Hi all,
Regarding media portrayals of birth -I would like to pass on a letter sent
to me by a NZ midwife . She wrote this as a complaint about a birth story
that apeared in an NZ baby mag - the editor's response ended in an offer
of work checking future stories for the mag.
Dear XXXX,
I have just received a copy of Littles (June/July edition). I flipped
through and stopped to read "Deborah's Story " as I am a midwife and I like
to keep in touch with what my clients may be reading.
I was appalled at the inaccuracies in the story which are evident to anyone
with a little obstetric or midwifery knowledge. I'm surprised you did not
get this story edited by a health professional. Little Treasures used to
print similar stories in their early days until they wised up! Please do
the same as I will not be recommending this magazine to my clients or have
in our waiting room.
The obvious errors or inaccuracies are:
a.. placenta previa is not part of a normal pregnancy. In fact it is a
serious complication and always requires planned caesarian section. This
woman did not have placenta praevia. She would have been hospitalised weeks
before if so!
b.. "(baby facing wrong way)" implies posterior presentation, or breech
presentation. If breech presentation this woman would not have had an
induction of labour at a birthing unit.
c.. If the breaking of waters was unsuccessful, then how could the
meconium have been noted. Meconium liquor is a reasonably common
occurrence in a postdates pregnancy. It can only be detected once the
waters have broken (spontaneously or artificially). Meconium liquor can
indicate fetal distress, but not always. Either way it is a good reason for
a transfer to hospital and may be an indication for caesarian section if
combined with fetal distress. Only about 2% of babies with meconium
exposure experience meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) which can be serious,
especially in a postdates baby but many others are OK at birth or require
some mild medical attention. Using the word "fatal" is inaccurate and
misleading. And by the way, the danger is inhaling the meconium, not
swallowing it.
d.. I am not sure how ambulance staff prioritize their transfers to
hospital but priority 1 could have been non-urgent! I have reasonable faith
that if it indeed was an emergency the team would have been ready on arrival
to act. Even the busiest of units are good at prioritizing cases.
e.. I doubt the baby's heartbeat was lost. The heartbeat may slow or dip
during contractions but "lost"! I imagine they were having trouble picking
it up due to the procedure of spinal anesthesia being performed. This is
probably inaccurate and unnecessarily frightening. Internal clips can be
difficult to apply at times.
f.. I have never heard of anyone dying from a fatal allergy to cold! If
this woman had had a spinal anesthetic she would certainly be shivering and
feeling cold. A hot water bottle is usually a no no for anyone with
regional anesthetia due to the risk of burns. That is basic nursing
care,101.
g.. "all's well that ends well" is certainly very true for babies born
healthy even after a difficult labour. I doubt this baby was ever in any
danger of not surviving, due to the time frames of events and the conditon
of the baby at birth.
h.. 10 days would be a most unusal postnatal stay time. Something else
was going on here.
i.. Every baby is a miracle and I am pleased that Samantha is a healthy 4
year old. From what I can glean there are no obvious reasons for a repeat
caeserean section. In fact most woman would have a straight forward birth
next time as posterior presentations (a common reason for postdates and long
labours) does not seem so common in second pregnancies.
j.. I find the birth photo questionable and once again misleading. This
baby is only minutes old and has not perfused properly yet (pinked up).
This baby is also lying is a posture very typical of breech presentations
(the feet up by the ears). Either that or the baby has dislocated hips!
k.. I'm sorry about their friends baby. Sadly, not every baby makes it
for a variety of reasons. It is important we are clear and accurate about
these reasons.
I wince at stories like these. They are neither helpful or accurate. Why
would you want to foster a climate of fear and danger around childbirth?
Please, please, please edit your stories!
Karen Palmer
Midwife
Pinky
----- Original Message -----
From: "Justine Caines" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "OzMid List" <ozmidwifery@acegraphics.com.au>
Sent: Saturday, June 04, 2005 7:55 PM
Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] Media
Are you serious?
Every other New Idea and Womens Weekly has a childbirth drama.
Brooke Shields is on this months with PND (she had a c/s)
Last month's had 3 stories all c/s.
I have that copy (God knows why so can scan and send!)
They all sat childbirth is a totally unmanageable and pregnancy is to be
endured and then all you get is fat!!!
But if you run 5 hrs a day a week after you give birth you'll shift those
pregnancy kilos!
JC
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