No Prenatal Care

I've been on a hiatus and have slowly been re-entering baby-gaga life, so here is my first D&D.

How do you feel about women who do not get prenatal care? Does your opinion change depending on the circumstances (i.e. choosing not to receive care due to religious reasons vs. choosing not to get care due to philosophical reasons [see the Business of Giving Birth] vs. not having access to care due to location or lack of insurance vs. laziness/not caring)? If you are pro-choice, does this fall under the "not my body, not my choice" stance? If you are pro-life, would it matter if the mother had sought prenatal care, the pregnancy would have ended in an abortion due to abnormalities in the fetus? D&D

I don't really care except for the women who refuse any pre-natal care, something goes wrong and then they sue the doctor who couldn't give them the outcome they wanted.

I think it carries a risk but I don't get personally offended at them. I just hope that everything works out for them.

If I would have had my way, I would have not done prenatal care. Every time I went to an appt, my OB told me what I already knew. I'm very in tune with my body so I would know if something was wrong.

I think it's kind of risky but then I think about how many people were born without prenatal care or hospitals back then. Lol. I wouldn't do it, though.

PERSONALLY I couldn't do it. But both of my kids had unexpected complications so it clouds my opinion of women who CHOOSE to have no prenatal care and an unassisted (by choice not circumstance) home birth.

I'd never harass someone for their choice, but if it was a close friend or family member, I'd voice my concerns to them more than I would to someone I don't know over the Internet...

I wouldn't look down on a woman for it, but I certainly don't understand them. I'm a "better safe than sorry" kind of person. I would much rather go to the doctor and have him tell me that everything is fine than to NOT go and have a possible complication that could harm me or my baby. I also don't know how I could live with myself if something happened to my child that could have been prevented had I taken care of myself.

It's excusable if you don't have heath care.

The women who negligently decide not to, shouldn't be allowed to keep their children. Especially the ones for religious reasons. They are the ones that go one and refuse chemo to their child dying of cancer.

Quoting Devil Duckie:" It's excusable if you don't have heath care. The women who negligently decide not to, shouldn't be ... [snip!] ... Especially the ones for religious reasons. They are the ones that go one and refuse chemo to their child dying of cancer. "

I would have chose not to even though I had insurance.....

I think it's pretty stupid to completely forgo all prenatal care but I could see why people do. My appointments last 2 hours on average and all they do is weigh me, make me pee in a cup, check my bp, measure my belly and listen to the babys heart beat, all of which takes about 5 minutes total.

Quoting Devil Duckie:" It's excusable if you don't have heath care. The women who negligently decide not to, shouldn't be ... [snip!] ... Especially the ones for religious reasons. They are the ones that go one and refuse chemo to their child dying of cancer. "

I disagree. Not getting prenatal care isn't the worst thing in the world.  

I agree with the cancer thing, though. That is so so so sad. I can't believe it's not classified as child neglect. I mean, I'm not religious, but should they see it as God made medicine for that reason?

I can also see how things are different in the US ... I only saw an OB twice the whole way through my pregnancy everything else (including the birth) was done by midwives

Quoting The (super kinky) Master:" I can also see how things are different in the US ... I only saw an OB twice the whole way through my pregnancy everything else (including the birth) was done by midwives"

I live in the US, I'm 31 weeks, haven't missed one appointment and I still haven't seen an OB. Just the midwives.

What do people call 'no prenatal care"?
Who do you think typically gets "no prenantal care"?

There reason I ask is to me there is a huge difference between someone who does nothing at all & just hangs out & waits it out & a woman who does at home prenatal care herself by tests trips you can buy at most pharmacies, taking & charting her own weight & BP & all of that - yet on stats - they are equal.

Then add to that - the stats being swayed by all types of various women. Those that are freebirthers mixed in with those that are 15 & told no one until labor. And I even know of 2 different women I personally know of who claimed they did not know they were pregnant until they were in labor after going to the hospital for severe stomach pain. In both cases they were heavy drinkers & did no prenatal care of course.

I don't think it is fair or logical to lump them all in or say one way or the other unless you look at specific groupings within there.

I also think we have a misnomer that prenatal care makes bigger differences in outcomes than it actually does. For instance, MANY women still wrongly believe that constant fetal monitoring during labor is for their protection & the protection of their baby when in fact it is not linked to any better outcomes, ti leads to more c-sections & it's primary function is to defend the Dr in malpractice cases. http://www.jfponline.com/pages.asp?aid=1486

<blockquote><b>Quoting justanothamotha:</b>" What do people call 'no prenatal care"? Who do you think typically gets "no prenantal care"? There ... [snip!] ... c-sections & it's primary function is to defend the Dr in malpractice cases. http://www.jfponline.com/pages.asp?aid=1486"</blockquote>




I personally believe that ultrasounds like dating scans (mostly to check for multiples and ectopics) and anatomy scans are important as they can pick ouy abnormalities.