How to give advice about avoiding a c/s?

meitaimama · #1 (**permalink**) 28-05-2008, 07:05 PM

Two of my colleagues have recently found out that their wives are pg.... which is great, but they have both chosen to give birth at a private hospital with a 54% c/s rate.

This really worries me - I feel I should be giving them some advice about how to avoid unecessary interventions but not sure how to go about it. I know they are educated people who could find out stuff for themselves but I remember I thought I was pretty well prepared for my first birth and yet really didn't know enough about avoiding interventions. and the fact that they are even considering this hospital makes me think they are not really well informed. Any advice?

emd · #2 (**permalink**) 28-05-2008, 07:27 PM

If you're talking to men, focus on the fact that normal birth is safer for mum (since their primary concern is the wellbeing of their beloved) and back it up with stats (men love numbers).
You can access lots of stats on CS at the Caesarean Awareness Nework website: www.canaustralia.net
Importantly, they need to know how much higher is the risk of infection, babies in respiratory distress, PND, breastfeeding difficulty, and maternal and newborn death following CS.

You can also look for Department of Health stats for your state on rates of intervention for each hospital: episiotomy, maternal or newborn death rates, length of hospital stay (a good indicator of how able mum is feeling after the birth!), PPH and CS. If they can see that their chosen hospital has higher intervention rates, it might prompt them to ask why.

bubly · #3 (**permalink**) 28-05-2008, 08:48 PM

Its a really difficult situation, isn't it? I am in a similar position with a friend atm. She is usually a very analytical person who likes to plan and research decisions but when it comes to birth she just does not want to know. She wants her obstetrician to tell her what she is and isn't 'allowed' to do. She is also going to a hospital with high ceasar rates and everything I hear tells me she is completely setting herself up for a ceasar. I have thrown a couple of points into conversation to try and encourage her to open up her thinking but I very quickly get shut down with the clear message not to bother, so I have had to just accept that she will make her own choices and try not to judge her for that (extremely difficult for me - I love my soapbox!)

I guess what I'm trying to say is all you can do is open up discussion relating to your own experience and see if they seem willing to listen to more. I think you will get a feel very quickly as to whether they are interested to learn a different perspective or not, and you can hopefully keep adding to the information you provide from there.

Good luck - I really hope they are willing to hear you.

meitaimama · #4 (**permalink**) 30-05-2008, 11:53 PM

Thanks for the advice! I've since talked to one person and he was really receptive to what I was saying. I mentioned lots about statistics and it worked

! They are only going private because of a bad experience at the only public hospital near them (very shoddy treatment after a m/c earlier this year>() They are now planning on using a different private hospital which I believe is a bit better.... and I know the m/w in charge of maternity services there and she is great! They will have to pay a gap of around $2000 so I mentioned HB as an option and they are going to read up about it.

Sarah

emd · #5 (**permalink**) 31-05-2008, 10:05 AM

Yay! Good on you for having the guts to talk honestly with him about it.

I wonder how many other families would choose homebirth if they understood that paying $2-5K gap on a private ob doesn't guarantee better quality of care? Not that there are guarantees with any birth choice, but I think many families don't find what they're looking for in the private healthcare system given how $$$ it is.

bubly · #6 (**permalink**) 31-05-2008, 08:49 PM

Thats great Sarah!

meitaimama · #7 (**permalink**) 31-05-2008, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emd

Yay! Good on you for having the guts to talk honestly with him about it.

I wonder how many other families would choose homebirth if they understood that paying $2-5K gap on a private ob doesn't guarantee better quality of care? Not that there are guarantees with any birth choice, but I think many families don't find what they're looking for in the private healthcare system given how $$$ it is.

Yes, when I mentioned that HB was safer, he was

and intrigued! I was also thinking that the one thing that HB does guarantee is continuity of care (which I think is understandably important to this couple).... I had a friend who planned a HB but had to transfer to hospital because she felt she really needed more pain relief, and she had her HB mw with her the whole time - something you can't be sure you're going to get in any hospital system.

hanabi · #8 (**permalink**) 31-05-2008, 09:05 PM

Isn't there a successful community midwifery program in Adelaide?

meitaimama · #9 (**permalink**) 31-05-2008, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hanabi

Isn't there a successful community midwifery program in Adelaide?

Yes, but it only has a small catchment area (and I think some other restrictions as well) - not sure they would qualify, but I'll mention it and maybe they can check it out - thanks for reminding me!