# Anyone get annoyed at OBEM?



## ZoeZo

Particularly the woman having twins last night, the Doctor practically saying they WILL have to turn the second baby, Mum saying 'I have to have an epidural with twins don't I?' I was thinking 'give the baby a chance to turn itself' if not a breech birth wouldn't have been THAT bad surely?! She told the second Doctor to stop what he was doing as it was painful, he more or less said 'got to be done, we have to get this baby out' feet in stirrups on her back... (Mum said at the beginning 'yeah I know I should be on all fours (or similar)' the Doctor said 'no the position of the the baby' Mum was right of course!) oh and they induced her early too

I was getting quite riled! (I'm no expert, I just get annoyed with all the intervention sometimes when I'm going to try to be as natural as possible, trust in your body and mother nature)


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## nickyXjayno

Is it worth the risk to baby for sake of natural?
I had a natural birth with no drugs at a birthing centre and my son ended up deprived of oxygen repeatedly.
All they could do was phone ambulance to come and hope I pushed him out in the meantime, which I did.
Had I been in hospital they would have done a c-section and he would have been ok.
Instead he had near multiple organ failure and had to have cooling treatment to stop increased damage to his body.
Touch wood he seems ok but who knows what issues we may have in future...

Drs aren't out to get you, yes natural is best but natural for sake of natural isn't.
Drs just want mother and baby to have least risk possible so there is a happy ending.

I do agree though that epis and drugs aren't good.
Had I had any my son would never have lived.


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## Pretty Please

Doctors know best, they know all the history of the woman we never see their maternity notes and dont know the ins and outs - taking every drug is better and getting your baby out alive rather than the risks of natural and potentially having complications - if there is a slight chance of risk - get in meds- get in doctors to have your baby alive.


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## vintagecat

You should see the American version of the show...it's even worse. :(


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## ZoeZo

Oh no I do agree to a point NickyXjayno and Pretty please, definitely so, modern medicine is wonderful and saved a lot of lives that would be previously lost - at the end of the day I want baby to be safe - but the twin DID turn itself and was coming down as intented, I just felt they didn't give her body a chance to do it's thing, automatically assumed intervention would be needed, but at the end of the day if there is risk to baby I totally agree they should intervene all the way
Point was intervention wasn't needed, yet he was saying from the start they would even though didn't know whether it would be needed, like it was a given, there was no risk at that point, why interfer if it's not needed?

God don't get me started on America vintagecat! Seems like a conveyer belt over there, get you in, drug you up, get baby out ASAP, ship you out

I'm having my first, so I'll probably be so scared and in so much pain that I'll want any drug going and do exactly as the Doctors tell me - I really really reallly hope I can do it unmedicated though


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## Mum2b_Claire

I didn't think it was THAT bad. I thought their reasoning for encouraging the epi was fairly sound under the circumstances, that there was a good chance they would have to manually turn the 2nd baby and to do that with mum in a lot of distress and pain would be very difficult, as she clearly found internals etc very painful. 

Generally though, yes I do get annoyed at OBEM a lot of the time!


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## lozzy21

I get annoyed, untill the 2nd twin and the midwife last night I hadent saw one baby be placed straight on mum. I laughed at the wall display about active birth yet I haven't saw anyone encouraged to stay active. 

Even when doctors know all the history they still get it wrong, if they dident I wouldent have 10 points about my labour that I'm not happy with.


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## lozzy21

Also there is a higher risk of having complications if you have all the pain meds going compared to if you do it with out meds.


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## ZoeZo

I blame my hormones Clairemum2be! I just thought WHY have they got to turn the second baby, mother nature will adapt! And she turned herself, I just think it's a bit sad that we've come to doubt our bodies abilities to deliver sometimes when it's 100% capable

I don't watch every episode, but one they were considering epi and c section as 'failed to progress' I'm not surprised, she was so high on drugs she didn't know what planet was on! When they said it was too late to give an epi and didn't have any more drugs she started to progress...

Maybe I've been reading up too much on the benefits of natural! My friend has been working as a midwife for a year now, she had her first daughter in hospital, and second one recently at home naturally, and is all for HB, they don't teach as much intervention these days apparently


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## Mervs Mum

I don't get annoyed by it by not watching it.


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## ljo1984

^ ha ha good thinking.

