Okay, this concerns a friend of mine. She's not aware that I am soliciting advice on her behalf but I wanted to see what other women feel about this issue. I plan on forwarding her this thread. Of course, we'll operate as though I have all the facts that were relayed to her by her doctor.
My friend is 35 weeks pregnant and has been told by her OB that her baby is too small. They estimate via ultrasound that the baby is 3 lbs. 13 ounces right now. Of course, ultrasound is not a reliable method for determining birth weight of the baby but nevertheless OB's still use this method. They've been running stress tests on the baby for several weeks now. When i asked why she said just b/c of the baby's supposed size. The mother has no high blood pressure indicative of pre-eclampsia and has had no complications that I know of. The mother is very petite and they suspect that the baby doesn't have enough room to grow so they are planning on inducing her soon so that the baby can grow outside of the womb. They want to induce at 36 weeks.
I believe that they've already resigned to doing what they're doctor is suggesting but I am hoping to inspire them to ask a few more questions before committing to such a risky plan.
I have NEVER in my life heard of anything so insane. They want to bring a baby into the world prematurely because the baby is too small?? Don't baby's put on most of their weight in the last weeks of pregnancy? At 36 weeks this baby has at least 4 more weeks to go before it is considered to be "done" and possibly 2 weeks after that before most OB's will pull the plug (so to speak). So in 4 weeks this baby could gain at minimum 2 more pounds putting her at a healthy 5-6 lbs! The mother was only 6 lbs, 4 ounces when she was born and is a cute little petite thing now. I see trouble written all over this one. The baby will be born way before her time all because they don't thing there is room to grow. I asked whether or not they think something is wrong with her which would cause her to not to grow and they don't, they just think that because the baby is small now that there must be a problem and that baby can't grow. Isn't that why our bellies stretch? So that the baby has room?
I can't shake the feeling that this is one of those times when OB's are induction happy and can't let a woman have a normal, healthy, medical intervention free pregnancy. I feel as though they may be introducing risk into this pregnancy. I am also worried that once they administer pitocin and if the baby's not ready to come out that because of it's small supposed weight that it might go into distress leading to an inevitable outcome of c-section. It's so early that nature has a way of not responding to induction and then the only recourse is to emergency deliver it.
Now, maybe there is something that I don't know but from all the information I gathered, their only reason for scheduling an induction is because the baby's not growing at the rate they want it to. Have you ever heard of this before?
I personally think it's in the mother's best interest to let her baby cook until it's ready to come out. This ensures that the baby's lungs are developed well and that the baby grows efficiently. As much as doctor's try, they can't recreate the womb. They can try to be God but they're not. They've seen no medical reason for an induction. They are using ultrasound to anticipate a low birth weight at 35 weeks!
WWYD? Also, give me a list of questions for them to ask their OB when they go back this week. I told them to get a second opinion but their OB sent them to a "specialist" so they've already seen two docs.
My friend is 35 weeks pregnant and has been told by her OB that her baby is too small. They estimate via ultrasound that the baby is 3 lbs. 13 ounces right now. Of course, ultrasound is not a reliable method for determining birth weight of the baby but nevertheless OB's still use this method. They've been running stress tests on the baby for several weeks now. When i asked why she said just b/c of the baby's supposed size. The mother has no high blood pressure indicative of pre-eclampsia and has had no complications that I know of. The mother is very petite and they suspect that the baby doesn't have enough room to grow so they are planning on inducing her soon so that the baby can grow outside of the womb. They want to induce at 36 weeks.
I believe that they've already resigned to doing what they're doctor is suggesting but I am hoping to inspire them to ask a few more questions before committing to such a risky plan.
I have NEVER in my life heard of anything so insane. They want to bring a baby into the world prematurely because the baby is too small?? Don't baby's put on most of their weight in the last weeks of pregnancy? At 36 weeks this baby has at least 4 more weeks to go before it is considered to be "done" and possibly 2 weeks after that before most OB's will pull the plug (so to speak). So in 4 weeks this baby could gain at minimum 2 more pounds putting her at a healthy 5-6 lbs! The mother was only 6 lbs, 4 ounces when she was born and is a cute little petite thing now. I see trouble written all over this one. The baby will be born way before her time all because they don't thing there is room to grow. I asked whether or not they think something is wrong with her which would cause her to not to grow and they don't, they just think that because the baby is small now that there must be a problem and that baby can't grow. Isn't that why our bellies stretch? So that the baby has room?
I can't shake the feeling that this is one of those times when OB's are induction happy and can't let a woman have a normal, healthy, medical intervention free pregnancy. I feel as though they may be introducing risk into this pregnancy. I am also worried that once they administer pitocin and if the baby's not ready to come out that because of it's small supposed weight that it might go into distress leading to an inevitable outcome of c-section. It's so early that nature has a way of not responding to induction and then the only recourse is to emergency deliver it.
Now, maybe there is something that I don't know but from all the information I gathered, their only reason for scheduling an induction is because the baby's not growing at the rate they want it to. Have you ever heard of this before?
I personally think it's in the mother's best interest to let her baby cook until it's ready to come out. This ensures that the baby's lungs are developed well and that the baby grows efficiently. As much as doctor's try, they can't recreate the womb. They can try to be God but they're not. They've seen no medical reason for an induction. They are using ultrasound to anticipate a low birth weight at 35 weeks!
WWYD? Also, give me a list of questions for them to ask their OB when they go back this week. I told them to get a second opinion but their OB sent them to a "specialist" so they've already seen two docs.
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