything.

I'm not necessarily opposed to a surgical birth being included, but it ought to have been done in a much better way and not as the ending note of the film.

i'm sorry but a 33 week preemie with IUGR IS a necessary cesarean, as is bp of 212/121 as was my case. if you have never been in a situation of having a c-section than you really don't know whether it was necessary or not.

[Ironica]

Originally Posted by gwerydd

i'm sorry but a 33 week preemie with IUGR IS a necessary cesarean,

Abby was 35 weeks, not 33. And the IUGR was not diagnosed until after the birth, from what I could tell. The reason for the transfer was that she was early and breech; the reason for the section was that she was breech. Since they did not tell us what type of breech, we don't know whether it was truly the ONLY way for the baby to be born (big difference between transverse and frank)... but, once the IUGR issue was identified, it was clear that the c-section *was* the best way for THIS baby to be born, and had they attempted a vaginal breech delivery without that information, things could have gone a lot worse.

Originally Posted by gwerydd

if you have never been in a situation of having a c-section than you really don't know whether it was necessary or not.

This statement excludes most obstetricians from ever being in a position to determine if a c-section is medically necessary. I find that assertion troubling. True, many (most) of them do seem to exercise poor judgement about the issue, but they SHOULD have the training and expertise to make the determination even without having had the experience of the surgery themselves.

Also, most women who have had a c-section are *not* really able to determine if a particular situation requires a surgical birth. Unfortunately, most women are fairly uneducated about the birth process, even after they've been through it. So, while a woman might know that in *her* case it was necessary (and plenty of women "know" this even when it's NOT true, because highly-trained people they trust have told them so), she's not necessarily in a position to judge if someone else's situation requires surgery.

[saimeiyu]

Was she 35 weeks? I don't know why I thought she was like 33 or something... She said she had "at least" 5 weeks to go so I guess I assumed that she was counting to 38 weeks. In any case, all the focusing and the panicking about the breech is what really got to me. It was like, the breech was the real problem, nevermind all this other stuff, it was BREECH!

[gwerydd]

i thought she was 33 weeks because 3lbs whatever is small even for 33 weeks (my sister was 3lbs 11 oz at 33 weeks and she had IUGR) if she was 35 weeks and the baby was only 3 lbs something, that's even more serious (my dd was 35 weeks and 4lbs 15oz). and i believe that breech presentation can be more dangerous in premature births. i agree that they could have made the circumstances surrounding Abbie's birth more clear, but i do not think that it should not have been included. and as a c-section mom it is important for me to know that my cesarean was medically necessary to save my life and the life of my dd. it was very hard for me to deal with at first but knowing that it was necessary it has been easier to accept and understand. i can understand where Abby is coming from.

[almadianna]

there is only so much that you can put into a 90 minute-2 hour film... and i think they did a great job considering.

[saimeiyu]

well, the baby did have IUGR, so small would be expected.