This Blog post will discuss the feasibility of a double amputee giving birth and how I selected an Ob-Gyn in a community very foreign to me.
During my first pregnancy, I was planning on moving to one of the poorest countries in Africa so my husband could do missionary work. We were planning on moving when I was five months pregnant and I was very comfortable with delivering in a village-like setting via a midwife. This particular country had a strong reputation for highly competent village mid-wives. As a result I never got an ultrasound nor scheduled an appointment with an Ob-gyn in America. Also I had just gotten married and was living in a community that was very foreign to me.
Husband in African Community
However, two months prior to our moving to Africa I developed an infection and had to go to the emergency room. My husband took me to the fanciest hospital in the community so I wouldn’t have to wait a long time (Friday night). Hence I got to see a physician right away. After I had stabilized, upon hearing that I had never seen a doctor for my pregnancy, this hospital fortunately had an ultrasound technician on-site (12 AM Saturday) and performed an ultrasound right then. To my amazement I had twins!!
After learning the higher degree of risk of delivering twins and the high rate of mortality of twin births in the African country we were planning on moving to, my husband decided to postpone our move to Africa until after our delivery. (At this time no Ob-gyn existed in the country we were planning on moving to, and there was no incubator in the entire country to help prematurely born babies after delivery- hence a majority of twin births resulted in death). Therefore I had to start from scratch in finding someone to deliver my babies.
Since I was already planning on a village midwife to deliver my baby, I was interested in having a U.S. midwife deliver me naturally. Therefore I went to one of the best known midwives in our community via a friend. She was very friendly and seemed quite competent but she told me twin births were definitely more complicated and told me some twin births were more complicated than others. As a result she referred me to a highly reknowned perinatal imagery physician in order to determine the complexity of my birth. Fortunately I didn’t have to wait long for the appointment and the final diagnosis with his sophisticated imaging equipment was that the delivery would be too risky for the midwife. Now I had to find an OB-gyn in a metropolitan community in Arizona in which I had only been residing in for five months! Where do I start?
My husband and I only knew people who delivered through midwives. None of our acquaintances ever used a hospital nor Ob-gyn. So my husband asked this imaging specialist for a referral. After receiving a name, my husband did some research and found she had the lowest C-section rate in the state. Seemed like a good fit!
Fortunately she was able to see me quickly and was a very friendly person. She seemed flattered that she was referred by the imaging specialist but was honest and said in her 20+ years of delivering babies (including twins) she had never worked with a double-amputee. Intrigued, she looked at my legs and quickly tested my leg strength (abduction, adduction, etc.) and confidently said I would have no troubles in the delivery room.
Therefore, is it possible for a double amputee woman to deliver a baby? Absolutely! Is it possible for a double amputee woman to deliver high risk twins? Absolutely! If Neo can do it, you can do it!
Joshua at Birth
