This wouldn’t seem bad if all 21 caesarian sections were absolutely necessary in order to save the lives of both mother and baby…but it seems they weren’t. These doctors apparently did the surgical procedure in order to free up their patient schedule so that they could be off duty during the long Easter holidays in Kerala.
To put things into perspective, it’s like an aviation mechanic rushing through the repairs of a few planes just before his holidays so that he won’t be interrupted. Any ‘rush-job’ is far from ideal and should be frowned upon.
When it involves slicing open a human being and surgically removing her baby from her womb...considering that both mother and baby are healthy and medically fit for natural birth…the scenario goes from being frowned up to just plain wrong!
If the reports are true then these doctors have put their patients and their babies at unnecessary risk…especially when some of the women had the surgery performed a week ahead of their due dates.
All this for the sake of preventing any ‘inconvenience’ to the doctors who should (according to their Hippocratic Oath) have the best interests of their patients at the top of their agendas…not some free time.
The following line of the Hippocratic Oath emphasizes the irony of this newsworthy story:
“I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.”
It seems as if the doctor’s convenience has taken priority over the health and wellbeing of their patients. It’s kinda like prescribing antibiotics or other drugs before looking at the bigger picture and considering other natural alternatives.
Some doctors simply scribble out a prescription, send the patient on his/her way, before rushing in the next patient, doing the same thing…basically trying to get through the patient list and rack up his pharmaceutical commission before his afternoon tee-off time at the local country club.
The Indian women who had the caesarians ‘forced’ upon them should have insisted on second opinions before being subjected to their doctor’s insensitive self-absorbed whims. Unfortunately, many people still take their GPs word as it is without thinking about the BRAIN concept when it comes to medical procedures.
What is the BRAIN concept? Well, if your doctor insists on performing or prescribing anything that you’re not 100 percent satisfied with, use the BRAIN acronym for any decision-making process:
B (Benefits) – What are the benefits of this particular procedure/prescription?
R (Risks) – What are the risks and/or side-effects?
A (Alternatives) – Are their alternatives to your current situation?
I (Intuition) – What is your gut-feeling about the whole thing? Are you listening to your own logic and intuition instead of being dictated to by your doctor?
N (Nothing) – What would happen if you did nothing? Does it have to happen now, in the next hour, next day, next week or never?
You are the owner of the fantastic instrument that is your body…not your doctor. Listen to your own instincts and always question something if it feels rushed or just seems dodgy. It’s your right as a human being and in some cases, it many even save your life.
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