rachiedata
Toddler & TTC
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2010
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It's been a while since I've watched I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant - if you haven't watched it, it's on one of the rubbish channels on Sky, does what it says on the tin really with mostly American ladies telling their stories of how they just didn't realise they were expecting, with cheesy reconstructions by actresses. Used to watch it with OH before we were pregnant and we always had a good giggle at it, and it gave us some good early indications how we would approach pregnancy, childbirth and parenting ourselves, particularly OH's responses to "And I had no prenatal care whatsoever... it's amazing the baby was alright" - "Well, how did cavewomen manage then?!" - and we know by "prenatal care" they will mean the million doctors appointments, all the bloods and scans under the sun, when there's no indication for them. I'm grateful for all the tests I've had on the NHS and happy with appointments I've had, but sometimes for a straightforward pregnancy I just think... why bother?
Just watched an episode then, and knowing what I know now about natural birthing and planning my own home birth, thought I'd go into a bit of detail as to why I like watching it!
Of course there's the downsides to watching it... now I am a confirmed home birth hopeful, I got a bit annoyed with the featured doctors on the programme who suggested one particular lady would never be allowed to VBAC 18 years (!!) after her first child, and she "should" have been in hospital having another c/s. Instead, knowing nothing about it, she laboured normally at home and had a perfect baby. Another baby probably made it as well as they did exactly because the cord was not cut until the paramedics arrived, when he came out not breathing, yet they made the fact that "the cord was still attached" sound like a mega problem. They're always "really lucky" to have the baby at all and it's always a "miracle" - as above, sometimes it really is lucky they got to the hospital on time, but in most cases mother and baby would have been 100% healthy and happy whether the home birth was planned or totally unexpected.
The one other thing is that often these ladies have conceived when they have been taking the pill and antibiotics at the same time... now I was on the pill for about 4 years and was on antibiotics two or three times, and each time, whoever prescribed them made triple sure that I knew the pill would be ineffective while I was on the antibiotics. So many people seem not to know this!!
Well, congratulations if you've got to the end of this long one and I'm sorry to have prattled on with my observations. Cup of tea and bedtime now I think!!
Just watched an episode then, and knowing what I know now about natural birthing and planning my own home birth, thought I'd go into a bit of detail as to why I like watching it!
- There's always a great twist of fate - like the woman who was suffering pre-eclampsia with twins, and happened to be driving her mum to a hospital appointment when she was in labour. Makes me think that the universe can come together to turn a tricky situation into a happy one!
- It includes loads of women who had been told for various reasons that they would be unable to conceive. Older ladies who thought they had completed their family, ladies with medical problems who would have been advised not to start a family at all, lots like that which make me think that those babies really wanted to come into the world!
- Proof that the medical professionals don't always get it right - when they go to the doctor with ordinary pregnancy symptoms, a lot of the doctors take it as given that these ladies have been told they were infertile, or they don't think to bother with a pregnancy test.
- It shows the variation in symptoms amongst women and how pregnancy can be a totally different experience even in the same woman expecting her second or more. It's not always a parade of morning sickness, backache, aches and pains... some women really do sail through!
- It always makes me laugh when it comes to the pain of contractions - before they find out the reason for the pain (ie. labour!), the most common thing they think and say is that they're about to die. They're all convinced they're dying. There must be something about the intensity and the mindset we go into when we experience this pain that tells us it will be worth it when we have our baby, that makes it into a more positive pain than a death type pain. Shows just how amazing a process it is for all women.
- Finally it is ALWAYS a happy ending. Nobody ever says "Well, you know, I never really wanted this baby, I would rather not have been pregnant at all". I've seen one where the lady involved wasn't exactly over the moon, and I think the relationship she was in did not work out after the birth, but they invariably wouldn't swap their child, or their experience, for the world.
Of course there's the downsides to watching it... now I am a confirmed home birth hopeful, I got a bit annoyed with the featured doctors on the programme who suggested one particular lady would never be allowed to VBAC 18 years (!!) after her first child, and she "should" have been in hospital having another c/s. Instead, knowing nothing about it, she laboured normally at home and had a perfect baby. Another baby probably made it as well as they did exactly because the cord was not cut until the paramedics arrived, when he came out not breathing, yet they made the fact that "the cord was still attached" sound like a mega problem. They're always "really lucky" to have the baby at all and it's always a "miracle" - as above, sometimes it really is lucky they got to the hospital on time, but in most cases mother and baby would have been 100% healthy and happy whether the home birth was planned or totally unexpected.
The one other thing is that often these ladies have conceived when they have been taking the pill and antibiotics at the same time... now I was on the pill for about 4 years and was on antibiotics two or three times, and each time, whoever prescribed them made triple sure that I knew the pill would be ineffective while I was on the antibiotics. So many people seem not to know this!!
Well, congratulations if you've got to the end of this long one and I'm sorry to have prattled on with my observations. Cup of tea and bedtime now I think!!
and the "And I had no prenatal care whatsoever... it's amazing the baby was alright" comments irk me as well! Not that I'm against prenatal care cause I certainly am not it's just the fact that our society just can't seem to comprehend the concept that pregnancy is not an illness... that the majority of pregnancies will proceed just fine with no interventions, that most prenatal "emergencies" like spotting will and do resolve on their own with no ill effects, and that the majority of labours will proceed just fine with no interventions and in most cases mom and baby will be healthy in the end....
I'd get too annoyed and end up shouting at the tv. I also think that although prenatal care is a good thing, in the US especially it does go a bit OTT. Most of the time the tests/scans aren't needed, in the UK we don't have as many, I like it that way.
Definitly seems like overkill to me.
