If you are a doctor etc what kind of birth did you have?

[TheBeesKnee]

Was it natural/unmedicated, did you have an epidural, an elective CS, etc?

Just curious what choices people who work in medicine have made.

@SockQueen

I definitely wanted to be in hospital to give birth, but the only two stipulations on my birth plan were 1)no pethidine (I ended up giving my midwife a pharmacology lecture on why it was rubbish, while off my tits on gas and air).

Would you mind treating me to the same lecture? 😅

Doctor here, one Birth centre and one home-birth. Definitely think the OBS and Gynae doctors have c-sections because they are traumatised by the terrible births they have seen.

“Consultant surgeon here. I had 2 elective c sections.

There is definitely a far higher rate of maternal choice sections amongst surgeons. I guess theatre is a safe place for us and we like to be in control as far as possible”

I know this is only anecdotal but god,
how bloody unfair. My close friend has been made to jump through all sorts of hoops to be booked for an elective section. This just isn’t right.

Too be fair, i think it's mostly midwives who put up a fight against electives, not the consultants

Absolutely not.

Part of the Ockenden report was in regards to maintaining “normal birth” at all costs and this meant an avoidance of caesarean sections. This was from midwives and doctors. Not just midwives.

As a result of that report, women shouldn’t have to be jumping through hoops to get the birth they want. A midwife doesn’t have a say in booking an ELCS anyway, so if there’s a fight about it it won’t be from them.

Hospital consultant here. I was desperate for a low intervention vaginal delivery, have ended up being booked for elective C section for a breech baby that won’t turn. The risks of vaginal breech were too great for me to consider it.

“Part of the Ockenden report was in regards to maintaining “normal birth” at all costs and this meant an avoidance of caesarean sections. This was from midwives and doctors. Not just midwives.“

This gives me the fucking chills it really does. I live very close to one of the trusts affected and it’s a complete tragedy how these mothers were treated.

For my two penny’s worth - HCP, both labours induced at 41+10, ARM and drip with both. Epidural with the first (40hours of incredible pain and I was done, she was born by ventouse) and gas and air and pethidine with the second. I was adamant with the second that I’d choose a section rather than another instrumental delivery, a choice I stand by.

Midwives I know had home births

Drs -
Horrific inductions and then emergency sections

@nowaynotnownotever presumably because midwives see enough straightforward births to know that it is possible in the right circumstances (for many women home = safe = produce lots of oxytocin to power the labour) whilst doctors operate from the medical deficit model and may be more anxious. Midwives tend to view birth as a straightforward physiological process whilst obstetricians only view a birth as straightforward after the event and it has proved to be so.

Doctor.

My preferences from being on the other side of the table would be Spontaneous Vaginal Delivery followed by Elective C-section. My feeling has always been that if I am going to have any interventions, I'd prefer going the whole controlled hog (section) rather than incremental and unpredictable interventions.

What I got:

1. 39w SVD assisted with forceps, I asked for section when it was obvious help was needed but baby was already pretty far down the canal
2. 37w SVD -straight-forward
3. 40w + 5 days overdue SVD...induction threatened because of my age..I said I'd rather have a section than induction...while decision making was happening around this I had a couple of very determined sweeps by a willing midwife and went for a hike...baby born by SVD same day as last sweep.

I can also add that I stayed at home for as long as possible, only going into hospital around transition. There are elements of home birth that appealed to me but I wanted to be in to deliver. Managed this perfectly for 2 and 3, getting to hospital around 40 mins before crowning. And leaving again within 12 hours.

I’m a midwife and my preferences would be the same as you!
Ideally a SVB at home but if intervention was needed (assuming I agreed it was needed) I would opt for ELCS.

@Lj8893 I'm always surprised when I hear colleagues actually asking for an induction because of discomfort etc between 40 and 42w. For me, what I have seen is completely spontaneous VBs go well, and completely elective sections go well...with everything (inductions, assisted, emergency sections) in between being a real mixed bag...

Last night I watched a vlog by a doctor in the states, she had an epidural. It seems that a lot of doctors do over there and I wondered if there was any thread of commonality in the UK. So far this thread suggests VBs

this means nothing without context.

the question you need to ask is do dr’s in the US have a higher incidence of epidurals compared to non-dr’s?

as it is the incidence of epidurals is generally higher in the US. A lot of women have epidurals. Profession doesn’t come into it.

Completely agree. An induction can go very simply, but it is unpredictable, there are a lot of risks involved (that I don’t think women are fully counselled about).

We tell our planned homebirth women about absolutely everything that could possibly “go wrong” in birth, but we definitely don’t do that about inductions.
And statistically, obstetric emergencies are unlikely to happen in a homebirth especially with a low risk woman. But much more likely to happen with an induction!

Most gynae/consultants I've known of have had electives.
One of the reasons I had mine!

I'm an ED doctor - 2 spontaneous normal vaginal deliveries.
My friend also ED - same - think 2nd was in water
My anaesthetist friend - induced, bad tear will have elective cs with next

@Lj8893

You are so right. Informed consent seems to go right out the window with obstetric care, or at least it gets applied in the most inconsistent ways.

My own experience was the repeated warnings about the risk of stillbirth going over dates with my third (knowing they were quoting stats that related to prims) and presenting induction like it was risk free.

Even going back to my first -i had a long back to back labour as a 35 year old prim. We got through it, we survived, but there was definitely a point that all the risks added up to section...but it wasn't discussed.

With one of my children I had two midwives with me at one point, they were both pregnant. Both were planning vaginal deliveries, one at the hospital where she worked but the other going elsewhere. The first said why go elsewhere, this hospital is better. Second midwife said, I'm not taking my knickers off for any of the junior doctors I know. I could understand that.

You’d be best of asking midwives. There’s research that doctors are more likely to have (elective) sections, the issue being when they do their 4 month rotation as an sho on Labour ward they only see the drama and emergencies, they don’t get called into the low risk, straightforward stuff. So have a skewed idea of birth.

the consultant obstetrician I know had a vaginal birth, all the midwives I know at least attempted a vaginal birth and a significant number had home births.

www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(05)79120-0/fulltext

www.theguardian.com/news/blog/2008/jul/11/whydoctorsprefercaesareanb

@Lj8893 can I ask what sort of risks would make you choose induction last?

I am terrified to give birth again after DC2 was wedged stuck and over 8lbs (I’m not even 5ft tall, weigh 48kgs) I’ve been left with a prolapse and nerve damage from pushing for hours and hours.

I really don’t want a CS so want to push for early induction to avoid another massive baby/further damage. Is this really a bad idea? Nobody has said otherwise yet!

Induction of labour significantly increases the chance of an emergency c/s, instrumental birth, shoulder dystocia (is this what you had previously?), PPH, 3rd/4th degree tears, fetal distress, neonatal resus.

Of course there are many many women who have successful inductions not resulting in any of those things but I personally wouldn’t want to take that chance.

But everybody’s risk perception is different and everyone has different priorities.

Retired Midwife.My first two were born in Italy.First was forceps,I had no pain relief prior to the anaesthesia for the delivery.Felt horrendous afterwards for several days.Second I had a quick labour no pain relief,normal delivery.Third delivery I was here in the UK,delivered in hospital with District Midwife,I had gas and air.

Glad never to have needed a section,just from the recovery side of it.

My friend who is a doctor recommended I have an ELCS and so I did. The consultant ob gyn said it was ultimately my choice as I didn’t have any complications to warrant it but if it was her choice she would recommend ELCS. Same with the second birth I had and a different ob gyn.