I've been lamenting how I've been in here for the past 3 weeks and have yet to see a vaginal birth. I have seen 5 cesarean sections and while all births are exciting, these are not quite the same. I narrowly missed 2 vaginal births on separate occasions, once just last Friday!
Today I went for morning clinic and the doctor told me I missed two births over the weekend. But then he mentioned there is a woman in the labor room who as been there since last night. I was so excited!! I asked if I could watch the labor instead of watch him do paperwork in his office. The doctor told me to go in and so I did. I arrived just before the anesthesiologist. She is a very nice woman who specializes in epidurals. She explained to me how the epidural works and the medications she uses. I watched her put in the epidural. I have seen a few spinal blocks before this, but those don't compare to the thick gauge of the epidural needle. After it was in place the laboring mother was hooked up to a pitocin drip. Apparently this is modus operandi at this clinic, where they like to "augment" the labor. The mother was significantly quieter after the epidural.
I love how the doctor's here like to throw around the word "painless." They have "painless" vaccination injections, that are supposed to be less irritating than the whole cell vaccines. They also have "painless" births with an epidural. The doctor comes in and asks if they want it painless or regular. Of course the patient is going to choose painless!! I asked the anesthesiologist how common epidurals are and she said it depends on the hospital and how good they are at convincing women to get them, but that the hospital rate is about 80% with "very good results."
After I had been watching the young mother labor for about an hour, the nurses rushed in exclaiming another mother just arrived in full dilation. They ran around getting many things ready, seemingly forgetting about the first laboring mother. The second mother was indeed further along than the first and the hospital staff went to work painting her with iodine in preparation.
Now, I have never seen a birth before, other than on TV, but I was a little shocked by how medical it was. The doctor scrubbed up and put on the same gown he wears for surgeries. He had a whole slew of instruments next to him. They placed the green clothes they use for surgery around the mother's vagina. Apparently all of this prep work was for the episiotomy. According to the doctor, all first time mother's get cut to avoiding tears. He said the rate is 100% because the Indian perineum is too small and weak, not strong and long like American perineums. I'm serious, that's what he said. So, to avoid tearing, every single mother is cut. Every one.
The first baby came out screaming and I didn't have time to see much of it before I was rushed into the other room for the second baby. The same thing occurred, but the baby just hung there as the doctor cut the cord. They hurried this baby into the room of the other mother, where they began to resuscitate it while the other mother was being sewn up. The baby was atonic, which they knew was a risk because of the ultrasounds. They gave the baby a few breaths and stimulated it while rubbing it's back. Eventually he began to cry and by 5 minutes the APGAR was good. A little while later, the pediatrician came by to check on the babies. He comes for every birth to assess the little ones.
Today I went for morning clinic and the doctor told me I missed two births over the weekend. But then he mentioned there is a woman in the labor room who as been there since last night. I was so excited!! I asked if I could watch the labor instead of watch him do paperwork in his office. The doctor told me to go in and so I did. I arrived just before the anesthesiologist. She is a very nice woman who specializes in epidurals. She explained to me how the epidural works and the medications she uses. I watched her put in the epidural. I have seen a few spinal blocks before this, but those don't compare to the thick gauge of the epidural needle. After it was in place the laboring mother was hooked up to a pitocin drip. Apparently this is modus operandi at this clinic, where they like to "augment" the labor. The mother was significantly quieter after the epidural.
I love how the doctor's here like to throw around the word "painless." They have "painless" vaccination injections, that are supposed to be less irritating than the whole cell vaccines. They also have "painless" births with an epidural. The doctor comes in and asks if they want it painless or regular. Of course the patient is going to choose painless!! I asked the anesthesiologist how common epidurals are and she said it depends on the hospital and how good they are at convincing women to get them, but that the hospital rate is about 80% with "very good results."
After I had been watching the young mother labor for about an hour, the nurses rushed in exclaiming another mother just arrived in full dilation. They ran around getting many things ready, seemingly forgetting about the first laboring mother. The second mother was indeed further along than the first and the hospital staff went to work painting her with iodine in preparation.
Now, I have never seen a birth before, other than on TV, but I was a little shocked by how medical it was. The doctor scrubbed up and put on the same gown he wears for surgeries. He had a whole slew of instruments next to him. They placed the green clothes they use for surgery around the mother's vagina. Apparently all of this prep work was for the episiotomy. According to the doctor, all first time mother's get cut to avoiding tears. He said the rate is 100% because the Indian perineum is too small and weak, not strong and long like American perineums. I'm serious, that's what he said. So, to avoid tearing, every single mother is cut. Every one.
The first baby came out screaming and I didn't have time to see much of it before I was rushed into the other room for the second baby. The same thing occurred, but the baby just hung there as the doctor cut the cord. They hurried this baby into the room of the other mother, where they began to resuscitate it while the other mother was being sewn up. The baby was atonic, which they knew was a risk because of the ultrasounds. They gave the baby a few breaths and stimulated it while rubbing it's back. Eventually he began to cry and by 5 minutes the APGAR was good. A little while later, the pediatrician came by to check on the babies. He comes for every birth to assess the little ones.
No comments:
Post a Comment