I’m a 41-year-old OB/GYN. As a freelancer obstetrician, I’ve been on call daily for my entire career. Let that sink in for a minute.
How many people get up and answer phone calls, remove ectopic pregnancies, deliver babies, and do C-sections for an entire career? Probably not many.
It has been a Sunday afternoon at 1.30 am I just got a call from the hospital about a patient of mine who is a term, contracting, and thinks her water broke. Sometimes, these patients aren’t really in labor, but with experience, you learn which ones “sound like” they’re the real deal. We instruct our patients to call us first and reach the hospital thereafter.
An experienced nurse would then examine the patient and do an NST just act of grace toward her chronically tired obstetrician, which would buy me a little more sleep during the daily call day schedule.
This patient of mine is a 30-year-old 5’2″ average build Indian female. At the time of her Ist PV examination, she was 2 fingers lose partially effaced so I instructed the nurse to start her oxytocin drip and give her sublingual miso tab. we kept monitoring the fetal heart rate. As she was prime I knew we still have time and went for a nap. The phone kept ringing hourly to tell me her progress and when she was 7 cm dilated I rushed to the hospital thinking that now she will get delivered in an hour or 2. But “obstetrics is unpredictable and tiring”. I kept waiting for her cervix to dilate as it was taking more than the usual time but to my anguish even after full dilatation the head was stuck high up and not coming dome.
The patient is tired of labor pains, family is waiting eagerly for the loved one, and to my despair, I am waiting eagerly too to finish and go back home. I have been here now for 4 hrs. As head is not progressing out and a caput is forming I have limited options. One to apply a vacuum or to take her up for an emergency cesarian. I informed counseled the family about the situation but they kept pushing me to keep trying for normal vaginal delivery. It’s hard and stressful. Two lives are at stake. You feel helpless most of the time.
I prayed to god in my heart and started a vacuum-assisted vaginal delivery. This you must have seen during the famous movie “Three idiots”. During this procedure, the doctor uses a vacuum to help move the baby through the birth canal, and that vacuum is usually attached to the baby’s head using suction. This is typically done during a contraction while the mother is pushing.
With God’s grace after 6 hrs of a long struggle, the child was born fine healthy crying.
Now I was ready to stitch the large episiotomy tear which will take a while to heal.
No matter how much I love what I do, I can’t keep working the way I just described for another 15 to 20 years. It will at some point become physically and psychologically impossible to continue to be woken up so much.
What Are the Maternal and Fetal Complications Associated with Vacuum Extraction?
Vacuum extraction can result in complications for both mothers and infants. While many of these maternal complications are also associated with vaginal deliveries, they are more likely with vacuum extraction. Serious infant injuries after a vacuum extraction are rare but possible.
Potential complications for mothers include:
- Pain in the perineum after birth (the tissue between the vagina and anus)
- Genital tract tears and wounds
- Difficulty urinating or emptying the bladder after delivery
- Involuntary urination or defecation after delivery
- Anemia (due to blood loss during delivery)
Potential complications for infants include:
- Scalp wounds
- Skull fracture
- Bleeding within the skull
- Higher risk of brachial plexus injury and a collarbone fracture
If you have any queries, feel free to call Dr. Anita Singla Gynae Clinic at +919717236321
Or direct visit here …
Aggarwal’s Gynae and Spine Pain, Flat No. 379 A Room 1, Regent Tower, opposite Central Market, Shipra Suncity, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh 201014
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