jujubug

That's a really neat story. I'm glad you had a good experience.In regards to a previous post about patients almost jumping off the OR table due to pain during a c/s, I remember in clinicals a patient yelled out as soon as the scalpel hit her and they did put her out. But I heard from several people that had an inadequate epidural or spinal but were not put out. I don't understand why they even take a chance when a patient is probably feeling the surgery.

I've heard of occasional occurrences where gen. anesthesia fails to provide complete pain relief in patients during a c/s. Did you experience anything like this in your career in dealing with that many general anesthesia cases?

What country are you in?

Thanks for the all the responses. This is just a topic that peaks my interest since it has come up a lot. I don't have L&D experience, but I've come across some OBs that disappointingly seem to have their best interest a priority. I can totally understand their perspective when it comes to defensive medicine and liability, but it just doesn't seem right to coerce/sway patients in to a c/s when it's uncalled for (i.e. pushing for a c/s when the patient is a great candidate for vbac and chooses to vbac). I can't help but to wonder if some OBs are just scalpel -happy and get impatient. I'm just one of those who knows the risks of surgery and would rather not opt for elective surgery unless the benefit out ways the risk. If I were in a situation where I had to choose between an elective c/s and vbac, I would definitely be very selective choosing an OB who is trustworthy and has integrity. I always stress that to women.

I am also curious about the debate between elective RCS and VBAC. In your experiences, which route did you see more problems with? Also how often do you see complications with general anesthesia for a CS?

I am also curious about the debate between elective RCS and VBAC. In your experiences which route did you see more problems with? Also how often do you see complications with general anesthesia for CS?

So what were the maternal deaths related to?

I've never worked L&D and it's always been an area I've wanted to do. When I worked dialysis a fellow nurse who had worked L&D for 30 yrs. previously mentioned that it wasn't all peachy and that she witnessed some awfully sad cases where mom & baby died in the OR. I already knew of course it's not a happy unit all the time and things can go bad quickly. I'm just curious and want some info from those who are experienced L&D nurses. How many maternal and/or fetal deaths have you experienced in your career? Of those, what were the deaths related to....c-sections? uterine ruptures? Thanks!