Was my doc too hasty in doing a c-sec?

Question

I have all these doubts about my c-sec done 4 years back. My LMP ws on 18th Dec, and I had irregular periods before that. I was on medication to get pregnant, and so can say for sure that I conceived on 31st Dec. I was told that my due date was Sep 25. Nothing happened till Sep 28th. Then I was told to come in to be induced. They put a vaginal gel in (no records as to what it was), and in a couple of hours, I could see my uterus contracting, but no pain. Doc kept checking for dilation, and said that there wasn't anything happening in 4 hours. Immediately I was scheduled for a c-sec, saying that since I was 'overdue', trying for a vaginal delivery MAY result in fetal distress.

I have been doing a lot of reading now, since am expecting my second baby in oct, and would like to try a vbac, and am truly wondering why my doc didn't try anything else. Was she hasty in going for a c-sec? Any ideas?

Yes, I have gone to a different doc this time around.

Answer 1

I would say she absoloutely was! If you had an uncomplicated pregnancy there is no reason you needed a c-section or to be induced, especially since that was your first child. Most first time moms go over their due date by a week or more! I am training to be a labor doula, and in my training I have learned about something called a "bishop's score" this is what doulas and midwives use to determine if labor is near and is based on criteria such as the position of your cervix, the consistency of the cervix, if you are dialated at all and the station of the baby. I will venture to guess that your score would have been very low, which means your body was not ready to start labor! The gel they used was probably Cervadil, or something like that...it is a prostiglandin gel (that has the same properties as semen), it is used to soften the cervix. They actually could have applied that gel and let you go home to let things start on their own...many doctors rush to induce labor on women whose bodies are not ready, and when that happens most of them end up with a c-section. I would suggest that you look into getting a doula in your area, they can be a huge help in informing you of your rights and they can answer pretty much any question you might have! I am so sorry to hear that your first birth went the way it did, there was no need for a c-section if the baby was not in distress and you were doing fine. Hopefully you have gone with a different doctor this time!!! And make sure that your doctor knows that you really want to attempt a VBAC. Best of luck to you!!! If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me! I can't give medical advice, and I am just in training right now, but I know so much more now than I did with my previous births...I too had an unneccesarry c-section, but I've had a successful VBAC also, and am planning to do it again with my current pregnancy! If you want to find out more about the bishop's score, you can just enter that into a search on the internet and several different things come up, some are more informative than others! Good luck!

Answer 2

That's outrageous! In the UK, our doctors started getting the US habit of Ceasarean over natural birth, for a few years. However, around 2 years ago, our Government held an inquiry into the practice and it is now only done in serious cases. The reason they go for the Ceasarean is because it is less time consuming and the quicker they get a woman out of hospital, the quicker they can have another patient in. In the US, this means money. The longer a woman is in hospital, giving birth, the more money the hospital loses. They would rather see a heart attack patient or somebody with kidney failure as those types of cases are big money. When my daughter was born, the midwife wanted to give her mother an "epidural". I kept insisting that they do not perform anything until they have checked her cervix. The midwife kept saying that her cervix was only checked a couple of hours ago. I kept telling her that it only takes seconds for the cervix to open up. Eventually, the midwife gave in and reluctantly checked the cervix. No need for any treatment as my daughter was on the way and around 20 minutes later she was born, "NATURALLY". My advice to women, since then, is not to trust the medical staff as many women here have nasty, ugly scars from Ceasareans that were unnecessary. Many UK women suffer from back pain, caused by epidurals. The best a woman can do is make sure that her partner is there and transfer all decision making to him as when a woman is in labour, she will agree to anything a doctor or midwife says, if it will "reduce the pain", as they say. The partner can make sure that the medical team do everything according to procedure and do everything in the interest of both the mother and the baby, which normally means a natural birth. If you were my wife, I would have encouraged you to to sue the hospital, a long time ago and would have supported you through it. It's no good suing the medical staff as they just hand it to the insurer. Go for the hospital itself as it's the hospital administrators that draw up the procedures, rules etc. and therefore it's the hospital that causes the damage as medical teams follow instructions passed down. Also going for the hospital will change things for the better as the hospital cannot afford the bad publicity. Many potential patients would go elsewhere for treatment and the hospital could lose enough money to force it to close. Rather than risk that, you would get a higher settlement and the hospital will change it's procedures to avoid any more legal actions against it. I don't know about US law but technically, in UK Law, a person could actually bring "Criminal Charges " against a hospital for "Negligence" and breaches of the patients health and safety. Potentially, this hasn't been done yet, a patient could take legal action in the European Courts of Human Rights as the hospital took away the child's human right of a natural birth. I'm sure it will be done one day.

