throwawaydoct0r

I wouldn’t trust an ambulance-chasing lawyer to give you medical advice. The overwhelming body of evidence supports the use of ECT for severe depression, and the side effects of memory loss and cognitive changes are almost always short-term, and far outweighed by the extreme and overwhelming effectiveness of the procedure in treating severe depression that is refractory to medical therapy.

I remember my psychiatry preceptor in medical school stating in no uncertain terms that she suffers from depression herself, and that if hers ever got bad enough, she would undergo ECT without hesitation. I have participated in ECT treatments in my training, and I have seen the incredible changes in my patients, and how their lives have been given back to them.

From a personal perspective, I have seen the overwhelmingly positive results of ECT on a family member who suffered from severe depression. This was an intelligent professional whose depression was so bad that they could barely muster the effort to eat. They are now completely recovered and back to work, and their family has their loved one back.

Not mentioned by OP is that cognitive dysfunction and memory loss is substantially more common in patients with severe refractory depression. Correlation does not equal causation, and with OP’s logic I’m betting they’d happily champion a case claiming vaccines cause autism.

Also not mentioned is how many lives have been saved from patients who don’t commit suicide because they are successfully treated, and how many lives have been given back to people whose depression is so bad that they are non-functional. This is akin to only hearing about negative side effects of immunization, but not seeing how many kids aren’t dying of preventable infectious diseases every year because they’ve been vaccinated.

This shyster is, for personal financial gain, preying on vulnerable people who have suffered severe health challenges. What is worse, he is going to prevent these same vulnerable people from undergoing safe, proven, effective treatment that could give them their lives back - all in the name of enriching his own pockets.

Do I think he is doing it disingenuously? No. But I’m betting it’s a lot easier to drink the Kool-Aid when you’re making a buck doing so. OP, you should be ashamed of yourself.

To anyone reading this AMA who is now hesitating to undergo this treatment: talk to your doctor, discuss the risks, benefits, alternatives and outcomes and decide for yourself. Lastly, recognize that your doctor is an educated medical professional whose primary goal is to make you better, whereas this lawyer has no medical knowledge, but a sure goal to line his own pockets at your expense. Food for thought.

So what happens when you have prolonged labours, shoulder dystocias, or severe postpartum hemorrhage? Particularly in the last case, there are things that can happen very suddenly and require urgent critical care. If you run into a medical crisis in someone's home, how do you ensure the safety of both patients?

I mentioned prolonged labours, not prolonged rupture of membranes. The HELPERR acronym can cover most difficult delivery cases but not all - i'm curious as to what you do when you run into trouble and sincere medical help is required. Are midwives trained in episiotomy and vaginal repair? If so, what sort of training do you receive and how do you prevent post-repair complications? (infection, improper suturing, etc?). My biggest concern is for the health of the mother and baby. I think there is a very useful role for midwifery but I am also aware of the complications that arise during pregnancy and how quickly patients can decompensate. What medications are you licensed and trained to use, and what training in IV fluid administration do you have? I'm not asking to be difficult but to ensure that any patients I have who choose home birth have the safest care possible.