Doctor rapes patients and gets a slap on the wrist.

Ok so I will admit, this is a purely pissed off post. This story written by the Chicago Tribune outlines a nasty, demented man who was trusted by women to provide proper care and instead they were sexually assaulted and raped! According to this story, many reports were made against Dr. Smith from numerous women over at least 9 years from 2000 till 2009. The complaints ranged from unwanted touching to full on penetration with his penis! Since when is this kind of behavior acceptable? The answer, it is NEVER acceptable. One would think that this would constitute losing ones license to practice, right? Well apparently they felt it was better to only suspend his license for 9 months. So, because he is a doctor, he can assault and rape women and not only get away with it, but will in the future be allowed to practice again. This man has proved he is unable to control himself and takes advantage of his patients at their most vulnerable time. This makes me physically ill, that not only did they NOT press any charges, but they are actually going to allow him to continue to practice medicine!

EFM(External Fetal Monitoring) is it too common and does it really benefit mothers and babies?

The use of EFM has long been argued about whether it is truly needed or even useful. EFM in the beginning was only used on high risk mothers in an attempt to decrease cerebral palsy(CP) in infants who were deprived of oxygen due to lack of oxygen. It has since grown into a standard of care for all birthing women. Many women do not question why this has become a requirement for everyone. In most hospitals in the US it is now stand practice for all women to be continually monitored for the entire labor, even those who are classified as "low risk". Many women do not question this practice at all, they agree, thinking that this is one more thing that will guarantee them a healthy baby. But the this is far from the truth. Since EFM has become standard care, the rate of CP in infants has NOT gone down, but the cesarean rate has drastically risen. The reason given for the raise in the cesarean rate by doctors? Maternal request. No one would admit that the over use of EFM could possibly be a problem. But finally an OB is speaking about EFM and had quiet a bit to say about just how unreliable and poor this procedure is. This is what Alex Friedman, a fellow
in maternal-fetal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania said.

But fetal heart monitoring is an appallingly poor test. The test misses the majority of babies with cerebral palsy, the condition researchers hoped it would prevent. It causes increased rates of a painful and invasive surgery: cesarean section. Even worse, almost all women undergo continuous heart monitoring during labor, not just those at highest risk.

He also said:

The complication we feared most was hypoxia, the baby not getting enough oxygen during labor. Going too long without adequate oxygen could result in a serious permanent injury, such as cerebral palsy, or even death.

No test is perfect. But almost every time we whisked a mother back to the operating room, and I cut through skin, fat, fascia, and finally the muscle of the uterus, expecting a blue, floppy baby, the child I delivered emerged pink, healthy, and a little bit angry.

Were we saving lives and averting disaster? Or were we performing unnecessary surgery?

If EFM is so unreliable, then I ask why is it still even used, or at least why is it standard for all birthing patients? This to me does NOT look like evidence based medicine. Why?

Steven Clark and Gary Hankins, two prominent obstetricians, voiced my frustration. "A test leading to an unnecessary major abdominal operation in more than 99.5 percent of cases should be regarded by the medical community as absurd at best," they wrote in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. "Electronic fetal heart rate monitoring has probably done more harm than good."

If you would like to read the entire article, written by Alex Friedman see link included. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magazine/20100426_Test_leads_to_needless_C-sections.html

Legally protecting doctors who lie to their patients?

So the state of Oklahoma is trying to pass a bill (HB 2656) that would legally protect a doctor that withholds or lies to a mother about the condition of her unborn baby, if he thinks it will prevent her from obtaining an abortion. And all I can say is WOW! Since when is it ever ok for a doctor to LIE to their patient, let alone taking away her RIGHT to make her own medical choices. Now I know that abortion is a very hot button topic but I am sorry, it is NEVER ethical for a doctor to LIE to their patient. Now, I will admit that I am not for abortion, I don't believe in it, I don't personally feel that it is right, BUT just because I may not agree with it does NOT give me the right to take the choice away from someone else! People of OK, you need to stand up and tell your politicians that you will NOT allow the law to cover the asses of doctors who want to lie to their patients.

A little about me.

So I am finally getting around to sharing my story of how and why I started this blog. I would have never guessed 15 years ago that I would be on this journey of learning and changing my beliefs as not only a person but as a parent. When I had my first child, I was just like a large majority of the US. I went to the doctor regularly, as did my first born. If the doctor told me something needed to be done, it was just done without question. I never ever dared to ask the hardcore questions that ALL people need to ask and discuss when it comes to making medical decisions. I blindly followed the advice given by my CNM and her OB when I was told my son needed to be born by cesarean after only 14 hours of labor and reaching 7 cm. We were both fine and healthy, great heart tones, and I was ready to keep going, but it was getting late and I am sure they were getting tired of waiting around. The post op infection in my wound was torture on my entire family. My son was fully vaccinated as I bought into the hype that they were safe, why on earth would they give them to children if there was ANY indication that they were not safe. He went in for every single well baby check that I was told I HAD to bring him to. I was berated every time I took him in for one thing or another. For many years after he was born I continued thinking that ALL doctors know best and truly only had mine and my sons best interest in mind and would NEVER recommend anything that would carry major risk. Over time I have learned that most of the time this is not the case. I should have learned earlier when I was a young girl, watching my mom, fighting for her life from breast cancer. She had this cancer for roughly 10 years and when she brought the lump in her breast up to her doctor he told her it was nothing to worry about. Patted her on the head and told her to let him do the worrying. For 10 YEARS he did nothing. Not even a referral for a mammogram. Mom, blindly followed what he said as she had been raised the same way, doctor knows best. 10 years later when her insurance changed she though she would go in for a check up and see what her new doc would say, assuming it would be the same, that it was nothing to worry about. That day my moms life and mine came crashing in. Upon feeling the lump, her new doc informed her that she could guarantee that it was cancer and she was in surgery that same week. It had spread so much that it went into all her lymph nodes on 1 side and they all had to be removed. Her recovery was very long and painful, with staph infections and daily de-breeing sessions to clear away the dead tissue in hopes it would heal. Chemo and radiation both followed and this amazingly strong women endured over a year of hell, fighting for her life. I could very well have lost my mom. The prognosis they gave her was not very promising and I am so very thankful that they were wrong and 20 years later she is still with me and my family. I now have a total of 4 children and with each one I have learned more and more. I no longer vaccinate my children and I research any procedures or treatments that are recommended and I make it a point to grill the doctor now so I know fully what is going to happen, what all the risks are and to determine if the benefit will outweigh any risks. Now I do NOT want this to be mistaken as a doctor hating blog. I don't hate doctors in general, of course there are a few in my own personal like that I do despise from personal experience. But I think that there are still way to many people who put way to much trust in their doctors to make their decisions for them. Doctors are no different from you or me, we are ALL human. Doctors can and DO make mistakes all the time. We, all of us, need to start taking a bigger role in our healthcare choices. Doctors need to be more transparent to their patients about conflict of interest, for example I feel that any doctor that gets ANYTHING from formula companies(pens, lunches, free samples etc) should have to disclose that information with their patients when they recommend formula feeding. Anyway I think this has gotten quiet long, but I am planning on being more active with this blog, posting on a regular basis, hopefully every day! Thanks for reading!