Just another example of an unnecessary cesarean. This is one woman’s story illustrating the risks identified in studies I’ve posted on the respiratory issues that can occur when babies are born, before they are ready, via scheduled cesareans or induced vaginal births.
This post is shared with permission and I thank Brandy for sharing her story with us.
How can you avoid this scenario? I think the best way is to plan for a homebirth. If you are not up for that, and I know most women aren’t, take your time to find a good OB or hospital-based midwife.
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Yes, it IS scary! My c/s baby had a LOT of respiratory issues at birth- so
much so she ended up in the NICU with a chest tube for 10 days after birth.
I only got to hold her for about 10 minutes 5 hours after surgery before she
was whisked away to the NICU for observation and later a ton of procedures -
I was trying to nurse her and she couldn’t suck and breathe at the same time
and was struggling. The scary part was that she had must have been
struggling for 5 hours already but no one noticed before I got there and
said, “Uhhhhh something’s not right….” then they called the peds in to see
her. Turns out she had a pneumothorax (a tiny tear in her lung that caused
air to be in her chest cavity and compress her lung making it hard for her
to breathe). To this day, I get SO angry bc I remember standing in the hall
while the docs were scaring the hell out of me and DH telling us she needed
to come out by c/s ASAP for her safety and health (they were insistent that
she must have an infection in utero bc she was measuring small and had low
fluid- both turning out to be BS) and they made me sign all these papers
telling what the risks were to ME but I do not remember anyone telling me
any risks for the baby. It was a “lifesaving” procedure for her – so they
said- and naive girl that I was, I believed it. Turns out the only issues
she had after birth were that she was tiny (4 lbs 14 oz) bc they took her
too soon and the respiratory issues arising from the c/s. Now that I have
educated myself and learned about my body, I realize that I just don’t fit
the “medical model average” of pregnancy and that I tend to be a 42-44
weeker rather than 40 so that’s why she was “small” and after seeing my
medical records later, my fluid wasn’t “life-threateningly low” as they told
me but borderline and probably could have been helped by doing simple things
like drinking more water! But I got caught up in the medical machine in a
military hospital (so that just makes it worse!) and unfortunately I wasn’t
educated enough to know what was best for me or for her. <sigh> To do this,
I am saddened and angered bc her entry into this world was so traumatic and
violent – being yanked out before she was ready and being drugged and poked
and prodded for so many days in the hospital….. And of course, everyone’s
attitude was “Oh, thank goodness she’s ok- she could have died” which in
reality is only true of the way she was born…… <sigh>
I feel your pain….
Brandy
Momma to:
Jordan (9/02) – c/s due to ignorance, supposed “low” fluid, breech and dead
baby card
Russ (7/05) – water VBAC with Daddy catching!
Baby #3- due in December – homebirth baby!
Thanks for posting about this. My daughter, born at 37 weeks via section, had terrible respitory issues. She was in an incubator for 5 days before we could even hold her. People need to know more about those risks.