I'll never forget how petrified I was when I was told I needed to get a C-section after unsuccessfully trying to give birth naturally. For starters, I hadn't prepared myself for this possibility as I was 100% confident that I would be able to deliver vaginally and without drugs. But after pushing for several hours with no progress in sight, my midwives explained that having a C-section was the only way to go. While everything happened fairly quickly after being wheeled into the OR, I remember being nervous and full of expectation about undergoing major surgery.
That's why I would've been livid if an inexperienced 15-year-old girl was allowed to assist in my C-section without my consent and I didn't find out about it until much later.
Well, that's exactly what happened to a Swedish mom who actually found out about the presence of the teen during her delivery thanks to a story she read on her local newspaper. Apparently, the girl–who had been introduced to the mom-to-be as the surgeon's assistant–is a relative of the surgeon and she'd brought her into the operating room so she could see what it was like to do a C-section.
Incredibly, hospital officials admitted this was not the first childbirth she'd assisted in and that she, in fact, had shadowed her relative during various operations. How any of this was allowed is hard to imagine, considering Swedish law does not permit anyone under the age of 18 to assist in an operating room.
The hospital has apologized to the mom whose C-section was successful and whose baby was born healthy, but I think the surgeon in question obviously needs to be sanctioned somehow for such an irresponsible decision that could've put someone's life at risk.
Image via Tamnra McCauley/flickr
