I had a similar gut-renching experience recently at Burnside War Memorial Hospital in Adelaide. A Friday afternoon, had to see the CNM to give her the caesarean awareness day info. She was still in theatre scrubs and when I asked her if she had just come back from a cs, she said breathlessly and calmly 'oh yes, its just been caesar after caesar today!'. I walked out of there and literally felt physically ill and crying - those poor women and they probably all believed they saved their babies lives.
Christmas time is also the worst time for caesareans. Glad tidings we bring, to you here today.........................
Carolyn
CARES SA
Pinky McKay wrote:
Hi ,Yesterday I had a wee chat to Bruce Sutherland - he started the Hawthorn Birth Centre and still has a few births there each month as well as his other obstetric practice. He was telling me - utterly mortfied - that the previous day a well known private hospital in Melbourne had a busy day, according the the midwives there . Yes, they said - 13 births!!! - TEN of these births were caesareans!!Bruce was beside himself - "Thats 70 percent - what IS going on??" He also told me how he had refused to do a caesarean for a mum having her 3rd baby =apparently the woman had two straightforwod births previously but her 'friends' had convinced her a csection would be the 'easy way'. Eventually he 'compromised' and gave this woman an epidural and induction that she was demanding - she had a 3 hr labour and easy birth.Bruce is a legend but I am thinking he must be utterly baffled by the present trends for intervention He would have seen so many changes over the years - he is now helping women whose mothers went to him!He has fought enormously hard to give women natural births - introducing Leboyer births, then later setting up Hawthorn Birth Centre and including a large Birthing pool so women could labour/birth in water as he wasnt comfortable with the mother/ baby separation when Leboyer babies were put into a bath - mothers and babies (and partners/ support people) can be together in the tub at the birth Centre .An interesting 'chat'.Pinky
