For example:
In one of the pregnancy communities in which I post, there was a woman who was due to deliver her baby soon. After a cesarean section with her last birth, she was planning for a VBAC this time around. The dr wanted to check baby's position and see if all was good to go, so last week she had an ultrasound. They guessed the baby's weight at 9lbs 13oz.
**Note: It is a widely published and commonly accepted fact that ultrasounds in late pregnancy are often 2lbs (or more!!) off in estimation of weight.**
After this woman had her ultrasound, her dr gave her some news. To quote her, "I had planned and had my heart set on a VBAC, but my dr is very concerned that I would definitely rupture with a baby being almost a 10 pounder and my daughter was so small. So, I go in on Monday to have a scheduled c-section. Doctor thinks that by Monday she will probably be over 10lbs."
She did indeed have her c-section on Monday, and the baby came out at a whopping......are you ready for it? Wait..wait........7 pounds, 11 ounces.
Oh yeah, well over 10lbs. Now not only does she get to recover from having a baby, while meeting the needs of a newborn (and her other child), she also gets to recover from major abdominal surgery.
Idiot dr.
This is not a stance on VBACs (though there are too many drs who don't support women who are interested in them, and who actually are good candidates for them, not to mention the hospitals that say they "don't allow" them....), this is a stance on Drs not supporting their patients because they are too afraid of covering their back sides. But in this particular case there is no reason that a trial of labor would have been dangerous, especially since any dr worth anything knows how far off those late pregnancy ultrasounds often are.
This is also a stance against the overwhelming number of women who just blindly follow whatever their dr tells them. "He/She's the dr, they are the one who went to medical school, not me", is often the reason. But you know what? Drs don't know everything. There's a reason it's called "practicing medicine". There are some drs who still prescribe to the notion that all women must stay in bed throughout labor and must deliver on their back while being coached through pushing. Some who perform routine episiotomies just because. And some who are just whack-jobs.
I was one of those women who just went along with whatever the dr said and whatever the infamous "What to Expect" book dictated should be happening at that particular time. I don't remember exactly when or why I decided to start taking more responsibility for myself and my medical care, but I found that once I did, it garnered a lot of respect from the medical professionals I worked with. Thankfully I had an exceptional and competent dr during those blindly follow along days, I fear to think where I may have ended up were that not the case. I miss him.
I do know that I wouldn't have even thought to change drs this pregnancy had I not started taking charge of my care. I would have just stayed with the dr I saw for my first prenatal exam this time, just because that's where I had already started this pregnancy.
I can't even begin to explain how reassuring it is to know exactly what's going on during pregnancy, labor and birth, and to not wonder what the nurses or dr are going to do next. I am the one calling the shots. If things happen to take a turn for the worst, that is why I have chosen to hire the medical professionals that I have-because they have proven that they can be trusted with my care, and that's when I'm willing to default to they "they are the ones who went to med school" reasoning. If I encounter a situation that I am not equipped or educated to handle-that's why they are there. Not to run my pregnancy and make my choices for me.
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