Today was the 3rd meeting of the newly formed Maternity Coalition on The Peninsula, a birth support group that shares information on pregnancy, birth and babies.
We had two of the Eastside Midwives as guests and they talked to us about anti-natal testing. It was really great to get a health care providers perspective on all the different tests asked of us during pregnancy.
Interestingly, and I'm sure I'm not the only woman not aware of this....you have the right to refuse all testing.
Yep, that means the blood tests that my sister didn't want due to being needle phobic when pregnant with her 1st daughter. But of course, the doctors who told her she would have her baby taken away from her after birth if she didn't comply, knew that they could get away with this bullying on a teenage mum.
So you can refuse the horrid glucose tolerance test. Woohoo!! That shite is freakin awful, not to mention the joy of the 3 needles for the bloods during the test.
If not anything else, I'm glad for learning I can decline this test!
After all, the initial treatment of a pregnant woman diagnosed gestational diabetic is a low GI diet. Logically, we should be eating along the lines of that anyway.
The nuchal fold test...the test that can indicate downs syndrome, is something you may refuse too. Awesome, I like this for two reasons. Firstly, one of Jack's little buddies nuchal tests came back high risk and his Muma was told to "rethink the pregnancy"...thankfully he chose the Muma he did, who refused to believe it and got a second opinion and probably would not have "rethought" it anyway....coz he is a gorgeous healthy normal little fella. Could you imagine how that could have gone, had she been a believer in termination for high risk? *shudder. The second reason is, I would go ahead with a pregnancy regardless of the outcome, so the test is really just a waiste.
As well as informing us of being able to refuse, the midwives also got us to ponder what all the tests are for. When you're asked to go for a blood test, urine test, ultrasound......do you know why or what for? It is a good idea to be informed, because a test carries with it an answer....and you need to figure out how the answer will effect you.
Tests for things such as muma's iron and b12 levels are advised. It is good to know your iron levels before birthing, so that if you bleed heavily, iron can be taken into consideration as a factor. B12 is essential in babies organ development, so if muma is low it is important to get it fixed up, by way of a B12 shot.
They also touched on tests and monitoring during labor. They said they believed that if you wanted to get the birth you desired, take you own midwife if you're birthing in hospital. It's no surprise as to why now....it's hard to come across a midwife that is supportive of your low intervention plan or informative of letting you know what she is offering is just that...an offer...you do not have to except.
I'm really enjoying MC. Each meeting I have learnt a lot more about birthing and how to over come anything I felt didn't go so well with my first birth.
2 rainbow comments:
Funny, I recall you having a go at someone regarding their professional views on pregnancy related tests not that long ago and you exclaimed how dangerous it was to not have them. Changed your mind now?
To "Person who doesn't believe strongly enough in their statement to back it up with a name".....
Firstly...Perhaps you should re-read this post, you would then realise that I learn't at this meeting that these tests weren't mandatory, something I had no idea about prior to this day.
Secondly...while I've never been close minded, I, like majority of society, have only known the real medical side of pregnancy, and have been therefore taught to fear not being told what the doc tells you to do.
I'm really thankfull for being introduced to this whole other world of pregnancy and birthing.
And lastly....unless you care to elaborate on what test exactly I was "having a go at someone" about, I don't really know how to respond to your comment!!
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