Do blindly trust doctors?

[tessa_s212]

The more I research about anything, canine or for my human child, the more I find that there are two very broad categories of people: those that blindly trust doctors no matter the situation, and those that want explanations and be fully informed.

When it comes to my animals, I don't give yearly vaccines any longer. I don't feed brands suggest by veterinarians. I do at least a moderate amount of research on any condition my animals have and WANT him to explain everything, big words and all. I love my vet, and I trust him more than any veterinarian in this area. There are some things way beyond me, and for those things I vet with this certain vet because I believe he is a good, caring, animal lover that wants what is best for my animal, just the same as me.

When it comes to my unborn child, I'm finding many "routine" procedures completely unnecessary, despite how much doctors may push it on you. For example, I'm allowing the eye ointment after I've breastfed and bonded with my baby directly after birth, but opting out of the Vit K injection and Hep B vaccine. I'm requesting, instead, an appropriate oral dose of Vit K. I'm also planning on following a delayed vaccine schedule, refusing pitocin to help me deliver my placenta (except in the case of excessive hemorrhaging), etc., etc.

Some people and friends find it completely odd that I don't blindly trust in my doctor. I think trust is good to have in your doctor, but I think some people fail to realize that doctors are human and that they are not infallible. I'm no med school graduate, but there are plenty that are the foundation of my research and decisions to not support certain "routine" and unnecessary procedures. And hey, doctors are humans and humans are creatures of habit and convenience.

Do you blindly trust whatever you are told, or do you expect explanations and good reason?

 

[Gempress]

Yes and no.

Yes, I want to be informed what my doctor is doing. And I want to know what my medical choices and alternatives are. However, I don't put faith in a lot of the "research" out there that contradicts traditional medical procedures. If you look closely, a lot of it is written by self-proclaimed experts who seem have no actual training on the subject whatsoever.

 

[Bailey08]

Yes and no.

Yes, I want to be informed what my doctor is doing. But I don't put my faith in a lot of the "research" out there that contradicts medical procedures. If you look closely, a lot of it is written by self-proclaimed "experts" who seem have no actual training on the subject whatsoever.

I agree.

After it took several months to get Bailey's diagnosis, after I kept asking the vets at his prior vet hospital what was wrong with him, I have realized that I absolutely need to be an advocate for my dog, myself, and my loved ones. I don't wait for anyone to come to me with suggestions -- I ask questions and make suggestions and arm myself with as much information as possible.

That being said, I'm not a medical doctor, or a veterinarian, or even gifted with much scientific or medical ability. I think the best thing *I* can do is to continue to be an advocate for myself and my loved ones and to find professional(s) who know what they are doing to advise me. I have actually found that doctors and vets generally appreciate it when you are knowledgeable and come to them with specific questions, though I'm sure there are plenty who aren't (I just wouldn't see them twice!).

 

[bubbatd]

Basically I do trust. With my Dr. , if I would question something I'd get a second opinion . As to my vet , the Animal Clinic has four vets and will consult each other if there's a problem . Tessa , do not expect to bond and breast feed right after birth . You need to pass the after birth and the baby needs to be taken care of which includes the eye ointment .

 

[FluffyZooCrew]

Yes and no.

Yes, I want to be informed what my doctor is doing. And I want to know what my medical choices and alternatives are. However, I don't put faith in a lot of the "research" out there that contradicts traditional medical procedures. If you look closely, a lot of it is written by self-proclaimed experts who seem have no actual training on the subject whatsoever.

^^ This.

 

[GlassOnion]

I rely on my own knowledge to make an informed decision about what the doctor is telling me. I use that same knowledge to make an informed decision about what the internet is telling me.


It's funny that people are so against blindly trusting doctors (which I agree, they should be) but then they just turn around and blindly trust the internet. There's a lot of **** on the internet, even if it's on more than one website (they often cite one another) and it has a tendency to sensationalize stuff so people will read their site.


Also they tend to list every single possible symptom that could possibly be seen with any condition, which is fine. But they don't put percentages or likely hood of seeing that symptom, and that's a BIG problem. People come in with all sorts of crazy self-diagnosis' on their animals.

 

[smkie]

WEll if they want to catherize you after you give birth because your not going..and your not going because U DONT HAVE TO GO...don't let them do it anyway even if they insist that they ahve to. I had a uti infection for almost a year after that. WHen she didnt get any she prodded to prove she was right. Fun stuff.

