Silly about Statistics --- AAAAH

[clemsterdarcy]

So 5 of the 7 couples in my NCT group have now given birth without major trauma to lovely healthy babies.

I'm so thrilled for everyone ... but at the same time wobbling over the statistics that me and my baby may struggle.

Yikes, I'm 5 days overdue and getting more fretful as each new announcement hits the email/phone.

Tell me we'll be ok!

You'll be fine. Remember, there are lies, damn lies & statistics (eg 25% of car crashed are caused by drunk drives. Therefore 755 are caused by SOBER drivers so it must be safer to drive while drunk, right?)

Sorry that should be 75%!

hahaha I like your thinking ... that's chilled me out straight away THANK YOU!

Or think of the L'Oreal adverts where "89% of women agree we're great" - and the small print at the bottom says they asked 56 women or something (probably their mums, grans & aunties)

also, maybe the mums in your group share some characteristics that make it more likely they will have good experiences, (an area with good healthcare, good teacher etc, particularly positive people joining that particular group etc) and you ended up in that group for a reason... a lucky group!

You'll be OK .

FWIW only one person has a section out of my group and all the babies were healthy. In a friends group they all had normal deliveries. I suspect the NCT might self select for a higher chance of vaginal birth for various reasons.

You will be fine! Don't forget the stats work for each individual, so you are no more or less likely to have probs just because the people in your group were lucky!

If it helps only 1 person in my postnatal group had a remotely normal labour,so we've probably absorbed all the recent bad stats between us!!

I thought because everybody I knew had had complications my delivery would be straight forward and it wasn't (but so worth it) so hopefully the reverse will work for you.

such lovely thoughts - -thanks so much for understanding! and humbling yourselves to reassure me ... you all rock x

Clemsterdarcy - didn't realise it was you who was facing an induction too. I think its something about going overdue that makes you start panicking about the whole thing. I spent the last week of my pregnancy looking up statistics and scaring myself silly!

I had my dd 7 days overdue and I know how you feel! My dd was 9lb 10oz and was a happy healthy big bouncey baby. I just figured that she wanted a bit longer inside me to benefit from all the lovely food I was eating...

Even if you do get induced dont worry. My friend was induced and said she thoroughly recommended it!
Good luck xxx