I have recently been invited to participate in a survey about doctors’ business use of social media to communicate with patients. The same people who contacted me did a similar survey of doctors five years ago and concluded ‘most Australian doctors didn’t have the knowledge or confidence to interact with patients online’. I am amazed […]
It is becoming more popular for pregnant women to request an iron infusion because of tiredness in pregnancy. The iron infusion will only benefit if there is an iron deficiency, which can be checked by a blood test. Most tiredness in pregnancy is not due to iron deficiency. There is routine checking for anaemia and […]
I was listening to a radio journalist in the car on the way home from the hospital. He said that he and his wife were very nervous with her first labour and childbirth experience as they didn’t really know what was going to happen. He said they were ‘way out of their comfort zones’ as […]
I want to be a mummy Many patients have told me they started thinking about what it will be like to be a mummy when they were young girls cuddling dolls and pretending their dolls were real babies. Becoming a mother has a very special place in a woman’s heart and for so many women […]
“How soon can I have my baby?” is a question I frequently get asked in advanced pregnancy. The question is asked because the pregnant woman who asks it is struggling to cope with the impact of advanced pregnancy on her body. I am happy to arrange induction of her labour as long as it is […]
A patient returned to see me for pregnancy management. Because she had discontinued her health fund membership, she told me this time I will not be delivering her baby, and she will be confined as a public patient. She will continue to see me throughout the pregnancy for antenatal care. It was reported in the […]
I am a solo obstetrician practitioner. By that comment I mean I have my own rooms (office), my own secretarial staff, I see all patients who book with me for pregnancy at each antenatal visit myself, I manage all patients who book with me in labour (with the support of hospital-employed midwives), deliver all my […]
I recently wrote an article titled ‘Caesarean section changes during my time as an obstetrician’ in which I mentioned that there had been an increase in the Caesarean section rate over more recent times. One reason for this is that there has been a corresponding decrease in the operative (also called assisted) vaginal delivery rate. […]
When I started my training as obstetrician Caesarean section deliveries were done much less frequently than today. There were various reasons for this including… Caesarean sections were considered more dangerous for the mother than vaginal deliveries and so vaginal deliveries were preferred. In the past obstetricians were better trained, more skilled and experienced at doing […]
Wendy had her first baby at a major public hospital as a public patient. She needed an emergency Caesarean section. She said the operation was done by a young female doctor who she had never met. She never saw this doctor again after the operation. Wendy said she had considerable postoperative pain. Pain continued as […]