 

[wcladymacbeth]

I think that people should try to be informed..... but you should also listen to your doctor when he/she tries to explain why they want to do whatever test/treatment they're offering. Your doctor went to school for a long time to study this stuff, and you didn't. Your doctor is supposed to stay on top of current trends in medicine, and they're certainly not going to do something to you that has been proven to be harmful.

Don't blindly trust your doctor, no. Stay informed. But don't blindly trust everything you read on the internet either.

 

[FluffyZooCrew]

Don't blindly trust your doctor, no. Stay informed. But don't blindly trust everything you read on the internet either.

I totally agree. I don't blindly believe anything I read off the internet. I take it all with a grain of salt. And if I find something useful, mainly in the case of my animals, I will print off the information and discuss it with my vet for his opinion. And he always thoroughly explains why he agrees, or disagrees, with what it is and why it may, or may not, be harmful, ect.

 

[smkie]

I think when you get in there your going to be so busy and occupied with what is going on with you that you will hope and pray that there will be those that are there doing their jobs. my friend kelly didn't like the idea of an iv. I lol and told her i knew she was going to do it "her" way. SHe did. THat baby crowned at home and she had to be on her back in the backseat to the hospital. SHe had the baby between the car door and the er door. No iv.

 

[Vintage Boxers]

I trust my doctors recommendations and opinions, but i only do what i want and what i like with my body and my dogs health. If i can treat it myself, and i don't think you are bright enough to be diagnosing my dogs i will move on...i have very few vets that i SUPERIORLY trust, and one isn't in this state, that is for when we head home!

With this baby, i know that her being breech,low fluid, and not growing anymore as she has NO MORE ROOM, literally her head is IN my ribcage...that a c-section is necessary. My doc said that is what she would prefer, and i said I AGREE...if i didn't i would say so...

SO no, doctors are not gods they are human beings with alot of education...STILL HUMAN, just like vets STILL HUMAN.

It is the same with cops, FF, medics...everyone is HUMAN

 

[zoe08]

I trust my doctor, or else I wouldn't go to her.

But I do like to research things before making big decisions. But I will certainly take my doctor's recommendations more seriously than just some random thing I read written by some random person on the internet. There are medical studies showing every side. So sure you may read something different from your dr's idea that is a medical study, but there is also medical research backing your dr. So I see so many people use some medical studies as a basis for not doing what the dr suggests, etc, and believe THOSE studies, but they don't even try to look at and absolutely won't believe medical studies showing something different.

I think overall you have to be open minded, and find a dr. that will work with you. But you need to be able to trust your dr. because you won't always have time to go out and do your own research. Sometimes you need a dr. that will be able to take action immediately and you need to be able to trust that they are doing the right thing for your child.

I know that I feel the both my OB and my pedi have mine and my child's best interest. If I did not feel that way, I would find new dr.'s. I know I sure didn't spend years in medical school and doing residencies and such, and most the people I hear talking bad about what the dr.s suggest, didn't spend time in med school either.

 

[Pam111]

No, I don't. Too many things have happened to make me not trust them. A big one: I wouldn't have a baby right now if I did. My doctor insisted I was miscarrying and offered me the drug to "speed up the process". Yeah, so basically I would have aborted a perfectly healthy baby at 5.5 weeks for no reason

 

[zoe08]

by the way I declined the hep B shot for Mason, and the nurse said OK. No trying to convince me otherwise.

 

[Pam111]

by the way I declined the hep B shot for Mason, and the nurse said OK. No trying to convince me otherwise.

I didn't decline it but they came to me for consent and I had them wait until the next day until I had talked to the pediatrician. They never bothered me about it

 

[nancy2394]

I trust my doctors but I make informed decisions with any plan of care I may receive. I know if I had the ability to have another child... I would have the "routine" things done because I feel they are necessary. I know some parents are afraid or don't want their child to have to have a shot... but in all honesty, the babies hardly ever even flinch. They cry far more when they get their bath..lol.

I'm torn on some of the vaccines. They have had some theories that some cases of autism may have been linked to some vaccines that had mercury in them. They no longer use that kind of vaccine. I would never not vaccinate because I just honestly feel the risk of not vaccinating far out weighs the smaller risk of having a problem from vaccinating. One of the reason we rarely see a lot of those dreadful sicknesses like small pox and polio is because of vaccinations.

