My cousin, the OB - Page 3

[mytwogirls]

Originally Posted by RoxyJas
My best friend's little sister is in her last semester of RN schooling to be a labor and delivery nurse, and she actually makes fun and imitates noises mothers make when laboring naturally.

Now hold on just a damn minute here! I worked as a labor delivery RN and I can tell you the vast majority of RNs who have brains DO NOT do this. I am an RN to HELP patients and I actually encourage natural births and I respect decisions made by the mom whether or not to get an epidural, or birth natural or in whatever position she wants. This is WRONG to make fun of birthing moms and I hope to God not everyone thinks we nurses are horrible, evil creatures who are here just to make fun of laboring mothers. I think a LOT of OBs and nurses get painted as bad people and it sad and it makes me mad because they are not all that way. I now work for my OB/GYN who delivered both my babies and saved my life because I had placenta accreta and almost died on the delivery room floor (honestly I almost did, not exaggerating here ladies!) Yes, OBs can be jerks, and so can midwives too. I guess my point is I am sorry there are awful medical personnel out there and so many have had terrible experiences. I just wanted to defend myself and my profession as an RN and I have dedicated my life to help bringing little miracles into the world AND helping families make that moment the best in their life.

[not now]

Originally Posted by mytwogirls

Now hold on just a damn minute here! I worked as a labor delivery RN and I can tell you the vast majority of RNs who have brains DO NOT do this. I am an RN to HELP patients....This is WRONG to make fun of birthing moms and I hope to God not everyone thinks we nurses are horrible, evil creatures who are here just to make fun of laboring mothers. I think a LOT of OBs and nurses get painted as bad people and it sad and it makes me mad because they are not all that way.....Yes, OBs can be jerks, and so can midwives too. I guess my point is I am sorry there are awful medical personnel out there and so many have had terrible experiences. I just wanted to defend myself and my profession as an RN and I have dedicated my life to help bringing little miracles into the world AND helping families make that moment the best in their life.

:

I hate when RN's are lumped together as a big group of insensitive, uncaring meanies with no compassion. There are nurses who are complete a**holes (I've worked with them) and there are those of us who care about our patients, who practice empathy and protect our patients.

I don't deal with laboring women but I do work with plenty of adults with serious problems. When I admit the patient who the ED says is "unkempt, poor hygiene...we found cockroaches in her clothes..." I think about getting them stable, comfortable and clean. I don't make fun of them, how they smelled or their lack of education.

Not all of us lack compassion.

[Belia]

I would never think that all nurses would be so insensitive as to make fun of a woman in labor.... and I don't think anyone in this thread made that assertion either. But I feel very strongly that THAT NURSE who did/does that just... sucks. And is very... yucky.

And should NOT be a nurse who works with laboring women.

[mytwogirls]

I hope she never becomes a nurse to tell you the truth. Those types of people are in the wrong line of work. They don't realize their actions can make a great impact upon patient care, not to mention it is highly unprofessional!!!! Just makes me so mad when I hear things like that. Sorry, I will get off my soapbox now

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by mytwogirls

Originally Posted by RoxyJas
My best friend's little sister is in her last semester of RN schooling to be a labor and delivery nurse, and she actually makes fun and imitates noises mothers make when laboring naturally.

Now hold on just a damn minute here! I worked as a labor delivery RN and I can tell you the vast majority of RNs who have brains DO NOT do this.

Wasn't RoxyJas talking about a specific person? Whom she knows personally?

I'd assume, and hope, that the woman in question doesn't do the bad behavior in front of her instructors or other students.

Shouldn't you be more upset at the RN student for being totally unprofessional than at RoxyJas for telling us about her unprofessional behavior?

[Couz]

Oh for the love of all things holy.

I have to chime in with the RN's that just posted above me. I am a doctor. I am not for the medicalization of childbirth. I don't think that unmedicated birth is barbaric. I've seen far, far more vaginal births than c-sections, and probably half of those requested epidurals. I've been the primary attendant at about 80 births. My training is not in obstetrics, but in family medicine and emergency medicine.

Far be it from me to interfere with the rampant doctor-bashing that seems to be an Olympic sport around here, but really... painting all doctors with the same brush just makes the poster look ignorant.

[turtlewomyn]

To the OP, you might want to share this article with your cousin:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...ubmed_RVDocSum
By choosing an elective surgery prior to term she would be significantly increasing her child's chances of respiratory problems.


