#c-sections

Put Republicans in power nationally and dystopian pregnancy care in "MAGA Mike" Johnson's Louisiana will become the norm from sea to shining sea. Republicans won't be happy unless there's a virtual MAGA overseer in every doctor's office.

In Louisiana, MAGA Republican state abortion restrictions are causing OB-GYNs to practice an extreme form of defensive medicine to avoid arrest.

(emphasis added)

In the wake of Louisiana's abortion ban, pregnant women have been given risky, unnecessary surgeries, denied swift treatment for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies, and forced to wait until their life is at risk before getting an abortion, according to a new report first made available to NPR. It found doctors are using extreme caution to avoid even the appearance of providing an abortion procedure. "We were stunned by just how much regular medical practice for pregnant people has been disrupted," said Michele Heisler, the medical director of Physicians for Human Rights and one of the report's authors. [ ... ] In one of the most extreme examples of how pregnancy care has changed, doctors described cases of women who experienced preterm premature rupture of membranes (when the "water breaks" early in pregnancy, before the fetus is viable). Some of these women were forced to undergo Cesarean section surgeries to empty their uterus and avoid infection, instead of receiving an abortion procedure or medication. "Which is ludicrous, absolutely ludicrous," said Freehill. "The least safe thing that we do, no matter if it's early in pregnancy or full-term at your due date, is a C-section." [ ... ] In what doctors described as another serious deviation from standard medical practice, OB-GYNs in Louisiana are now delaying routine prenatal care until patients reach 12 weeks of pregnancy — the point at which the risk of miscarriage drops significantly. One patient interviewed in the report said several different doctors' offices wouldn't see her before 12 weeks. [ ... ] Physicians are also delaying treatment of miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy out of fear of breaking the law, the report found — as previously reported in news stories from states operating under abortion bans. Ectopic pregnancies — when the embryo implants outside of the uterus — are never viable, and they can even be deadly. [ ... ] Some hospitals have even told physicians that they can't give patients any information on how to get an abortion outside of Louisiana — because that advice could be construed as "providing" an abortion.

Believe it or not, things could get even worse in the state. There have already been reports at other news sources of OB-GYNs leaving Louisiana.

Louisiana already suffers from some of the highest rates of maternal mortality and morbidity in the nation. Black women in the state are more than twice as likely to die as a result of their pregnancy as white women. Nearly two-thirds of maternal deaths in Louisiana are among low-income women on Medicaid. Some doctors in the report said they have considered leaving Louisiana. Others warned that a possible exodus of OB-GYNs would exacerbate the state's existing shortage of obstetricians.

Considering how MAGA Republicans regard women as little more than baby-making machines, their assault on reproductive freedom ironically discourages pregnancies in the first place.

Frequency of Global C-sections (as a proportion of live births)

Some highlights:

“In some ways, this is analogous to what happens when people take their cars to mechanics. People who are knowledgeable about cars are likely to push back against unnecessary repairs, whereas those who don't know much about cars are less likely to take issue with the mechanic's advice.

In childbirth, Johnson and Rehavi figured, this meant that obstetricians would perform fewer C-sections when their patients were themselves doctors.”

“"We found that doctors are about 10 percent less likely to get C-sections," Johnson says. "So obstetricians appear to be treating their physician patients differently than [they treat] their nonphysician patients."“

“[...] there was no disparity in the C-section rate between physician mothers and nonphysician mothers when the surgical procedures were scheduled in advance. Scheduled C-section decisions tend to be less subjective — a variety of medical conditions, such as a baby being in the breech position, call for a C-section.

Rather, she says, the disparity came about in what are known as unscheduled C-sections, when labor is attempted but does not go well. Patient and obstetrician then find themselves in a gray zone, where a judgment has to be made about whether to terminate labor and deliver the baby surgically.“

Happy Feast Day Saint Raymond Nonnatus

1204-1240 Feast Day: August 31 Patronage: Midwives, children, especially newborns, pregnant mother, the falsely accused, fever suffers, and obstetricians

Saint Raymond’s mother died during childbirth and he was delivered by C-section, thus the name Nonnatus (meaning not born). He was a well-educated noble, called to the priesthood and entered the Mercedarians (who ransomed slaves) under St. Peter Nolasco. On a mission to Algeria, ransoming slaves, he ran out of money and offered himself for others and was imprisoned. While in prison, he converted Muslims, angering his captors, who then bored a hole thru his lips and attached a padlock to keep him from preaching. Eventually, Raymond was ransomed and returned to Spain, where he died.

Fun Fact: This is the name of the Anglican sister’s convent,  in the PBS show “Call the Midwife” .

@wonderland-s-angel

1) Thanks :D

2) Yes my mom had a cesarean, which was quite a mess from what I am told Oxo Apparently both my mother and I were dying before my dad convinced (IE< Threatened to murder) the Dr. to give my mom one so we would both survive Oxo but we both made it - obviously XD - after the c-section :) Mine was so late for that reason too -p- my mom was in labor for 27hrs before that O.e Apparently, I tried to be born on April 1st (THANK GOD I wasn’t e.e) and almost made it to April 3rd, before that I was already 10 days later from the initial due date too ^>^”  I was a hard baby e.o

The Anti-Abortion Movement Wants to Replace Emergency Abortions With Riskier Procedures

Doctors in some states that have banned abortion are already increasingly performing C-sections instead of emergency abortions, even though C-sections are far riskier and more invasive.

Acupuncture significantly reduces pain following C-section: Research

Acupuncture significantly reduces both pain and painkiller use following surgeries including Cesarean sections, research has shown.

In one study, published in the Chinese Medical Journal in 2009, researchers from Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan assigned 60 women who had undergone C-sections either to a control group or to a group that received pain treatment via acupuncture…