While I agree that not all "routine" stuff has to be carried out in all cases.... I do feel there are some routine things that need to be done.

 

[nancy2394]

WEll if they want to catherize you after you give birth because your not going..and your not going because U DONT HAVE TO GO...don't let them do it anyway even if they insist that they ahve to. I had a uti infection for almost a year after that. WHen she didnt get any she prodded to prove she was right. Fun stuff.

that's awful that you ended up with a uti. Makes me think they didn't use sterile technique when they catheterized you. They give the momma's a chance to pee on their own at our hospital. They palpate their abdomen and feel if the bladder is getting full if momma has no sensation yet because of the epidural.

There are MANY times they have to catheterize. A lot of times they do it just prior to delivery because a full bladder makes it difficult for the baby to get down the birth canal. I can't even begin to tell you how often a new mom can't pee after they deliver..lol But usually it's them coming to nursing staff begging to be catheterized because they have so much bladder pressure and discomfort.

 

[tessa_s212]

Tessa , do not expect to bond and breast feed right after birth . You need to pass the after birth and the baby needs to be taken care of which includes the eye ointment .

Eye ointment isn't urgently necessary. I have been tested free of all STDs, including the STDs (chlamydia and gonorrhea) that can cause blindness if the bacteria got into the baby's eyes and wasn't treated. I am allowing eye ointment, because besides some discomfort, it will not harm my baby and just in case for any other bacteria that may have been transferred into my vagina through internal exams during the progression of labor or bacteria already present in the birth canal. However, I will most likely allow it after I have bonded with and breastfed my baby. Baby can be wiped clean, weighed, measured, etc but I will breastfeed my baby shortly after birth. The Apgar test does not take much longer than a minute or two, and my baby can be returned to me to be nursed. Baths and other unneccessary things can wait. Breastfeeding shortly after birth will also help me to naturally deliver my placenta due to my refusing of pitocin. Pitocin is simply synthesized oxytocin, and oxytocin is the natural chemical your body releases when the baby latches on to feed that causes the uterine contractions to deliver the placenta and stop hemorrhaging. No need to put a synthesized drug in me when feeding and caring for my baby can do the same thing, but even better and naturally.

I think I'd be searching for longer than my pregnancy itself if I were to continue going from doctor to doctor until I found one that I felt I could even come close to blindly trusting. I've already changed doctors twice. My current doctor is still a mystery to me. He has not yet done anything to completely tick me off and make me go my own way, but he's not friendly, he doesn't explain much of anything at all, and he's given me no reason to trust him, especially due to his disrespect of my decisions already with my unborn child. (I've looved his student doctors that come in, I wish they were real doctors already! but he's nothing to be very excited about.) And lucky me, he's my last choice unless I want to switch hospitals. But who knows, maybe I will end up switching hospitals if I find another to be more natural birth friendly and a doctor that would respect an educated decision to refuse an unnecessary procedure.

 

[Bailey08]

Tessa, do you have someone who can be an advocate for you on delivery day? Your SO, a family member, or a doula or midwife?

I ask because a friend of mine who had a baby this last year had very clear ideas about what she did and did not want, and her sister (a midwife) and her doula really had to fight the nurses/doctor on some of it (like formula feeding right away for her early to arrive baby who she very much wanted to breastfeed only). Also check ahead of time to confirm that everything you want is in line with your hospital's policies, as I understand that some hospitals are more conservative than others.

 

[tessa_s212]

Just wanted to add: Yes, I of course know that some things don't go as planned. However, I can't plan that things will go wrong, but I can make a plan for if they go right. This is why it is stated in my birth plan that "I understand that under emergency situations my plans may be forced to change. I'll accept medical intervention when it is necessary for the safety of either my baby or myself."

Bailey, my SO understands I've done my research and thought carefully about it. It took more than reading certain information just once for me to decide that I would refuse certain procedures, and he also knows that in many cases I will and do plan on accepting a compromise (such as with the oral dose of Vit K instead of the injection, as well as my planning to take supplements before and after birth to help give baby Vit K through my breastmilk). I hope he would be able to stand up for me, but I also am not 100% he could do so boldly due to the fact that he has not been the one doing the reading. He does know what I want and has agreed to everything, however. I have no midwife, no doula. No midwives in this area, and I cannot afford a doula. I've already contacted doulas in training and no one has gotten back to me about being willing to attend a birth for their necessary hours in order to become a doula either.