I put on fb other week that I'm board of it. The majority of what they dhow is pretty much the same. Inductions, forceps, epidurals, laying flat on back screaming!! The hb team is based at lgi where it's filmed (I live in Leeds) you'd think they'd show a hb or something :-(. Last nights wasn't too bad but I'm glad that baby proved the drs wrong last night, she did brilliantly. X


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## NaturalMomma

I haven't watched in awhile, but when I do watch I get annoyed. I do like watching it because it reminds me of why I advocate for more Midwives, homebirths, birth centers, evidence based care, respectful mom centered care, etc. But it does annoy me when the nurses are pushing epidurals, stare at the screen instead of mom, and the women are lying in bed doing nothing. Just sitting in bed while in labor seems so unnatural to me.


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## Mervs Mum

The producer came to the Leeds home birth group trying to convince couples to have their homebirths filmed.....unsurprisingly everyone said no.....the group also got chance to tell her why they hate the sensationalist light everything is portrayed in :lol:


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## ljo1984

Yeh I suppose their right! Plus to be honest I wouldn't want to be filmed when I'm trying to do something so personal! But I'd love to see one though but guess I'll have to stick to you tube ha ha. X


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## Mervs Mum

To me it just shows how little the program makers know about what makes birth safe!! They said to one member (who is a member here) that if she laboured at night they would need to 'bounce a few lights off the ceiling.....' WTF?! :shock:


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## stardust599

It's an entertainment programme, not really meant to be educational.

I did get annoyed though. Nobody is encouraged to have a natural birth! Although the girl who had the water birth (in the homemade bikini + skirt) was amazing.


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## ljo1984

I missed that one on tv cause Freya was in hospital but saw alot of people slagging her off on fb, when she was discharged I watched it on 4od and although they were a bit odd I though she was fantastic. I loved the woman who had a brain injury as well she was so sweet and I was gutted she ended up with forceps but I called it well in advance, could see it coming a mile off bless her. Xx


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## ZoeZo

Was that the lady that got knocked down by a car? That was soo sweet, I cried at that one! Never once did she make a fuss x


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## stardust599

ZoeZo said:


> Was that the lady that got knocked down by a car? That was soo sweet, I cried at that one! Never once did she make a fuss x



She did have a full epidural from the beginning of labour though!

But she was lovely.


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## ZoeZo

Ah! I missed the beginning!


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## ljo1984

yeh thats the one, and they advised her to have an epidural as soon as she walked through the door! bless her. xx


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## modo

Every episode seems to have a forceps birth :shock: I hope they are not that common. It seems horrible with the baby always needing resuscitation. At least with my c-s they gave me Bobby right away and he did not need any oxygen.


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## Mervs Mum

Because ever episode has an epidural......the two are linked....


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## ljo1984

Yep everyone who has forceps on there has had an epidural earlier in the programme and I was victim to that myself!! This is why I'm getting board of it, same thing week in week out but keep watching in hope someone will go natural. Lady with twin last week did but the constant "advice" of epidural cause one was breach was doing my head in lol.


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## TattiesMum

It's not just us who get annoyed with it ... When Tattie had Taylor in the local Midwifery led unit (a fantastic water birth) we were talking about OBEM with the attending midwife and she was saying much the same thing :thumbup:

Epidurals are great in their place and so is medical assistance ... but gravity and position are key to speeding up labour for the majority of people, so being unable to stand or walk around due to an epi really slows things down, which in turn can lead to a distressed baby and more intervention - it's a vicious circle :nope:


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## ljo1984

Gravity is the best thats why you'd find me shouting at the tv to get off the bloody bed! Ha ha. I'm sure my home birth mw (hb team are based at lgi where it's filmed) said they had an active birth room but I went to other hospital in Leeds instead when I was transferred. They should of had cameras put in there!! Guess they must not think it's as entertaining than seeing a poor baby being pulled out with metal contraption!! Grrrrr. And they wonder why so many women fear birth when they don't show the other side where the labouring woman is quiet, relaxed etc Xx


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## modo

I have paid my deposit for the hypnobirthing course so hopefully no epidural for me this time :happydance: I didn't even get to try it with Bobby :( They gave me an epi 12pm then broke my waters. Plus I was stuck to the bed because their monitors weren't working properly. 