One of the things that I really like about my FP (who is also and OB/GYN and is one of the VBAC friendly doctors in town) is that he keeps up to date on the most recent research so he can provide evidence based care to his patients.

[applejuice]

Originally Posted by Couz

Far be it from me to interfere with the rampant doctor-bashing that seems to be an Olympic sport around here, but really... painting all doctors with the same brush just makes the poster look ignorant.

Brushing all natural birthers here at MDCers with the same brush makes a doctor look ignorant also.


In my life, 55 years, four children, one husband, it has been my distinct experience to be cowed into a corner and treated as ignorant when I simply question the rationale for any drug or procedure, and then sent a bill for the indignity.

As the daughter of a hcp, why don't doctors provide patients with what they want, as homebirths in addition to c-secs that they claim patients want?

[mytwogirls]

sapphire_chan"Shouldn't you be more upset at the RN student for being totally unprofessional than at RoxyJas for telling us about her unprofessional behavior?"

I never said I was mad at her. That would not make sense. I am upset at the fact that an RN would do something like that. Please read my post again to clarify.

Couz "Far be it from me to interfere with the rampant doctor-bashing that seems to be an Olympic sport around here, but really... painting all doctors with the same brush just makes the poster look ignorant."

You rock! Thank you for having the guts to say that! That is exactly what I was going to say next! You hit the nail on the head. I am in the process of applying to medical school in hopes of one day becoming an OB/GYN and I can honestly say they are not all demons in disguise.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by mytwogirls

I never said I was mad at her. That would not make sense. I am upset at the fact that an RN would do something like that. Please read my post again to clarify.

I'm sorry, you're right, you did say that you didn't like that there are medical people who are horrible.

It must be especially hard for you as an RN who, like the majority of RNs, aren't horrible.

(Incidentally, the little button at the bottom of posts with a "+ on it lets you quote multiple posts. Just click on it in each post you want to address and hit post reply at the bottom or top of the thread. What you did was fine, the "+ button just might be a bit faster the next time if you felt like using it.)

[frontierpsych]

DH's cousin is on her way to becoming OB too. She's actually fairly crunchy though.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by doctorjen

In fact, I came home after my first shift and cried and cried because I went to med school because I was interested in women's health/maternity care and by the end of that first shift I knew I could never do THAT. I didn't realize before I went to medical school what it meant that OB/Gyne was a surgical speciality.

I suspect if you asked a bunch of people at random, most of them wouldn't identify OG/Gyn as a surgical specialty at all. I didn't realize that it was considered one until a few years ago. I had always heard them talked about as specialists in "women's reproductive health" - nothing about surgery. (I still didn't see one in my first pregnancy, as I saw no reason to see a specialist to have a baby. I only started getting referred to the specialists after the first one hacked up my uterus.) I really don't think there's much awareness in the general public that OB/Gyn is a surgical specialty.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by mytwogirls

I am in the process of applying to medical school in hopes of one day becoming an OB/GYN and I can honestly say they are not all demons in disguise.

I don't think they're all demons in disguise. I do think they work in an industry that's extremely unfriendly to pregnant and labouring women, and most of them are steeped in those attitudes. I hope that dd, when and if she ever becomes pregnant, avoids this industry like the plague that it is...because there's really no way of knowing what kind of provider you've got until you're in labour and they're either honouring your wishes or cutting an episiotomy after you've refused consent. I can honestly say that, if it weren't for my much-scarred uterus and dead baby, there's nothing on this earth that could get me back into "care" with an OB. I've been operated on by three of them, and the last two both seemed to be caring people - but the level of arrogance was astounding, and I wouldn't trust either one of them as far as I could throw them.

[Turquesa]

Originally Posted by Couz

Far be it from me to interfere with the rampant doctor-bashing that seems to be an Olympic sport around here, but really... painting all doctors with the same brush just makes the poster look ignorant.

I can understand why a lot of the statements in this thread would put you and other HCPs on the defensive. On the other hand, if you're truly a physician that honors patient self-determination (e.g. non-circ, natural childbirth, refusing Hep B vax) and the salience of evidence-based care, what do you have to defend? HCPs like you (and PPs) are rare gems. Believe me, I'd clone you if I could! (That or I'll just pray that a tornado sucks you up and transports you to my town! )

Nobody here has stated "all doctors this, all doctors that." The women posting here are presenting genuine and valid concerns. (The siggy expresses my own frustration with ACOG's anti-home birth stance) Before dismissing these women as doctor-bashers, why not take a moment to listen to their voices, to hear out their experiences? Why not replace the defensiveness with empathy?

