Red Flags
1. Each visit to the OB office feels like you’re on the conveyor belt in a factory production line.
2. After you give your doctor your birth plan, s/he says, “Its the moms who come in with the birth plans that end up with the cesareans.”
3. You hear this: “If you don’t go into labor on your own by ___ weeks, we’ll need to…”
4. The practice won’t release their cesarean rates
5. You’re pressured into an ultrasound in the last few weeks to make sure the baby isn’t too large or too small.
6. Breech = C-section, no ifs, ands, or….. butts (couldn’t help myself)
7. Taking back issues agreed upon at earlier appointments: Well, I think now that it’s closer, we need to make sure you are hooked up to an IV when the time comes.
8. Your care provider’s associates don’t share the same pregnancy and birth philosophies as you do.
9. You’re told that you’re not allowed to have a doula.
10. “The only book you need to read is What to Expect.”
11. Your questions are dismissed, ignored, or found to be irritating. “Just let me worry about that.”
12. “Oh, just get the epidural. You don’t get a medal for a natural birth.”
It’s never too late to switch care providers.
Share the red flags you’ve heard….
Oh, my. What a great list.
Anyone who suggest induction for convenience. You want to have the baby with a few weeks of summer left before school starts for the other kids? You want to have the baby right before Christmas to make it easier on you and the family (and the doctor?) As long as you’re here today and you are in your safe dates, how about having a baby today?
Anyone who never mentions breastfeeding.
I would also amend #12 to include lots of dismissive comments I have heard about “natural” birth, including:
You don’t deserve to feel any pain. (So, the 70% or so women in the world who give birth without anesthesia do?)
You’ll be screaming for drugs the minute you come in, I know these things.
Keep ‘em coming! This list could go on and on.