04/11/2017
If you are a momma, want to be a momma soon or you love a momma, read this. Read it all the way to the end.
For Liz, the first mom highlighted in the article who died, I really wish someone on her healthcare team had told her she was at risk of blood clots with that family history. Just the hormones of pregnancy increase blood clot risk. Add to that recent surgery and being confined to bed and it's a perfect storm. Her c-section may have been necessary, but her death was preventable.
For Tatia, the second woman here, her story is even closer to my heart because Ariah was post dates. Thankfully, early in my prenatal course I became aware of the risks of induction and was able to make a choice to avoid a vulnerable situation with manipulative language thats ALL too common like that used on Ms. Tatia and her mom... "Do you want to leave here with a dead baby?" Now baby and mamma are both dead from a procedure they would have declined.
Post dates is not a complication. Yes, the risks of some complications go up, but compared to the risks of induction? Where is the data on this? If a healthcare professional tries to convince you or someone you care about into induction just for post dates just ask for proof that induction is safer than waiting. Also ask for the FDA drug label or manufacturers package insert for any drug that they want to give you-see below***
Maegan Phillips Hall Cindy Morrow Cpm maybe doula care or midwifery would have saved them. I'm glad i had you both as my advocates and stuck by my birth plan come hell or high water (or both!). Thanks to SEE BABY OBGYN & midwifery care team for taking care of me late term post dates and all and assuring me I was low risk and of the safety to wait.
***From drug label for Cytotec / Misoprostol
"A major adverse effect of the obstetrical use of Cytotec is the hyperstimulation of the uterus which may progress to uterine tetany with marked impairment of uteroplacental blood flow, uterine rupture (requiring surgical repair, hysterectomy, and/or salpingo-oophorectomy), or amniotic fluid embolism. Pelvic pain, retained placenta, severe ge***al bleeding, shock, fetal bradycardia, and fetal and maternal death have been reported.
There may be an increased risk of uterine tachysystole, uterine rupture, meconium passage, meconium staining of amniotic fluid, and Cesarean delivery due to uterine hyperstimulation with the use of higher doses of Cytotec, including the manufactured 100 mcg tablet. The risk of uterine rupture increases with advancing gestational ages and with prior uterine surgery, including Cesarean delivery. Grand multiparity also appears to be a risk factor for uterine rupture.
The effect of Cytotec on later growth, development, and functional maturation of the child when Cytotec is used for cervical ripening or induction of labor has not been established. Information on Cytotec's effect on the need for forceps delivery or other intervention is unknown."
While most of the world has drastically reduced maternal mortality in the past three decades, the US is one of just a handful of countries where the problem worsened, and significantly.
