HARD disagree. Watch “the business of being born”. We’ve turned a fairly routine extremely biologically conserved process into this insanely traumatic experience.
I'm 99% sure you are a men.
Epidurals are a miracle technology
51–60 of 102 posts
Re: Epidurals are a miracle technology
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Medical professionals in the US make multiples of what the same professionals make in Europe.
This gets said a lot and it kind of irks me. (I am a physician.) US software devs also make 2x what their European colleagues do, but that never gets called out as bloat. Plus US software devs make that 2x pay without taking our additional loans for medical school at the rate of $75k per year or doing years of low pay residency where their salary doesn’t give them the means to pay off those loans.
Don't forget the insurance, plus the hospital has costs that must be paid for too. A surgery with _just_ the surgeon and no support staff isn't one I'd want to be in.
(Not in the medical field at all)
Re: Epidurals are a miracle technology
#53[flagged]
Re: Epidurals are a miracle technology
#54There's a very strong podcast series about the common failure of Epidurals: "The retrievals" season 2, by serial productions. I found it rather eye-opening. The series includes reporting on a conference of the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) where the professionals in this field also found it eye opening. (mostly episode 2) I don't bring this up to say that actually Epidurals suck, just to br…
The problem that The Retrievals deals with is epidurals failing during cesarians, which, they're quick to emphasize, is painful, open abdominal surgery. The not-so-simple solution is to convert to general anesthesia (anesthetic gas, IV propofol, etc). This isn't without its risks to the mother and the child, so there's reluctance on the part of anesthesiologists to go that route if there's other options. The result i…
> This isn't without its risks to the mother and the child
> The result is unnecessary birth trauma.
Not trying to be snarky, but which is it? This is definitely a situation in which having a midwife there to advocate for you is an absolute plus.
Re: Epidurals are a miracle technology
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
(While it's clear you've done a ton of your own research for your own case.) Steve Kerr's advice after his own back surgery complications (albeit microdiscectomy, not a laminectomy) make me hesitant: "If you're listening out there, if you have a back problem, stay away from surgery... Rehab, rehab, rehab. Don't let anybody get in there."
This kind of comment is only marginally better than "well, I asked ChatGPT and...." You acknowledge the parent commenter knows more than you, but you decide it's somehow helpful to post contradictory information anyway sourced from someone else who also likely knows more than you.
It's a good idea to ask a few AIs to get extra feedback. They may be wrong, your doctor may be wrong -- it is better to have a set of inputs and, to some point, check it against sources.
Re: Epidurals are a miracle technology
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
Medical professionals in the US make multiples of what the same professionals make in Europe.
And the best of the best of medical students the world over compete to enter the US market. Being US board certified garners the highest pay even outside the US (eg GCC). It’s kind of like our industry - the higher comp is a big reason behind how the US attracts talent from all over the world.
This is not the case in Europe. You would not gain anything by being a doctor from the US vs the local ones. You may even be in a worse position due to many differences between the US and the host country.
Re: Epidurals are a miracle technology
#57HARD disagree. Watch “the business of being born”. We’ve turned a fairly routine extremely biologically conserved process into this insanely traumatic experience.
I rather think the problem is that births are inherently traumatic (a whole-ass little human coming out of your crotch isn't exactly all fun and games; there's a reason similar imagery is a common trope in horror movies), and we haven't put nearly enough effort into making them less so.
Re: Epidurals are a miracle technology
#58HARD disagree. Watch “the business of being born”. We’ve turned a fairly routine extremely biologically conserved process into this insanely traumatic experience.
Birth in humans is not a "extremely biologically conserved process". Women bodies are not ready for the size of head of the baby.
Compare this to cows or horses - where the baby is of sizeable size, but goes statistically smoothly.
Re: Epidurals are a miracle technology
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem that The Retrievals deals with is epidurals failing during cesarians, which, they're quick to emphasize, is painful, open abdominal surgery. The not-so-simple solution is to convert to general anesthesia (anesthetic gas, IV propofol, etc). This isn't without its risks to the mother and the child, so there's reluctance on the part of anesthesiologists to go that route if there's other options. The result i…
> This isn't without its risks to the mother and the child > The result is unnecessary birth trauma. Not trying to be snarky, but which is it? This is definitely a situation in which having a midwife there to advocate for you is an absolute plus.
Midwives don’t participate in C-sections
Re: Epidurals are a miracle technology
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem that The Retrievals deals with is epidurals failing during cesarians, which, they're quick to emphasize, is painful, open abdominal surgery. The not-so-simple solution is to convert to general anesthesia (anesthetic gas, IV propofol, etc). This isn't without its risks to the mother and the child, so there's reluctance on the part of anesthesiologists to go that route if there's other options. The result i…
> This isn't without its risks to the mother and the child > The result is unnecessary birth trauma. Not trying to be snarky, but which is it? This is definitely a situation in which having a midwife there to advocate for you is an absolute plus.
If it were as simple as waving a magic wand and fixing the epidural or bringing on the anesthetic gas, we wouldn't have this problem.
The consensus seems to be shifting more towards converting to general anesthesia after epidural failure unless there are very clear reasons not to.