Just When I'd Thought I'd Heard It All

"Pit to distress." How have I not heard about this? Apparently it's quite en vogue in many hospitals these days. Googling the term brings up a number of pages discussing the practice, which entails administering the highest possible dosage of Pitocin in order to deliberately distress the fetus, so a C-section can be performed.

Yes folks, you read that right. All that Pit is not to coerce mom's body into birthing ASAP so they can turn that moneymaking bed over, but to purposefully squeeze all the oxygen out of her baby so they can put on a concerned face and say, "Oh dear, looks like we're heading to the OR!"

To say that I am shocked and appalled would be a grotesque understatement. This is nothing short of barbaric. If doctors across the globe started injecting moms with heroin to deliberately sicken their babies so they could con them into "crash" Cesareans, there would be such uproar when the news was found out that OBs would be stoned in the streets. But because it's Pitocin, which is used in nearly every single hospital birth in every single hospital in this country (one article I found while Googling earlier quoted an OB as saying he "wouldn't know how to work without it"), no one is batting an eye. And apparently this is not entirely new!

I already thought it was bad enough when docs force Cesareans by way of such trickery as "your baby is too big," "your pelvis is too small," "your water's been broken for 24 hours," etc. etc. But this takes the "cascade of interventions" to a whole new level. Dare I say it, but "pit to distress" makes "your baby is 10 lbs. according to our 36-week ultrasound, oh and by the way your pelvis is shaped like a pretzel" look almost benign. At least the old tricks we all know and loathe focus on poisoning the mother's mind, not poisoning her baby.

OBs, do you still think women are choosing not to birth at your hospitals because Ricki Lake said homebirths are cool? Do you still think we are only out for a "good experience?" It used to be screw-the-mom-to-save-the-baby-at-whatever-cost. Now it's screw-everyone-to-do-what-you-want. You are toying with our babies' lives so you can have your way with our bodies and free up your schedule for the next cash cow, excuse me, patient. That is sick. Do you really have so little regard for the people who entrust you with their families?

I have heard of a handful of Pitocin-related fetal deaths, and I'm sure there are plenty more. How many lifeless blue babies will you hold, how many heartwrenching sobs of bereaved mothers will you hear, before you pull your heads out of your asses and start working to serve your clients, instead of treating them like so much chattel to be flicked aside?

Ever since Jameson's birth, I have vowed to never set foot in a hospital to birth again unless I needed a Cesarean. When I was in labor with Jacob, the thought of having to transfer terrified me so deeply that my body started contracting astoundingly fast, with only three to five seconds between contractions, because I was so subconsciously intent on getting that baby out before someone else had to get him out for me. Jacob was distressed because my body labored so intensively to birth him in time, where we would be safe. He was purple, limp, and his eyes rolled around in his head. It was a horrifying sight. Thankfully he pinked up fairly quickly and all was well, but I cannot imagine having to endure those few soul-gutting minutes because some OB with a god complex decided he wanted to trick me into getting a Cesarean by deliberately putting my baby's life on the line.

Sure, treat me and other mothers like crap. Go ahead. Lie to us, ignore us, belittle us, tie us down and slice us up. We are nothing to you. But when you go after our babies, all bets are off. I have spent the last five years of my life angry at the medical establishment for what happened to me in the hospital. But I just might be more pissed off right now than I ever was before, after hearing about "pit to distress."

This is why hundreds of thousands of women are turning to homebirth. It's not because it's trendy. It's not because we want a warm fuzzy feeling. It's because you OBs are butchers, and yes, I can finally say that without the tinge of "wahh wahh I had a C-section and it's not fair." Unless my baby or I am dying, you will never lay your disgusting hands on me ever again.