Bad Delivery

Specialties Ob/Gyn

Published

HI, HAD A DELIVERY SEVERAL NIGHTS AGO THAT COULD HAVE BEEN A LOT WORSE THAN IT WAS FOR BOTH MOTHER AND BABY.....

NOT THAT I AM OPPOSED TO THE BRADLEY METHOD BUT THIS COUPLE WAS A LITTLE ON THE STRANGE SIDE FOR A HOSPITAL BIRTH. WANTED COMPLETE SILENCE DURING THE LABOR, TO ALLOW HER TO PUSH NATURALLY???????? I AM ASSUMING LABOR DOWN THE BABY AND PUSH AS THE URGE HITS INSTEAD OF NURSES AND DOCTORS YELLING PUSH, PUSH. SO TO GET TO THE DELIVERY IN THE PITCH BLACK, YES PITCH BLACK DOCTOR WOULD NOT ALLOW ANY NURSES TO TOUCH OR ASSESS THE BABY, MOTHER HAD A SEVERE PPH NEEDED SEVERAL LITERS OF FLUIDS WITH PITOCIN ADDED, 4TH DEGREE LACERATION. IF ALL THIS HAD NOT HAPPENED THE NURSERY NURSE WOULD NOT HAVE GOTTEN HER HANDS ON THE BABY UNTIL IT WAS TOO LATE...COOL TO TOUCH DIAPHORETIC, BLOOD SUGAR OBTAINED AND IT WAS 37.......IE BABY TAKEN TO NURSERY AWAY FROM MOTHER NOT ONE OF THEIR WISHES IN THEIR BIRTH PLAN AND WAS DECIDED TO EITHER START AND IV OR GIVE IT GLUCOSE WATER FOR WHICH THE FATHER OBJECTED TO BUT HE DIDNT WANT IV EITHER .. LONG STORY SHORT, ANY OF YOU HAVE ANY LIKE THIS HAPPEN TO YOU? INCIDENT REPORTS FILED ON DOC AND LOTS OF DOCUMENTATION.:angryfire

Please don't let the Bradley label make you stereotype everyone who took the classes as crazy! My husband & I took Bradley classes and learned so much more about pregnancy & delivery than most of our friends who took Lamaze or other childbirth classes. A good Bradley instructor prepares parents for all the potential circumstances that can occur during delivery, and prepares them to make the necessary decisions. When I was told by my OB at 39 weeks that I had to be induced due to very high blood pressure, I knew that my health & the health of our baby was far more important than the detailed birth plan we had created.

Our Bradley instructor really placed the emphasis on education. She wanted us to know the difference between medically-necessary intervention, and intervention for the convenience of the OB. I think a well-informed patient would be much easier to care for than one who has no clue what is happening to them!

Yes - in Bradley classes we were encouraged to labor in a quiet, peaceful room. Relaxation is key to letting your body take its natural course during labor. At no time were we told that we had to deliver in a dark room, or deny our baby medically necessary treatment!

Beth

The Bradley Method is WONDERFUL! As a childbirth instructor, I have to say that Bradley is just really good common sense, when you really study the philosophy. The educational component is also excellent.

What I take issue with is that sometimes the couples who choose this are very confrontational and there is the occasional instructor that scares her couples. We had one around here like that and thank God she has left the area.

Also, some of the Badley husbands are a bit into the "it is all about me" thing, which is unfortunate for the mother. I love it when they tell ME (as the labor nurse), what their wife can and cannot have. That does not fly with me. I am there for Mom, not some father-to-be with an inflated ego.

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Funny you say the more rigid the birth plan, the more likely it is something will go wrong - my DD was born by emergency c-section at 26 weeks - the day before what WOULD have been my first Bradley class...

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I think Bradley teaching is WONDERFUL. I also think flexibility ought to be a key in any labor/delivery. That flexibility would serve both birthing family AND nursing/medical staff well. There IS a medium, if we are willing to meet each other there. Birth plans are respected where I work. Fortunately, the doctors review these with the patients and will NOT promise what they cannot deliver. Patients know this prior to delivering where I work.There is ONE doctor we are "working on" as far as promising or refusing to discuss birth plans prior to delivery. There ARE some things that risk management and our policies will NOT allow (like no monitoring in VBAC cases). Having discussed each aspect of the plan PRIOR to arrival at the hospital in labor sure helps a lot. I know of no nurses where I work who sit and laugh or put down birth plans or Bradley couples. I do know we appreciate a little flexibility, however. I think we all do. Nothing "wacko" at all about wishing to have control over one's birth experience, in my opinion. Everyone should have that right.

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Specializes in ER.

I took Bradley and used it with my last two. The instructor that I had was not at all "anti-medical". It was about making informed choices. I had wonderful births with the last two. The hospital staff was great and followed everything that I requested.