My NHS hospital this time are super supportive of my plans to have a waterbirth. My notes are covered in "TRAUMATIC PREVIOUS BIRTH" all over them.


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## aliss

If you guys don't like your OBEM, I recommend never watching the US version. I just want to hurl a remote at the screen (I watched it only once).


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## modo

I don't remember it being bad on previous series in the other hospital. Does anyone else agree? Or do I just know more know that I notice this kind of stuff?

Aliss great to see you back here :) :hugs: I will never watch the US one. Everything I have heard about it makes it sounds so depressing :nope:


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## MindUtopia

aliss said:


> If you guys don't like your OBEM, I recommend never watching the US version. I just want to hurl a remote at the screen (I watched it only once).

The U.S. one is definitely so much worse. Literally everyone has an epi and many are sections for "non-progression". I'm American and I couldn't even watch it when I lived there. They pretty much just film the doctors and nurses laughing at anyone who tries to have a natural birth. At least I find the UK one tolerable, though I still yell at the screen a lot. 

It made me so sad when the baby this week had a bleeding wound on his head from the forceps. That's just not okay at all. :growlmad:


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## ljo1984

I've never seen us one but watched maternity ward a few times and yeh it's even worse.
I wanted to watch some from previous series cause I couldn't remember but I can't find anywhere on line with them. There victimising us ladies of Leeds ha ha ha. X


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## modo

You can watch Series 1 here:

https://lifebegins.channel4.com/episodes/1


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## ljo1984

Ooooo thank you will watch it next week! Can't remember any of it ha ha. X


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## mrssat

I think its great to show what hospital births are like, which makes me wany my HB even more. 
I had an induced, on my back, epidural, constantly monitored, forcep delivery with my 1st and this programm just reminds of how much I dont want that this time. 
Even if I end up in hospital I will be able to make decisions for myself, not listen to doc and midwifes saying I'm not coping with the pain even though I felt ok....at the end of it all I came away with a very small but perfectly formed little angel, so I didn't let it all bother me too much, I just know I dont want it again. 

I think OBEM has its place as its good for people to know what to expect, I have found myself shouting at the screen 'try different postions' 'get her up', but I know I will be watching it next week!


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## JessPape

ZoeZo said:


> I blame my hormones Clairemum2be! I just thought WHY have they got to turn the second baby, mother nature will adapt! And she turned herself, I just think it's a bit sad that we've come to doubt our bodies abilities to deliver sometimes when it's 100% capable
> 
> I don't watch every episode, but one they were considering epi and c section as 'failed to progress' I'm not surprised, she was so high on drugs she didn't know what planet was on! When they said it was too late to give an epi and didn't have any more drugs she started to progress...
> 
> Maybe I've been reading up too much on the benefits of natural! My friend has been working as a midwife for a year now, she had her first daughter in hospital, and second one recently at home naturally, and is all for HB, they don't teach as much intervention these days apparently

The only problem is, what if mother nature didnt take its course, than how long do they wait?....what happens while they wait?


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## ZoeZo

I'm not saying NEVER intervene, after all medical science is brilliant. Whilst baby is still attached to the placenta it's still being sustained and getting oxygen etc.

Don't ask me how long do they wait, I'm not medically trained, but then how do THEY know how long to wait? Our bodies don't stick to timescales, mothers give birth to breech babies perfectly fine all the time, it was the fact that they were talking about intervention before she'd even been hooked up for induction let alone actually gone into labour, that was my gripe.

If mother nature didn't take her course, then we have brilliant surgeons

I'd like to trust in my bodies ability as much as possible, but if there is real risk to my baby then would do what the Doctors felt best


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## ljo1984

If you saw the forceps one where baby was stuck they said they had 6 mins (think that's what it is) to get it out and that's why it kept showing the clock etc.


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## LittleOnes

Yes!!

Well I don't watch OBEM or really a Baby Story (what people are referring to the US version I think?) but really I get tired of hearing about gals wanting their babies out so soon - they're really in there for this long for a reason! I mean if a baby comes out on his/her own at 36-37 weeks what have you, what can you do it was time. But I think inducing before 39-40 weeks is problematic. People easily forget the risks that come with induction :nope:

I've seen one of two eps of Baby Story and I couldn't stand it, they all turn out the same as others have said. Pit-epi-section. Boring! And perpetuating the cycle further. And people suggest that the Business of Being Born is one sided!


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