Answer 3

Obstetricians are the doctors most often sued for malpractice. They pay $50,000/yr in malpractice insurance (and that was years ago, it's probably more now). The reason is that whenever -anything- goes wrong with a birth the obstetrician gets sued.

So if there's any problem that might possibly cause an injury to the baby in a normal birth, they will go for the c-section. They're just trying to be as safe as possible. I'm not sure if (or why) it's dangerous for a baby to be 'overdue', but the doc knew!

Answer 4

Obstetricians are the doctors most often sued for malpractice. They pay $50,000/yr in malpractice insurance (and that was years ago, it's probably more now). The reason is that whenever -anything- goes wrong with a birth the obstetrician gets sued.

So if there's any problem that might possibly cause an injury to the baby in a normal birth, they will go for the c-section. They're just trying to be as safe as possible. I'm not sure if (or why) it's dangerous for a baby to be 'overdue', but the doc knew!

Answer 5

I'm also expecting in Oct....(go October babies!) If you are still using the same doc and this really bothers you as it probably would me as well (c-secs are major surgery), I would ask the doc why (from the point that you don't want another one if possible). You have a right to know and this line of communication should be open considering you don't want another one. The doctor should be able to tell you if the vbac is feasible considering they are the Doc and if not maybe its something the two of you can work towards.

Food for thought...is it possible that you were high risk due to your medical history and the doctor didn't want to risk the chance of you losing the baby?Congratulations mommy!

Answer 6

The gel they use is to thin out the cervix. When they induce the usually use potocin by IV, perpadil (similar to a string placed in the cervix) or a pill. When someone is having a lengthy labor then they often will do a c-section to limit stress to the baby, but with all of my children I was induced and had labor lasting not less than 24 hours and the first child lasted 72 hours with no c-sections.

Answer 7

Just to let you know, doctors do NOT make more for doing c-sections. That is an old tale. I believe that your doc was a bit too hasty in your c-sec. Your Doc should have gave you more time instead of rushing you. It's too bad that you didn't jump on this entire case right when it happened (you could have won in court providing you had all the documentation) now if you were to sue them though, it may be a bit more difficult, but I'd say go for it if that's what you want to do. Just be prepared to have all of the copies of your medical records and so on to take to your lawyer when you go.

Best wishes!

Answer 8

YOU SHOULD BE THANKFUL YOU HAD A DOCTOR THAT CARED ABOUT YOUR BABY AND YOUR HEALTH!
i was induced...and they made me wait a WHOLE week before anybody even offered me a c-section. nothing was happening to me, i was barely dialating...a week later i was only 5cm. Which i stupid. my water broke, they were telling me it didnt and told me to take a bath. . and i did...so when i FINALLY got my C-section, i had infection and too top itall off i was dehydrated(andhad NO sleep!!) and too had to go to another town because my baby had a lung infection too.
so you are lucky that you even had a doctor that cared!!
So maybe she didnt want you to end up like me...which was misserable!!! when i read about inducing, it says usually if nothing happens in the first 12-24 hours they like to do a c-section because well it obiously aint working!
I am now pregnant with my second baby, and i am schedruled for a c-ection january 2nd 2008...i am not going through that hell again..ever!!!
but hopefully you have better luck....well congrats and i wish you the best of luck!!!

Answer 9

possible that dr jumped i had csection with first and a vbac with second what i feel really helped is my dr was very supportive of vbac gave me all info for and against but was for me trying i think that mad all the difference so talk to your dr and get his feelings good luck

Answer 10

She makes more doing a c-sec?

I hope you now have a different doctor! The gel they used might have been cervadil (which doesn't ussually induce labor) or cyotec (which sometime doesnt).

And inducing you only 3 days past due is rediculous!!

Is there statute of limitations? I would sue for malpractice.