What I have heard from some parents that were not happy with their hospital experience is that they were never told why something was being done. I can certainly say that was true for myself with my first child. They performed so many procedures on me and never once told me why. Maybe they were absolutely necessary but how do I know if they don't explain it to me?

Having said that, I have met some of those "over the top" anti-medical people before and I really would not want to attend their deliveries:) Birth is not always a medical event, but sometimes it is.

Tracy

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

The people who are staunchly anti-medical do exist. I have cared for them. Some, I could gain trust, others not even close. I feel this is one reason why a person should be able to choose her venue. Home, midwife-run birth center, or hospital. It should always be up to her, after she is aware of benefits and risks of each. Sadly such choices are discouraged and even disallowed by law some places. I think that needs to change. It should be up to the family where they choose to deliver. Just as long as they are aware of what they taking on, that is.

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Specializes in ER.
The people who are staunchly anti-medical do exist. I have cared for them. Some, I could gain trust, others not even close. I feel this is one reason why a person should be able to choose her venue. Home, midwife-run birth center, or hospital. It should always be up to her, after she is aware of benefits and risks of each. Sadly such choices are discouraged and even disallowed by law some places. I think that needs to change. It should be up to the family where they choose to deliver. Just as long as they are aware of what they taking on, that is.

Oh I absolutely think that people should be able to choose how they give birth. I had to drive to another state (OK only 45 min away) to use a midwife. My requests were very minimal but the drs that I talked to said no way. Sad too because I am really easy to get along with and I think that they may have loosened their restrictions if they had attended my birth.

Tracy

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I really agree you were put in a bad spot, and the worst part was not being a team with the physician - instead, you try to do your job and are left hanging by him when the family objects. My grandson was born in October, and there was a much better middle ground. Three of us family members were in the room with my daughter (by plan) - her husband, his mother, her mother. One nurse only, the delivery nurse, and doctor, during pushing. Delivery nurse came in after delivery and did assessment a few minutes later, with me standing near holding my grandson's hand (not intefering, just being present with him). Then after a few minutes of the usual, and a few stitches to my daughter (not much tearing), mostly family members with nurses in and out checking in. It felt like we were all a team with the same goals, and we appreciated the flexibility with family members (what my daughter wanted). I would think a sit-down if posssible with the physician and supportive facilitator would be best, because ultimately it is no good to broker these issues at the birth time, and when one team member undermines another the mother and baby always lose.

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Rigidity in birth is never a good thing in my opinion. Mom isn't in control of the process. Dad isn't. The doc isn't. The nurse isn't. We ALL have to roll with the punches. I love families who want as little intervention as possible, but I hate working with families who see us as the enemy and don't want any intervention even when it's medically necessary. I had one woman who wanted a natural birth when baby's heart rate dipped down and stayed there. It took the doc asking her if she wanted a vag birth of a dead baby or a c-section of a live child for her to wake up and clue in. Thank God they are not the majority!!!

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Specializes in LDRP; Education.
Rigidity in birth is never a good thing in my opinion. Mom isn't in control of the process. Dad isn't. The doc isn't. The nurse isn't. We ALL have to roll with the punches. I love families who want as little intervention as possible, but I hate working with families who see us as the enemy and don't want any intervention even when it's medically necessary.

Completely agree.

Working with HB transfers or any other birth plan is my opinion is no different than working with med/surg patients from different cultures who have similiar requests. The key to a good experience is compromise by both parties.

Bradley couples do scare me, though; in my experience they've already labeled me as the enemy before they even met me.

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Rigidity in birth is never a good thing in my opinion. Mom isn't in control of the process. Dad isn't......... It took the doc asking her if she wanted a vag birth of a dead baby or a c-section of a live child for her to wake up and clue in. Thank God they are not the majority!!!

Isn't it awful when you have to get to that point with someone? It just seems that sometimes, what you see is the mind stopping the labor process. I am convinced that's what we see with some of these more staunch anti-medical people. Little ever seems to go right for them. I think the mind is a very powerful thing!

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Isn't it awful when you have to get to that point with someone? It just seems that sometimes, what you see is the mind stopping the labor process. I am convinced that's what we see with some of these more staunch anti-medical people. Little ever seems to go right for them. I think the mind is a very powerful thing!

I think that is a great point. I think it would be a good thing if nurses in general did more public education on how we approach health and well-being with patients. Sometimes we get lumped in with allopathic practitioners whose model reduces people to symptoms to be treated. Now I don't think all doctors practice interpersonally that way, but educating people about nursing philosophy might help some of them partner better with us.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
I think that is a great point. I think it would be a good thing if nurses in general did more public education on how we approach health and well-being with patients. Sometimes we get lumped in with allopathic practitioners whose model reduces people to symptoms to be treated. Now I don't think all doctors practice interpersonally that way, but educating people about nursing philosophy might help some of them partner better with us.

That would require an interest on their parts to know. And it would mean the media would need to stop stereotyping us. GOOD LUCK on BOTH accounts.

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