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Lynn Paltrow is my hero

Jill

Lynn Paltrow, the executive director of the awesome civil liberties organization National Advocates for Pregnant Women, writes this letter to the New York Times:

To the Editor:

Re “New Jersey Top Court Rejects Woman’s Malpractice Suit on Abortion” (news article, Sept. 13):

The New Jersey Supreme Court correctly ruled in the Acuna decision that doctors should not be forced to tell a woman considering an abortion that she is “killing an existing human being.”

The case itself, which stems from strategic anti-choice efforts to create the illusion that women seeking abortions are not adequately informed, distracts attention from those situations where this really is the case.

For example, women who go to term are not informed that 15 to 20 percent of all pregnancies end in a miscarriage or stillbirth.. They don’t usually know their providers’ C-section rate (among providers this number routinely exceeds evidence-based medical recommendations). Or that many hospitals prohibit vaginal births after C-sections, denying women the opportunity to have a trial of labor and avoid unnecessary surgery.

Indeed, there is little evidence that women seeking abortions are under-informed, but a lot to indicate that women going to term could be better served.

Lynn M. Paltrow
Executive Director, National Advocates for Pregnant Women
New York, Sept. 14, 2007

She is the best.

11 thoughts on Lynn Paltrow is my hero

  1. Ain’t that the truth! I am currently 32 weeks pregnant and while I think my doctor is about as good as it gets (next to a midwife), it was like pulling teeth trying to get a C-section statistic out of him. And forget asking the hospital. They don’t legally have to keep the stats so they don’t. From my first appointment I have been telling my doctor that I want no medical interventions and I keep reiterating that point at every appointment. This is just another case of women really having to take the time to educate themselves and fight for your rights and the rights of your baby. It’s your birth and you have to make sure you have the tools to make it more likely that things will go the way you want them to than not.

  2. Very true, Babygirl- every woman needs to keep herself informed by all means available, for the safety of herself and her child. Good luck, BTW! 🙂 I was very, very lucky in that I had worked at the hospital where I had our elder child for years and was friends with my OB/GYN- she was a good pal.

    Too many times, my patients would ask me questions regarding their cases or pending surgeries- I was just a lab tech! So I would advise them to write these questions down and demand that their doctors answer them.

    I’d also use my grandmother’s analogy: not asking your doctor every question you have about YOUR BODY and its upkeep is as irresponsible as writing a blank check to your auto mechanic without discussion. You would never do that, so just because someone is a doctor is no reason not to ask. So WHAT if they are “busy”- this is your LIFE and nothing is more precious.

  3. there is little evidence that women seeking abortions are under-informed, but a lot to indicate that women going to term could be better served.

    A-frickin-men.

  4. Louise, I am very lucky in that my mother has been a charge nurse at the hospital where I’ll be giving birth for nearly 30 years and my OBGYN knows her well and respects her, too. Fingers crossed everything goes as planned! 🙂

  5. where I’ll be giving birth for nearly 30 years

    I really hope your labor doesn’t last *that* long! Eesh!!

    (sorry, couldn’t resist)

  7. I think some of this stems from the fact many young girls are left to fend for themselves when it comes to learning about sexual and reproductive health. Sure, they’re told about the ovaries and told that a uterus carries a fetus to term, but beyond that we aren’t told much and it carries over into adulthood. We don’t know we have the right to demand more from our doctors because no one tells us and naturally we don’t want to be the “nagging b****” who harrasses the poor widdle doctors.

    I can only give another “AMEN!” to what Paltrow said.

  8. I’m taking the NAPW’s phone number with me when I check into the hospital in labor. Y’know, just in case I need someone to get me a lawyer while I’m trying to push a baby out.

  9. I for one would have liked to have heard some information about miscarriage. I know having one left me totally blindsided. It’s such a taboo subject in general.

  10. My mother has told me that when I get pregnant, I should go to my ob/gyn with a tape measure and a stethoscope and say “this is how I would like to you evaluate my pregnancy” and if they say no, to find another doctor. 🙂

  11. Women don’t have time to get their questions answered by their OBs. I would go in with a list of questions but the visits went like this:
    1) weigh in
    2) pee in a cup
    3) blood pressure check, perhaps a temp check as well
    All done by the nurse.

    4) wait in the room for 30 minutes (after waiting in the waiting room for at least 30 minutes)
    5) OB walks in, measures the fundus, uses the doppler to check heart rate and says “everything looks good, any questions? Good. See you in _____ weeks/days”. More than once I would chase him down to get at least one question answered.

    Then at 30 weeks I switched to a midwife and it was night and day. She scheduled an hour to spend just with me. We discussed diet, exercise, things I could do to help the baby to have a good position at birth (1st baby was OP). We discussed birth and what to expect. Coping techniques. Emergency plans. And just visited and got to know each other. In 1 visit with her, I spent more time than I had with my OB in 6 visits. And I had spent less time on the appointment (so less time away from my job).

    And I had the “good OB” in town. The one recommended by all the doulas. We won’t get into the OB I had with my first child (her favorite phrase was “fetal demise”).

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