16 & Pregnant

I admit it, I love this show.  I love "Teen Mom" as well.  I think that overall, it sends a really great message to young girls about the realities of having a baby at a young age.  Heck, it isn't easy at ANY age, but I sure wouldn't have wanted to do it when I was 16 or 17!

The episode this week covered a girl who was pregnant after having been treated for anorexia in the past.   Most of the episode was heartbreaking, as her mother was pretty much non-existent as a support system and she was having to wade through the dark waters of being pregnant with an eating disorder on her own.  I know the focus of the episode was covering this aspect of being a young mom, but I have to be honest, what screamed out to me was her birth.  Usually, MTV seems to do a good job at documenting the labor and delivery, noting whether pitocin or an epidural was used and giving a definition of drugs and tools used during the birthing process.

The girl's water broke at home and after telling her mom (and her mom completely blowing her off and not taking her seriously), she headed to the hospital.  We (the viewers) never saw her get out of bed to labor.  She just laid and laid in that bed and after 18 hours, she was 5 centimeters or so and the doctor came in and told her she needed to start thinking about a c-section.  MTV did not document pitocin used to try to further labor, did not document an epidural used to let the mom relax and further labor and definitely no alternative laboring positions than lying down.  They also didn't document any heart decels in the baby and didn't give any indication that they were concerned about infection due to the water breaking earlier in the birth process.

The poor girl looked to her mom for advice and her mom said, "Maybe you should get the c-section because you'll be so tuckered out after having a natural birth."  Really?!?!  Tuckered out?!?!  I thought that was what you were supposed to feel after birth!  And they had another thing coming if they thought the massive amounts of pain pills after a c-section don't "tucker you out" even worse!

So they headed to the OR.  A healthy baby was born.  I just hope this 17 year old mom doesn't look back at her birth some day like so many of us have.  I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

I'm either angry with the doctor or with MTV for doing a horrible job documenting the labor.