A friend's OB has a sign prohibiting doulas - Page 3

[TzippityDoulah]

Originally Posted by leila1213

Just like at the auto mechanics!

The woman called her doula and told her what the OB said. The doula said "I won't forget who's in charge...YOU are!"

hahahah LOVE IT!!

[MadameXCupcake]

If I saw that sign before I was birth educated I would have grabbed my husbands blackberry and googled it!! Then I probably would have been REALLY confused as to why and OB wouldn't want one! LOL

Just maybe it enlightens a few women!

[jessjgh1]

Hmm, is that above or below the "I don't promote, expect, or encourage natural birth" signs??

Jessica

[barefootpoetry]

Originally Posted by Veritaserum

When asked about why they have this policy, one OB waxed eloquent about how their patients' safety is so important so they can't recommend doulas or the Bradley method since those things introduce risk for mother and baby.

Oh yes, because a woman rubbing your shoulders durnig labor or a class that teaches you how to have a successful natural birth are SO DANGEROUS. : And epidurals, episiotomies, forceps, vaccums, Pitocin, and C-sections AREN'T! I swear, some people just need to have some brains smacked into them.

[mischievium]

When I was looking into getting an OB in SF (just to have the basic infertility labwork done), I found a practice that explicitly stated on their website that they would not work with patients who hired a doula. Needless to say, even though I had no intention of hiring an OB for delivery purposes, I wasn't going to go to them even for testing.

[navessa]

sounds like a dr to stay far far away from!

if they don't welcome doulas then they have NO clue what birth is really about.

[Sage.Naissance]

That is insane. I cant even fathom a sign that explicitly refuses a womans right to have a specific support person at her birth. What if she is a single mom, what if she doesnt have anyone she feels can support her, but a doula?
Obviously a doula left a bad taste in this physicians mouth.
That being said I have most certainly met specific doulas(only one or two) that I would, if I were a phyisician or midwife, refuse to allow to attend a birth that I was attending. These doulas have boundary issues, are too emotionally tied up in other peoples births for whatever reasons, and behave inappropriately, and I feel, in some way they interfere with the birth process. Its fine if people want to hire them but I would not want to attend a birth with them because they would inevidably piss me off beyond belief, especially because I am a doula and I take my job seriously.
I am sad that this OB finds birth support people threatening.

[elanorh]

I've a friend who recently became an OB, and she thinks doulas are great. The hospital she did her residency at was in the inner city, and she said that the volunteer doulas that worked there made a tremendous difference for the mothers who used them.

(She also thinks epidurals are wonderful, and hasn't seen many natural births, but --- I have hopes that she will come 'round as she becomes more established in her career; she's always been very vocal about how strong women are, and I think as she sees more clients who do NCB and so on, she'll see why it's not as awful as med school indoctrinated her to believe).

I really do think that the "hurry hurry, I'd like to get some sleep tonight!" approach from some OBs (in terms of introducing interventions to speed things up) is more difficult for OBs (or MWs) to do if the mother is educated/informed, and/or if she has a good support person in place (partner, doula, whoever). And I know my friend the OB doesn't think there's any difference in pit contractions vs. physiological ones....

I shudder when I hear about OBs like this ... mine is awesome, he has a real midwife-like approach to birth and I know he has enjoyed both of my births with him. But I think he's an exception .....

[Jyotsna]

There is a doctor's office in my city who is prohibiting doulas at their clients birth, but I've never met the doctor nor know anyone who has. I'd not want to use their services however. On the other hand, I did just do a birth with a client where her doctor ask me to provide my cards and brochures because she said she recommends her clients to use a doula. So I'll do that.

J.

[allisonrose]

Originally Posted by elanorh

And I know my friend the OB doesn't think there's any difference in pit contractions vs. physiological ones....

Oh, this was the attitude that the hosp-birth midwife who delivered me had. I didn't believe it but unfortunately was in the position where I didn't really have many options.

[MegBoz]

Originally Posted by elanorh

my friend the OB doesn't think there's any difference in pit contractions vs. physiological ones....

Now, if people say the pit cntrx are more painful, that is, of course, hard to prove! Pain is a perception & difficult to accurately measure.

However.. I thought pit cntrx were literally physiologically different!! I thought I read in "the Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth" that they change the way the uterus contracts. Rather than a contraction coming in a wave from the top downwards, the pit cntrx squeezes in all at once.

Pit can also drastically alter the rhythm of cntrx, making them come all at once on top of each other (and combined with the harsher "squeezing" - thus deprive the babe of oxygen.)

So, the pain issue aside... from a pure scientific/physiological perspective, pit cntrx ARE different. Or have I misunderstood?

[ferretfan]

that's insane. i'm seeing a family practice doctor this time around. he told me that he recently attended a conference which extolled the virtues of having a doula present at birth. he's always been very supportive of my plan to have a doula, i guess i am very fortunate

[Belia]

What concerns me about this doctor is what about the women who may not have many choices about their HCP? What if this doctor is the only one who accepts their health insurance? Or, what if he's in a small town and there aren't many doctors to choose from?

I guess he has a right to put such a restriction on his patients, but yech. Leaves a bad taste. And may limit options for some of his most vulnerable patients, which is gross.