(no subject)

[trinityvixen]

I am only linking to this celebrity gossip because: see icon

Seriously, WTF? A planned Caesarean and then another one? Forget that she's probably ruined her uterus on having it cut open once, but twice? Man, that shit is dangerous, yo. I really despise this practice. I realize--I. REALIZE.--life is hectic for a woman and it's hard to work your life around your pregnancy, but this trend has got to go. Any surgery has its risks, even one as well rehearsed and relatively short as a Caesarean, but unnecessary surgery is just asking for trouble. Repeat surgeries on the same area involving cuts through many layers of tissue? I'd be amazed if her muscles and tissues ever healed period, let alone after they'd been sawn through twice in one year's time.

A Caesarean should be a last resort, not a cosmetic thing (though how it is cosmetic with a scar is beyond me). I may be rar-rar-rar-rar independent feminist, but shit dog this is nuts. Even if she didn't plan to have the second kid as a C-section, fuck.

Comments

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

This might warrant a bit more research--I vaguely recall reading that if a woman has her first child by cesearean (for any reason) most doctors will strongly recommend having the second the same way. I suspect it was an article in Slate--I'll look it up if I get a chance, or someone more qualified can comment.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

That's as it may be, and I could be blowing smoke here. Perhaps it's just my aversion to the very idea of repeatedly being cut open--just to have kids, no less...blech.

I still dislike the planned c-section as a childbirthing method, though, and stand by that on the grounds that it is unnecessary trauma.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I agree with chuckro -- I think if you've had a C-section once, you're not supposed to have a natural childbirth.

And what about all those women who had C-sections on 6/5/06?

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. I love it. Devil children all!

Also, if that's true, seriously? I wouldnt have a c-section unless lives depended on it. If every time you wanted to have a baby you had to have major surgery? Fuck. No. Why isn't that a clue to people that maybe they ought to avoid c-sections as much as they can?

[slackwench.livejournal.com]

I can see that if the first birth HAD to be done by cesarean, doctors would recommend it for subsequent ones because of anticipated problems of the same kind. But if it's an optional procedure the first time, the only reason I can see to recommend it the second time would be because of damage caused by the first operation. I don't know how well the tissue around the uterus heals.

[slackwench.livejournal.com]

C-sections or just artificially induced labor?

[moonlightalice.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you're a little off on this one. If you have a C-section for whatever reason at any point, any subsequent births MUST also be C-section. It's very dangerous to try and deliver naturally after a C-section--I forget why, something about the scarring.

And as far as a C-section goes in general, it is generally supposed MUCH safer and more advisable than natural childbirth. They tell you to deliver naturally if you can, but any number of complications or pre-existing problems can lead a doctor to advise you to take the safe route. You avoid the whole hemmorrhaging problem, as well as the more problematic and quite common rupture of the skin between the vagina and the anus.

(This is what you learn when you get a baby sister at age 10).

[moonlightalice.livejournal.com]

Oh here we go! Why I didn't I check Wikipedia first? "Statistics from the 1990s suggest that less than one woman in 2,500 who has a caesarean section will die, compared to a rate of one in 10,000 for a vaginal delivery."

It also lists medical conditions that would suggest a C-section, and other reasons they're becoming increasingly more common: "Critics worry that caesareans are performed because they are profitable for the hospital, or because a quick caesarean is more convenient for an obstetrician than a lengthy vaginal birth. Another contributing factor may be fear of medical malpractice lawsuits. For example, the failure to perform a caesarean section became the core of numerous lawsuits against obstetricians over incidents of cerebral palsy. [citation needed] Medico-legal restrictions on VBAC, vaginal birth after caesarean, are also driving the caesarean rate."

And it looks like my info is slightly out of date: in the 70's it was considered very dangerous to try vaginal birth after having a c-section. "In the past, caesarean sections used a vertical incision which cut the uterine muscle fibers. Modern caesareans typically involve a horizontal incision along the muscle fibers. The uterus then better maintains its integrity and can tolerate the strong contractions of future childbirth."

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know labor is tricky as is natural childbirth, but I had to think that it was more dangerous to do the surgery. If people have been having babies this long without too much problem...

[moonlightalice.livejournal.com]

uh, i'm sure you know that the mortality rate of women in childbirth before the modern age was EXTREMELY high.. i would guess upwards of 30% in some cases

[moonlightalice.livejournal.com]

Ok, a correction: as of 1742, the INFANT mortality rate was as high as 50%. Women's mortality rate was about 1 in 42.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah, but better than their chance of surviving surgery in that same period...

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

You know, 90% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

[viridian.livejournal.com]

Fuck that. If I ever have a biological child of my own, which I don't want in the first place as I strongly prefer adoption, no way am I giving birth the traditional way. Scar or not, risks or not. There are risks either way and I'd rather do it the way that lets the doctors take care of everything because they will sure as fuck know what they're doing a lot better than I will, I promise.

Then again, I don't plan to have more than one.

I don't actually plan to have one, at all, so if I get unexpectedly knocked up there will be measures taken against it ever happening again. SRSLY.

[hslayer.livejournal.com]

( No comment. )

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Easily done, too. It's not as invasive just to tie off the old tubes as it is to remove a baby from there.

[viridian.livejournal.com]

Well, good, because I didn't fucking ask you for a comment, now did I?

[hslayer.livejournal.com]

I just told off my BOSS for talking to me less nastily than that; maybe you should keep your PMS in check.

[viridian.livejournal.com]

And maybe you should not make snarky little jabs at my opinions that I express on my friend's LJ.

Just thought you'd appreciate input from an MD

[arcfox7.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I had to do 6 wks of OB//GYN and it was the worst rotation for me for the most part. I did deliver 3 babies fully myself. Caught, suctioned, and sewed up. everything. I was at 4 more vaginal deliveries, and probably about 40 C-sections. It's sad, but most were unplanned. MDs in OB/GYN have such ridiculous Malpractice right now that most will go C-section at the lowest possible threshold. They just can't afford to be sued. Is it sad? yes. Is it a fact of life? yes. You couldn't pay me enough to OB these days.
VBAC is being encouraged, and I was going to mention it but looks like you have smart friends. The tissue doesn't heal that well, and the most current thinking is that you shouldn't really have more than 2 C-sections, they get worst healed and scarring and more dnagerous complications. However. If Britney had Pre-eclampsia, she likely was scheduled for this, not for cosmetic reasons. Pre-eclampsia leads to eclampsia which is seizures, high blood pressuer, etc. Not fun. Increases the mortality rate. I think that she shouldn't pop any more out.

Hope this helps.

Re: Just thought you'd appreciate input from an MD

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

It's nice to hear my abhorrance of unnecessary surgery held up. Yeah, it just doesn't seem like you'd leave the uterus intact if you kept cutting it open repeatedly.

It's a shame about malpractice being so bad for OB/GYNs, but it really does make sense--people, for no reason that I can fathom get attached to their babies. Something goes wrong, out come the lawyers.

Re: Just thought you'd appreciate input from an MD

[(Anonymous)]

To remark on the suckiness of malpractice suits: apparently, there's only one (!) ob\gyn practice in center city Philadelphia, and they're not taking new patients until at least 2007. And here I am trying to escape the medical stuff by reading your lj. (Anatomy exam tomorrow, but then done for a month. whee!)

-theKathy

Re: Just thought you'd appreciate input from an MD

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Good luck, dude!!

Yeah, what's up with medical stuff and me? I am no doctor, nosirree...

Yay! See you in a week!