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Hello again,
I just arrived home from a long day at work, but didn’t want to go more than a day or so without adding a new post so today I am going to cover what ” Everyone should know about C – Sections.
First of all, something to consider, every single labor has the chance to become a C – Section, and the rate is about 20 % in the United States.
Why are C – Sections done ? For a number of women, certain reasons can make it necessary to schedule a C – Section prior to labor starting. Moms can have placenta previa, a condition in which the placenta affixes itself over the lower uterine segment, either partially or fully blocking the cervix. The baby cannot be delivered vaginally through his or her placenta. Usually the doctors know this is the case as they can track placenta location with ultrasound.
Another reason for a planned surgical delivery is multiple births. At our hospital we only do up to twins, any pregnancies with more than 2 babies have to be delivered at a regional high risk hospital with an NICU – Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Some other reasons are, Malpresentations – meaning the baby is not in a position compatible with safe vaginal delivery. The most common malpresentation is breech, or buttocks first. The babys legs can be flexed or extended with their feet up by their head. Another bad position is transverse, baby lying sideways, with neither head nor buttocks as the presenting part. Most of these positions can be determined with ultasound.
Not common, but still seen at times. If mom has a medical or physical condition that her doctor deems unsafe for labor, such as a heart defect in which her doctors don’t want her to become over exerted, or another condition similar to that.
I hope this entry helps and as always your comments are appreciated by all.
God bless,
Meredith – RNC
Hello,
Let me tell you now, this isn’t going to be real exciting. It was actually a pretty quiet day. Although we did have a woman who went from 3cm dilation to 10cm in about an hour, which is odd and rather insane. She was on her fifth child though, and believe it or not, that makes a huge difference. That was about it for the day though, nothing crazy, nothing complicated. I’m tired, talk to you soon.
God bless,
Meredith – RNC
Hello,
I finished up my last entry covering induction of labor and your options and today I’m going to cover delivery aids used to help mothers in their pushing.
There are 2 methods used, forceps and vacuum.
FORCEPS – Forceps are large metal spoon like instruments that can be used to assist mom in her pushing. Only her attending doctor can use them. He/She places one on each side of the fetal head by feeling where the skull bones are, the handles interlock together and while mom pushes the doctor gently helps guide the head out. With PROPER use, side effects are minimal. Usually, some small areas of bruising on the head that go away quickly.
VACUUM – This is becoming a much more popular method and again only the mothers doctor may use this method. It has a suction cup looking plastic piece about 3 1/2-4 cm, that is placed on the fetal head. The doctors assistant has a hand held pressure device to reach a certain vacuum pressure. It is hand held only, not electric or plugged in, at all. And again, with mom pushing her doctor will gently pull to assist the head out. This is to help bring the baby out, not a replacement for pushing, therefore side effects are minimal. When used properly, all you will see is a small suction cup mark on your babies head.
These methods cannot be used just because you don’t feel like pushing anymore. Mom has to bring the baby down a good amount for the doctors to safely use these methods. Usually, they are used if we see by the monitoring that baby is getting tired of being pushed and needs to get out soon.
Commonly an episiotomy is performed to allow for extra room for a quicker delivery, with help.
Thats it for todays entry, I’ll cover more soon, and as always, your input is appreciated and encouraged. Thanks for reading.
God bless,
Meredith – RNC
Hello everyone,
My last entry was about covering the options you have regarding epidurals and whether or not it’s a good choice for you, if you haven’t had the chance to read it and or submit a comment, please feel free. Today, I am going to write about inducing labor.
Induction of labor or artificially starting the process.
Why would you induce labor ? Usually for medical reasons of some sort, either with mom or with the baby and or the placenta.
Mom may have medical issues, problems with blood pressure being too high, or if she has any underlying medical disorders, such as heart problems or lung problems.
There also may be baby growth issues, the baby may be growing ahead of schedule and getting to be too big or on the other side of the coin, maybe not growing sufficiently because of placenta issues not functioning 100 %.
The most common reason other than those is post dates, that being the baby is 1 week or more overdue.
There are 2 types of induction. Which one is used depends on your dilation and cervical effacement, ( or thinning ). If your cervix is very little dilated and not soft, and if your having no or irregular contractions, the doctor’s will probably try a cervical ripening agent, prostoglandin, to help get the cervix ready. It’s administered in the form of a vaginal suppository placed behind your cervix during an exam.
If your cervix is more dilated and softened, the doctors will progress right to Intravenous Oxytocin called Pitocin to help. The Pitocin works with the contraction you are already having to make them closer and stronger and will help make your labor progress. It can also be used to help a labor that has been going but has slowed, to get it going again.
