Angry Mom: Doctor Forced Me to Have C-Section

Rinat Dray wanted to finally have a natural childbirth—but doctors gave her a C-section, and now she's suing them and the hospital, the New York Times reports. Having had two C-sections—and two healthy baby boys—Dray, 35, changed doctors and hired a doula to help her give birth naturally. But she says the doctor at Staten Island University Hospital immediately pressured her to have a C-section, and despite her "begging" for more time, said, "I'm not bargaining here." By her account, she was begging on the operating table when he told her, "Don't speak."

Her third boy came out healthy—and so did she, for the most part—but she filed suit for medical malpractice, violating a New York state law that allows people to refuse treatment, and cutting her bladder during the C-section, the Legal Examiner reports. Her story highlights the shockingly high rate of US C-sections (nearly 33% of all childbirths) and the possible danger that Vaginal Births After C-Sections cause uterine rupture (this KevinMD blog rails against VBACs, but the American Pregnancy Association says the risk-rate is low). Then there's the issue of pregnant women controlling their own bodies: "In my worldview, the right to refuse is uncircumscribed," says one doctor. "I don’t have a right to put a knife in your belly ever." (More Caesarean section stories.)