Do blindly trust doctors?

Tessa, I'm just curious... are you going to allow them to check your baby's blood sugar?

Do they routinely do that? They checked Damien's but only after he was refusing to breastfeed (and that was hours after he was born...he was born at 310 and they didn't bring him to be in my room until 830 after the first hour in recovery where no one helped me breastfeed) and it was low so he had to have 2 bottles. I ended up not being able to breastfeed until either the middle of the night or the next day, but it didn't seem to affect his ability to latch or anything and he's fed well since then.

I blame the low blood sugar on the prednisone I take because I didn't have GD but I think my blood sugar got high because of the prednisone because my dose was higher at the end of the pregnancy

It is my understanding that that is one of the tests done when the baby has its blood drawn.Yes, I will allow them to test my baby's blood for whatever condition they like. A blood draw shouldn't take long, and my baby could be returned to me shortly after birth to be breastfed.

You should check hospital policies in case u decide one hospital is better suited to you if you have the ability to choose.

The hospital I gave birth at was wonderful. At least I think so. I even had my nurse come in the morning b4 my c-section b4 my ob arrived and told me I dont have to do anything i dont want and if i didnt feel comfortable telling my dr something she would advocate for me. My nurses were wonderful and so were my ob and anesthesiologist. they made sure i knew exactly what was happening and why.

However the hospital policy is no babies in recovery because it is just across the hall from the OR. normally c-section recovery is about 45 min, though i was in there an hour and a half cuz of my blood pressure. They bring the baby out to you when you pass the nursery so you can hold him for the first time, then he has to go back to the nursery until they make sure he is holding his temp on his own for 30 min b4 bringing him to your room.

I can tell you though that if you have a c-section and cant breastfeed right away, it does NOT mean he wont breastfeed well, and it does not mean you will not bond as well with your baby. My hospital has a great lactation staff. they help you the first time, and you can call anytime during the day for help. they check on you once a day while your in the hospital and call you after you get home. You can call and go in to get help even after you are home, and they have weight checks every monday you can go in and talk to an LC.

they also dont give formula to breastfeeding only, and wont give pacifiers if you say not to. just make sure it is written on the card in the baby's bassinet.

I guess some hospitals aren't as good about these things. So I would definitely tour the hospitals you have as options b4 deciding which one to go to.

sorry if bad typing....one handed

There is a balance between blind trust and total distrust...Doctors have training you do not, experience you do not, and hopefully the intent to provide the best care they know how.
You know your body, your wants and your desires. Somewhere between the two is the place to find.
Tessa, as a Mom to three, I sure hope you aren't setting yourself up for disappointment -- I wish you well.

Trust is earned.

Just remember a degree in any field is no messure of intelligence, compassion, or character as a human being.

Trust your gut feelings and intuition and don't be afraid to research and get a second opinion any time you doubt the advice or care you are getting.

Not all doctors are saints. Some are just idiots with a piece of paper, unfortunately.

Take care of you and yours.

This.

I am the kind of person that will look things up on their own and I do ask a *ton* of questions, but lots of internet info is sketchy.

I will say that my biggest turnoff ever is a doctor that seems annoyed with/like you are wasting his time with/or generally disinterested in questions. I have had a few doctors that it was like pulling teeth to get any kind of an answer about anything out of them.

When I had my gall bladder out the doctor who did it just wanted to give me handouts on the procedure and schedule the surgery. Ehhh-nope, sorry, if you are going to cut me open you are going to take the time to answer my questions.

That's how the doctors I've encountered have all treated me. I am a highly intelligent person. I read a lot...and not just on the internet. I mean, I get books and read them. When I ask them questions they treat me like a moron and my OB said "stop reading." The OB at the hospital when I found out I was pregnant told me it was impossible to be pregnant again 3 weeks after a miscarriage. When I told him you can ovulate again normally right after because I have read up on it, he said "no". Interesting that I have the baby that was impossible to conceive right now, right?

I didn't drink anything because i knew they were going to induce. I didn't have any to go. SHe just wanted to be right.

Nancy have you heard about the "new" autism? There is some threads going around on my lyme board. THat the increase might not be the "true" autism. THat the original autistic child did not like to be touched. But these that they are discussing do not mind being touched. It is believed it might be a lyme link. Just food for thought.

I don't blindly trust ANYONE.

By that I mean, I have a certain amount of faith in people who are supposed to know what they're talking about, but look to support or back up their claims beyond just their say so.

Doctors, vets, professors, friends who are well studied in certain subjects, anyone.

This is exactly how I feel. Trust IS something to be earned, no matter what letters are behind a person's name.

It doesn't help that I could easily pass for a 12 year old, but doctors in general like to treat women like morons that can't make decisions for their own babies. Unfortunately for them, I'm not the average, blindly trusting person.. I do read, I do look into things, I do my research and I do my best to be fully informed. I just visited my friend in the hospital yesterday because she had her baby. She was in labor for 4 days off and on, so I asked her if they ended up inducing her. She said no, but then later said they gave her pitocin to help dilate and progress her labor. So I had to actually tell her that YES she had been induced because it wasn't something that was fully explained to her, and she isn't the type that looked things up before baby came to know this. (She's still my hero of the week for sticking to her wishes of a natural labor as best she knew by refusing the epidural!)

