Greetings,
When a woman becomes pregnant, she and her family are faced with so many questions. To have a natural birth or not? Should we find out the baby's gender? How is my life going to change? These are normal and even pleasant questions. To my surprise, one of the questions I received throughout my pregnancy until the 6th month was: "You're having an amniocentesis right? The amniocentesis is directed towards towards women over 35, it is a medical procedure used in prenatal diagnosis of chromosomal abnormalities and fetal infections.
My first reaction was no! It is not in my character to not expect the worst. And after talking with my husband and doing my research, my answer was NO! This is what annoyed me the most. My second doctor (I switched doctors three times) his nurses, the specialist for the ultrasound and her team were aggressive and had a difficult time accepting my answer. They tried to pressure me, didn't work. Tried to scare me and say my baby might have Down Syndrome, didn't work. When my doctor sent me to the specialist for my first ultrasound, her people tried to pressure me into having the procedure done by asking the questions in variety. That definitely didn't work, I've had a successful journalism career and made a living by asking questions, so of course I knew they were trying to manipulate me.
Exhausted, the genetics counselor said, "Well you're going to have to sign a California form stating you declined the test." My response, "Actually, I don't have to sign anything. The test isn't mandatory." Which also caused mistrust. The state doesn't legally have the right to dictate births so I doubt seriously they're mandating patients to sign forms. The form is something they probably asked to show they asked. Well they asked, I said no and that's all you need. I sensed they were some political pressure to get a certain number of patients to agree to the test.
Than the ultrasound tech conducted the ultrasound which showed my beautiful baby opening her mouth literally. She was hungry! Even the nice tech (who didn't ask me about the procedure) commented on my baby's mannerisms and how joyful she seemed.
So a month later, I went back to my obgyn for my standard appointment. Usually after the nurse places me in my room, the doctor comes in a few minutes later. This time, the nurse asked me why didn't I take "the test." I kindly told her, I declined, no explanation needed. I then waited in the room for at least 15 minutes. The doctor came in and asked me...I think by now you know what he asked me. They make money off of each test administered so in my opinion it's more of a head count instead of a genuine concern. I don't knock anyone for choosing to take the test, my concern is that patients shouldn't be coerced, pressured or scared into making a decision.
Fast forward six months, I gave birth to a beautiful, healthy, happy baby girl who is brilliant, alert and active. So the amniocentesis would have been a waste of my time, energy, money and unnecessary risk. I don't knock anyone for choosing to take the test, my concern is that patients shouldn't be coerced, pressured or scared into making a decision...especially medical decisions.
This is a powerful lesson of me listening to my instincts. I encourage you to do your research and follow your heart with every decision.
Until next time,
Be loving, be natural, be empowered!
Regena