On The Menace of Men During Childbirth
iantenna, you're right we are on the same team. That's the sad part--most people are, the people that REALLY matter in this debate, anyway--the patients and doctors, nurses who take care of them (me, us, etc). we need another revolution. if a bunch of doctors just up and refused any insurance and just used the old barter system, or fee-for-service, it wouldn't take much for insurance companies and hospitals to take notice. We don't need them!!!
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On The Menace of Men During Childbirth
And yes I am well aware that I am a cog in a machine. I'm a 'provider' not a doctor; patients are 'customers'.
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On The Menace of Men During Childbirth
iantenna,
Thanks for your reply. I agree with you, the dominant hospital (birthing and otherwise) paradigm in this country is massively fucked up. The whole 'healthcare system' (which I say with derision, since it does anything but deliver anything to do with 'health' and 'care'--it serves to just line the pockets of the c-student flunkie CEOs of healthcare corporations and insurance companies) needs a drastic overhaul, before it becomes too late. I had hoped that the health care reform would REALLY reform the delivery of care here in the states, but nobody has the balls to cut out the insurance companies and for-profit healthcare corporations and just utilize a single-payer, evidence-based medicine system. Silly me to think that our government might care more about the health of its citizens rather than the votes they get from catering to insurance companies, etc.
Anyway I digress. Regarding the 'esquire' bit, it was funny, however doctored (no pun intended) but the editors over there clearly had an agenda to make fools out of men and docs alike. Look, men are idiots! And doctors are complete assholes! It's easier to keep people in their little sterotyped roles and edit out anything that might prove the contrary.
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On The Menace of Men During Childbirth
Wow, the vitriol! This piece was supposed to be just a lark about the dumb things men have done in the delivery room, not some manifesto about the misogynistic medical system.
@mathnet, just a question, do you have any scientific background? Then you would understand the physiology behind the rationale of not generally (I say GENERALLY) supporting a pregnant patient eating during labor. Pregnant women are predisposed to gastric aspiration due to increased intraabdominal pressure and relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter associated with pregnancy. They are at highest risk of occurrence during labor or soon afterwards. Aspiration pneumonia, acute bronchospasm, or the acute respiratory distress syndrome may ensue. These are all life-threatening conditions. But how doctor-centric me to impose such an edict that has no foundation in science.
And @ iantenna: "we get it, you want to give mommy an epidural and/or c-section so you can get back to your shows." WTF! As an 'uber crunchy' physician in women's health, I object to that statement. It is my job to be as supportive as I can to a laboring woman, and if she wants an epidural then dammnit, she can have it! And sometimes a c-section is needed, they are not performed out of a doctor's 'convenience'--do you know that if I perform a surgery without proper indications then I risk getting my license taken away? Look I get it, there are plently of asshole doctors out there and for us newer docs, overcoming the older male-centered paternalistic medical delivery system in the US will take a lot of time to reverse; perhaps we never will accomplish this. But for ever asshole doctor there are hundreds more like myself who GENUINELY CARE about our patients. Why else would we spend years of education, accruing enormous medical school debt, and time away from our families/friends? I don't know why I even bother to write here. I need to get back to taking care of patients. Or excuse me, if it please you, 'getting back to my golf game' with all the leftover time I have working 100 hours a week and not sleeping for days on end. Fuck you.
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On The Menace of Men During Childbirth
clearly i am tired. please ignore the frontal release (read: neurologic deficit) signs from my last post. It's a little bats-in-the-bellfry out there despite being well-intentioned...