I appreciate the type of doctor that appreciates people that are involved and concerned in their own health, the health of their children, or the health of their animals. I don't immediately dismiss anything they may have to say, however if I have questions or concerns, or even decisions, I expect those to at least be respected. If they can't appreciate that, I can't appreciate them - not even for their so called expertise and degree. Trust is to be earned.

I trust my doctor otherwise he wouldn't be my doctor. I don't BLINDLY trust him though. I expect to know everything that is going on. It's important to me that I get 'talked through' any situation. And my doc is a less is more type doc. Meaning he won't prescribe antibiotics unless they are really necessary etc. I like that. He's a lot like the doc I had when I was giving birth to Fiona. That was a great doc.

this

I have had my fair share of useless doctors.

But my OB that delivered Hannah, the nurses and Hannah's Pediatrician (who is also my doctor) are wonderful and I DO trust them with everything because they have proven to me that they CAN indeed be trusted. They don't just go around willy nilly handing out drugs or ignorning their patients. I am always well informed about my options.

if it weren't for those doctors I don't know where Hannah would be right now. Had they not caught my low fluid issue quickly and induced me she would have been extremely ill by the time I went into labor on my own. and if they hadn't caught her Pneumonia early after she was born things could have gotten very bad. Yes mother knows best... but I didn't know she was sick. I'd only had her for a day. I thank the lord that I had those medical professionals there to discover her illness before I took her home and let it progress

So no I don't just blindly trust Dr's but I also don't ignore their advice either. Had I ignored the low fluid issue and refused induction... she could have died.

But liek Saje said... if I didn't trust his judgement he wouldn't have been my OB in the first place.

Did they tell her what the pitocin did?

I'm not sure. We stayed only for a short while because it was already late (had to wait for Dustin to get off "work" because he'd be very upset if he missed seeing a baby) and the baby was beginning to wake up and she needed to try to breastfeed again. From my understanding, they did tell her what they were giving and that it would help her dilate. She just never made the connection between the drug, the word dilate and the fact that she was being induced. She hadn't done all the research and gained all the knowledge I had. It wasn't a big deal to her, baby was healthy and alive, so it wasn't a huge deal to me so I didn't get any really vivid details. lol

Maybe the Dr.s aren't evil then, they just figured that she would make that connection (dilate makes things bigger, bigger hole = easier for stuff to get through; dilate the retaining wall for the fetus and BAM, babby). She should've asked for clarification.

In her case, I wasn't using her doctors as an example of being evil. She'd been in labor off and on for a minimum of 4 days and even at that point I wouldn't refuse pitocin. Rather, I just find it surprising that some of my pregnant friends do so little research. I'm just the opposite and always want to be informed. No means am I bashing anyone (her baby is alive and well and that is the most important thing), it just isn't for me.

That isn't to say her doctor is perfect. Even 2 weeks before her due date he was telling her she'd likely need a c-section because her baby was too big. How did he think this? Because she was a very active baby in the whom and didn't want to stay head down, which decreased her ability to be more active. She was only 6 lbs and her head only 12 inches. Ya.... too big alright. :rofl1: In that case, I'm glad she listened to her gut in not blindly following that idea and scheduling a csection.

I and my husband do not have a doctor; neither of my children has a doctor, nor do my dogs and cat. All of us have the services of a homeopathic/naturopathic doctor or vet for ailments. I did not like how my pregnancy with my son was managed, nor the delivery. My daughter I had under midwife care; at home, she was born with a cleft palate that has been attended by the clinic team in our area; but other than that she has never been to a traditional doctor. I do not believe that the education that doctors and veterinarians get is unbiased and suggest that anyone that does think so; question how much of their current education comes from the pharmaceutical companies that provide the drugs they prescribe; same as veterinarians.

Mechanical problems - setting broken bones; etc. would be where I would count on an allopathic doctors advice. Any prescription would be chucked on my way out the door; I prefer to use herbal/homeopathic remedies only. My children also haven't used any prescribed medications since they have been born. Both are healthy; may have 1 or 2 colds a year when they enter school and have no other health issues. Neither my husband nor I have any health issues; (over weight by 20 lbs not withstanding and that is willpower and time allotted for exercise). Dogs and cat and horse do not have any health problems either.

^^^^ I hope that your good luck continues ! I could never live that way ! Especially with my children's lives in my hands .

I wouldn't necessarily say it's been "luck" grammy... simply because she doesn't follow traditional medicine doesn't mean what she does do for herself and her kids is worthless.

I tend to aim for a blend of both allopathic and naturopathic medicine for myself, and even Matt, as a paramedic who has a great deal of interest in medicine would never take a doctors advice blindly. Our children will also receive a blend of traditional allopathic and naturopathic care, with the emphasis being on naturopathic whenever possible. I don't consider that to be in any way a risk to their lives, or our own.