Thats pretty much it with inductions and how they work and why you may need one. As always I would like to encourage you to submit your experiences with our other readers and thank you for visiting.
God bless,
Meredith – RNC
Hello,
Well, we really still have quite a ways to go when talking about what to expect with your labor and delivery. Generally my classes last about eight or nine hours, so obviously when writing about the subject, its going to be quite substantial. I’ll do my best to get right to the point. So, here we go.
These are the stages of labor and what you might expect with each one.
There are 3 stages of labor:
1. All the cervical dilation from 0-10 cm.
2. Pushing the baby out.
3. Delivery of placenta. ( By far the shortest )
1.) The First Stage, encompasses all of the bodies work – contractions – to get the cervix dilated all the way to 10 cm. For a first baby this can range anywhere from as little as 6-8 hrs. ( Lucky !! ) to as many as 24 or more hours. First babes always take longer, compared to subsequent children. Contractions may start out mild , even “crampy” in nature and be irregular usually 5 min. and anywhere from 6-15 min. apart, and can be that way for a while. If this is true labor, they will gradually get stronger and closer. At first mom may just feel a tightening sensation, and not really any pain, but that will eventually change. Early Phase, 0-3 cm, Contractions, crampy and irregular, possibly not painful yet. Mom may not be sure this is labor yet. For this phase, gentle activity such as walking is a very good idea, also rocking in a rocking chair. If uncomfortable, a warm shower or bath will probably help. Remember to rest at intervals, even if not tired, turn the lights off and just lay down. If hungry, eat lightly, no heavy or greasy foods. Most moms are still at home for this phase.
Active phase – Labor becomes active, contractions continue and get closer and stronger, generally 3-5 min. apart. Mom may not be able to talk through a contraction at this point. Dilation is generally 4-7 cm. Most moms go to the hospital and get admitted as this phase begins, which means, this is the point where fathers are running around like lunatics ! : )
Once you get to the hospital you’ll be in triage at first until they determine that this is the real thing. At which point, you’ll be moved to a labor room, and your nurse will get you on the monitor, start an IV and do some admission paperwork, sorry but this is necessary. If you wish to walk and move about during labor, tell your nurse and she can let your Dr. know that is what you’d like. At this point you’ll only get ice chips for fluids but you’ll have an IV for hydration too. Things should continue to progress, contractions will continue, dilation at an average of 1cm per hour. Once you are dilated to 4 cm, most doctors will let you have an epideral if you want one. ( I’ll go over Epiderals in my next post. )
Transition phase: 8-10 cm dilation, this is the shortest and most intense phase. Almost ready to begin pushing. Contractions are 1 1/2 – 3 min. apart and very strong. Momma may even feel the urge to push before complete dilation, but your Dr. or nurse will check your cervix to make sure its time. Pushing before dilated to 10cm can cause problems such as a tear in the cervix or swelling in the cervix prolonging labor. So have them give you the O.K. to push before you do.
2.) Pushing – ONLY after dilated to 10 cm, and only with contractions at their peak, to get the most out of your push. Your nurse will and can help coach you in your pushing and help as much as she can. Pushing for your first baby can average from 45 min. to 2 + hours. Yes, thats long but its reality. You just keep on pushing until delivery, and you don’t give up. Ever ! Speaking personally here, I pushed for 3 + hours, but my little dude had a REALLY BIG HEAD !! THANK DADDY FOR THAT !!! I lived through it just fine.
3.) Delivery of the placenta – by far the shortest phase. Takes anywhere from a few minutes and up to about 20. Then……..you’re all done !! Time to recuperate. Get some sleep, you probably need it.
Coming up soon, I’ll talk about epiderals and an explanation on why to get it and why you may not want to get it.
Take care, and god bless.
Meredith – RNC
Hello,
I hope you all had a nice fathers day weekend.
Well my last entry consisted of timing contractions and whether or not you should come into the hospital, today I am going to cover when you SHOULD go to the hospital for labor OR otherwise. OB after 14 weeks, and to the ER earlier.
NON-LABOR REASONS: FALLS- Anytime you fall and injure yourself even if you didn’t fall onto your abdomen.
INJURY: If you get hit/kicked or punched in the abdomen ACCIDENTAL OR OTHERWISE. This is very important. For falls or injury you’ll get monitors for a few hours and blood tests to determine if the placenta had any injury at all.
DECREASE IN FETAL MOVEMENTS: If the baby is not moving, and hasn’t moved at all for one full hour, even little movements, usually we will monitor you and try to get the baby to move.
CHANGE IN YOUR VAGINA DISCHARGE: If watery, muccousy or bloody you’ll get monitered and get a speculum exam to check for bleeding, water breaking or possible vaginal infection.
