Question I saw a program on the show "heartbeats". It was pushing a woman to have a c-section based on a uterine lining of less than 2.5 mm. Hers was 2.6 and they were scaring her into what they wanted to do I think.
I know how unreliable ultrasounds can be for size of bacy and I am thinking that this is also very unreliable method for determining anything.
Is this the new way to use technology for increasing the c-section rate? Will it become common in the USA now that it is on the T.V.?
Mesuring anything totoally depends on the technician.
A client was sent for an induction based on the untrasound report of big difference in the size of twins. They were induced at 37 weeks - for nothing, Both babies were within 2 oz of each other.
After 22 yrs of ob practice, I see this kind of medical abuse all the time. Is this the newest thing to warn familie4s about?
Gail Johnson CPM
AnswerI have indeed seen this used as a tool to help coerce a woman into a repeat c-section. In the case I am thinking of, the woman was flat-out lied to about the risks involved with the thickness of her scar. When she did her own research and discovered the truth, she confronted her doctor with it and he admitted he had lied. Fortunately, she transferred her care to another doctor and was able to successfully VBAC, but it is a sad statement on care today. I constantly hear stories of women who are given inflated and/or invalid statistics in the attempt to scare them away from vaginal birth...even first-time moms!
As for using ultrasound to evaluate the thickness of a prior c-section scar, there is some evidence for this practice based on a couple of studies done in Europe. Those studies found a higher rate of rupture in scars less than 2.5mm thick, but the overall rupture rate was still extremely low. This measurement has become a common procedure in Europe, and is something ultrasound techs there are specifically trained for. However, when these measurements are done by less experienced technicians here in the States, they are not as reliable.
