wrote in message ...
How and when was the spina bifida diagnosed? Ultrasound? when? Has
the diagnosis been confirmed? Another ultrasound? When? Have you
gotten a second opinion? I think this is too serious a question to
leave up to the judgement of a single care provider. I strongly
recommend a second opinion.

Larry, you haven't been following Joy's pregnancy very closely, but her baby
clearly HAS spina bifida, along with hydrocephalus. Multiple ultrasounds
have confirmed it (I think it was initially diagnosed around mid-pregnancy),
and Joy has seen many specialists throughout her pregnancy. I think it's
pretty safe to say that the degree of spina bifida is well known at this
point. The last thing she needs is to see any more!

Finally, I am *really* suspicious about the induction talk. If they
think that it is safe to birth vaginally rather than by c-section,
what possible advantage could there be to induction? I would ask for
study results that show that induction provides better outcomes. I
would doubt that they can produce them. I might even ask Ericka to
see if she could find any information on vaginally birthing spina bifida
babies.

Yes, this is where I'm confused, too. Given that induction tends to produce
more likelihood of uterine hyperstimulation and thereby produces greater
risk of fetal distress, you'd think inducing would be a bad idea. I'm
suspecting that it has something to do with the hydrocephalus (the longer
the baby stay in, the greater the likelihood of true CPD caused by the
hydrocephalus), but that's only a guess.
--
Be well, Barbara