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Whose going to deliver my baby?

I would love to deliver 100% of the babies delivered in Tillamook. I know many of you. But obstetrics by its very nature is unpredictable with long hours. I don’t know any obstetric physicians that deliver all their own patients. It isn’t safe.

In Tillamook, there are only two of us. Myself and Dr. Welch. Even though we take call one week on, one week off, we each take care of our own patients during the workweek meaning that both of us end up delivering ~80% of our own patients.

If you are one of my patients you may have Dr. Welch as your delivery physician, when you are close to your due date ask me about the call schedule and I will tell you who is on call and when.

I trust the whole staff here at Adventist Health Tillamook, the nurses, Dr. Welch and I all work together as a team. We will take care of you and your baby to the best of our ability. If you have special requests, every single one of us will strive to honor those requests and if we can’t, we will explain why. If you have special requests or don’t understand something, it is your responsibility to ask for clarification.

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First things first

I'm Pregnant!! Now what?

  1.  Don’t panic  you’ve got this, or panic, but know that it it will not help.
  2. Take a prenatal vitamin if you don’t want to get prenatal vitamins any womans one a day vitamin will do.  
  3. If you live in the Pacific Northwest make sure your Vitamin has Vitamin D in it, or take an additional Vitamin D
  4. Check to see if your vitamin has DHA  (Omega-3/ fish oils are the same).  If it does not, add that into your daily vitamin regime too
  5. Exercise 20 minutes every day, this decreases your risk of obesity, diabetes, hypertension and the risk of C-section.  -fast walking counts, chasing kids, or doing shopping, does not
  6. Eat more vegetables
  7. Know that you have at least a 15% chance of a misarrange.  Our bodies are amazing; please remember that there are thing worse than loosing a baby in the first 12 weeks
  8. If you have questions, have had a miscarriage, if you want early conformation,  if you have medical problems or have questions about medications you can come in and talk to us now.  Otherwise your first appointment should be after you are 9 weeks along.   In Tillamook call 503-815-2100 to schedule. 

Fun Pregnancy Sites Below

Due date calculator
What to Expect
Apps you can download
Baby Center
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C-Section

At Adventist Health in Tillamook, our c-section rate is lower than the national average.  If you are a first-time mom with a baby that is head down your risk of a cesarean section is ~15%, which is a lot lower than the national average of 25%

I find it interesting when people talk about cesarean sections. I hear things like “too many, correct rate, always delivered vaginally in the past”. I want to remind everyone that in 1900 1 in 200 moms died in childbirth and 1 in 10 babies died in their first year of life. In addition to high death rates, deliveries left some mothers or babies deformed for the rest of their life.

C-sections are the most wonderful thing to happen to mankind. We have come so far, it is easy to lose perspective.

I have had mothers who have had a C-section and a vaginal delivery tell me that their C-section was an easier/quicker recovery*

ADTRH8 Cesarean Delivery

Risks

  1.  Increase risk of infection
  2. Increase time to recover
  3. More discomfort as you are recovering
  4. Increase risk for serious injury to internal organs, especially if you have more than 2 cesarean sections.

Benefits

  1. Decrease risk of serious bleeding
  2. Decrease risks of urine or fecal leakage as you get older
  3. Decrease risk of prolapse of your uterus or bladder as you get older
  4. Can be safer for the baby
  5. More predictable, a cesarean section can be planned and is relatively fast. 

Recovery

No sex or tampons for the first six weeks

No lifting more than 10 lbs (your baby and a light bag) for the first week

You will be in the hospital for ~2 nights after your delivery

When you go home you will be able to move around comfortably

You will not be able to do general household chores

 You will be tired and sore

We will send you home with pain medications

*most people would say a vaginal delivery is easier to recover from, but most people that have C-sections need them and the surgery is easier on their body or their baby. There is always a reason we do C-sections.