Notes on period obstetrics

[bunnyjadwiga]

The first recorded case of a C-Section operation survived by the mother appears to have been in Germany in 1500, performed by the desperate father-- Jacob Nufer, a pig gelder.

Rectovaginal fistulas (which is one of the complications that episiotomies were developed to combat) were common and long-term complications of birth in the 19th century. Between 1845 and 1850, James Marion Sims came up with a speculum that allowed repairs to be made and perfected a method by operating on a number of African-American slave women who had such fistulas. He later made his fortune performing the surgery on upper-class women who also demanded the now-fashionable anesthesia for the operation.

The 16th century Rosegarden for Pregnant Women and Midwives recommends that overweight women deliver in a hands and knees position that is widely mentioned in the current delivery/midwifery literature as a method for reducing shoulder dystochia (where the child is trapped in the birth canal because the posterior shoulder cannot be delivered). This manuever, however, is not easily executed in a modern standard delivery room due to the presence of monitoring equipment.

Comments

[marinda-4.livejournal.com]

More as a comment on your other comments and not your original post...

Prior to giving birth this past February, I fought tooth and nail to have my child naturally, without drugs. My OB and I - a midwife wasn't experienced enough for the problems I was having - had a great relationship, and she was willing to try anything except let me get in the water tank (long story).

Or in other words, fight for what *you* want, and to h*ll with what the doctor wants. I went through three periods of hearing "you need a C-section" and I fought each one, followed the rules, diet, and insulin (I had GDM), and was ready to do it my way. On my own schedule too, not on what they wanted.

Of course, my child had other ideas and 1 day after my due date my last ultrasound showed that he had turned breech (again) and I had a C-section the following day because *no* hospital in this area will naturally deliver a breech baby for a first-time Mom. (I checked.)

I did a lot of research on GDM, fat Moms (because I am one), etc. Let me know if you're interested and I'll direct you to the sites and books I used.

[bunnyjadwiga.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Yes, I'd like pointers to what you've used. I have done a lot of research but all it's telling me is that the clinical research and the management protocols don't always match. And there's no such thing as attention to Quality of Life in the GD preggo.

[marinda-4.livejournal.com]

Of course, having offered, I don't have the time right now do get it together. I'll leave this reply active to remind myself, and put together a list tomorrow and send it to you. :)

BTW, what did you mean by "Quality of Life in the GD preggo"?

[bunnyjadwiga.livejournal.com]

Oh, "Quality of Life" is one of those medical terms that mean "how much does it suck to be you" and as far as I can tell, in women with gestational diabetes the idea that running 'em around for all this testing might make their lives difficult and maybe even not be worth the stress level hasn't even been considered. Heck, the idea that the misery of induction, NICU, etc. might at all weigh against possibility of shoulder dystochia doesn't show up in the literature. (As far as I can tell, they'd really like to transplant every baby whose mother has GDM into an automatic womb device they could control completely.)