I'll be fair here. The empathy is a two-way street. It must feel frustrating and demoralizing to hear only the negatives without any pausing to recognize the exceptional and gifted HCPs.

Yet in the obstetrics realm, especially, the medical profession is in a crisis. Care that should be based on evidence and patient welfare is all too often governed by physician and institutional self-interest.

The power to change this status quo will come largely from within the medical profession. As consumers, we rely on ethically minded HCPs like you to make this happen.

[Turquesa]

Originally Posted by Storm Bride

I don't think they're all demons in disguise. I do think they work in an industry that's extremely unfriendly to pregnant and labouring women, and most of them are steeped in those attitudes. I hope that dd, when and if she ever becomes pregnant, avoids this industry like the plague that it is...because there's really no way of knowing what kind of provider you've got until you're in labour and they're either honouring your wishes or cutting an episiotomy after you've refused consent. I can honestly say that, if it weren't for my much-scarred uterus and dead baby, there's nothing on this earth that could get me back into "care" with an OB. I've been operated on by three of them, and the last two both seemed to be caring people - but the level of arrogance was astounding, and I wouldn't trust either one of them as far as I could throw them.

[applejuice]

ITA, Strom Bride. s to you and your DD.

[smeisnotapirate]

Very eloquent, Turquesa. Thank you.

[mytwogirls]

Thanks for the tip sapphire_chan! And I am very very sorry you had to endure such a horrible time Storm Bride, how sad and downright nasty. It just feels like the majority of women here feel labor/delivery RNs are there to make the laboring mom's job more difficult or they are not intelligent enough to know what is going on and what the best interest of the mother and child are. I am here to say we DO know that and yeah, sometimes a birth just doesn't happen the way you want them to (ie c-section, tearing, assisted vaginal delivery or worse) and I can understand frustration but sometimes it is not the nurse's or doctor's fault. Now I say SOMETIMES! (Obviously there are other times when it is most certainly not) I am fortunate enough to know several OB/Gyns who are fab! The one I work for is a gem and I would never, ever go to a midwife as long as I had him on my team. It is too bad you mamas didn't have someone like him or his wife.

[Fyrestorm]

Originally Posted by Couz

Far be it from me to interfere with the rampant doctor-bashing that seems to be an Olympic sport around here, but really... painting all doctors with the same brush just makes the poster look ignorant.

It's hard to imagine that they are all not demons when you have had to sue an entire OB dept of a hospital (as well as the CNMs and NICU depts.) to get justice for a birthrape and infant kidnapping. All because, not one of them would offer so much as an apology for their awful treatment.

Do I have a chip on my shoulder? You bet!! Do I now distrust the entire medical profession based on my 2 horrible experiences with them? You bet!! Can you blame me? That is up to you!

oh and BTW...I won the lawsuits...I got several people fired and a license taken from another...yet, I'm still waiting for that apology. If they were all so wonderful, you'd think at least one of them could come up with an "I'm sorry"

[Couz]

Originally Posted by Fyrestorm

It's hard to imagine that they are all not demons when you have had to sue an entire OB dept of a hospital (as well as the CNMs and NICU depts.) to get justice for a birthrape and infant kidnapping. All because, not one of them would offer so much as an apology for their awful treatment.

Do I have a chip on my shoulder? You bet!! Do I now distrust the entire medical profession based on my 2 horrible experiences with them? You bet!! Can you blame me? That is up to you!

oh and BTW...I won the lawsuits...I got several people fired and a license taken from another...yet, I'm still waiting for that apology. If they were all so wonderful, you'd think at least one of them could come up with an "I'm sorry"

I'm not touching your birth story, Fyrestorm. We've all heard it. I'm just saying that if you replace the word 'physician' with, say, the word 'Italian' or the word 'Jewish', no one would simply accept generalizations that paint an entire group with one brush based simply on the fact that some people have had bad experiences with some members of that group.

There are quite a few physicians, nurses and other health professionals that post here. Do you really think we'd be wasting our time on MDC if we didn't share common beliefs with the people here?