FLU OR OTHER GI UPSET: Throwing up and not keeping anything down, possibly with diarrhea, you’ll get monitored and possibly an IV for hydration.
PRETERM CONTRACTIONS: Prior to 36 weeks, more than 6 contractions in 1 hour, and they may be painless. You’ll get monitored and depending on how many contractions possibly an IV and Meds to stop the contractions.
BURNING WITH URINATION: Probably a urinary tract infection, you’ll get monitored, ( I say that a lot huh, : ) ) a urinalysis and antibiotics if an infection is found.
EPIGASTRIC PAIN: Pain in your upper abdomen ( not over your uterus ) on the right side commonly. Some times seen with visual changes.
VISUAL CHANGES: Seeing spots, sparkles in your vision, and
SUDDEN WEIGHT GAIN: A gain of 2-3 lbs. or more in 1 week can be accompanied by an increase in swelling of the feet and hands, these last 3 can be signs of preeclampsia, commonly called toxemia, a dangerous syndrome combined with elevated blood pressures and abnormal lab values. You’ll be monitored depending on the severity of the preeclampsia and you may get an IV for fluids and or Medicine.
LABOR: If you are past 37 weeks and you think your water broke and you’ve had contractions 5 min. apart or closer for at least 1 hour ( 2 is better ) and are having ” bloody show ” , mucousy blood tinged discharge, you may be in labor, get to the hospital immediately.
I will be covering more here in the next few days, I hope this information helps you, and as always, if you have any questions or comments please feel free to chime in. Talk to yaw soon.
God bless,
Meredith – RNC
Hello,
Today I am going to be writing about what I usually do in the second step of my Labor and Delivery classes. Generally my next step is to go over how to time contractions. It seems pretty easy, but lots of people don’t know the right method to do it.
The proper way is from the beginning of 1 contraction to the beginning of the next one. We really don’t have to know how long each one lasts, or the interval between them.
I also make it clear that this isn’t rocket science, you don’t have to keep track of EVERY contraction !! Trust me, I have occasionally had dads ( Generally with first babies, obviously ) that showed up with all kinds of charts and graphs : ) . Funny stuff really, you’ve got to appreciate that kind of excitement. But, this is not necessary, have them read this. Daddy, this IS NOT NECESSARY !!! DON’T PANIC OR OVER DO IT ! RELAX !
Generally, over each hour we approximate the numbers – i.e. – from say 4pm to 5pm contractions were between 4 1/2 – 7 minutes apart. THATS ENOUGH !!!
In the next couple of days I will be covering when to come to the hospital for labor and or other concerns. I hope this entry was somewhat helpful, and I will be blogging to you soon.
Have a great weekend, God bless,
Meredith – RNC
Good Evening,
I just got home from work a couple of hours ago so this entry won’t be very long. I had a rather uneventful day today, although I did help bring a healthy baby boy into the world. He weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz. , happy and cute !!! Straight vaginal delivery, nothing complicated. It was the mothers first baby, we started inducing labor early in the morning and by afternoon she was ready to deliver. Pretty short for a first delivery. Spent the last couple of hours of my day helping the mother with recovery. Thats about it. Rather uneventful day, sorry about that. This probably isn’t the most interesting post ever, it goes that way sometimes.
Tomorrow I will be adding the second edition of my birthing class entry and will try to elaborate a little further, and will explain what to expect as you progress. Stages of Labor. I would like to reiterate, that anytime you feel as though you have something helpful to add, please feel free to do so. We all will enjoy hearing about your experiences. Talk to ya tomorrow !
God bless,
Meredith – RNC
Hello,
Starting today I am going to be covering issues regarding pregnancy and childbirth. This tends to be a long subject matter for obvious reasons, so I may tend to this matter for a few days then switch it up for another few. Either way, I will eventually cover everything that I cover in my Labor and Delivery classes.
I usually begin my classes with a discussion of ” the discomforts of pregnancy” – urninary incontinence, backache, stretch marks, shortness of breath and braxton hicks contractions and how some of them can mimic the start of labor and make mothers have false alarms.
I try to make moms realize that ITS OK to not know whats going on. Very few are pro’s with the first baby and believe it or not most aren’t with their second either. ; ) At the hospital we can tell them for sure if it’s REAL labor or not. So if at all unsure, just come into the hospital and We’ll figure it out for you. Don’t worry about the false alarms, it is better to be safe than sorry.
It’s funny, you always see these movies where the husband is flying around like a crazy man and when it all comes down to it it’s just a false alarm ! Tell your husbands not to panic, in fact, I will cover this later, but it’s very important to encourage them to attend labor and delivery classes with you if this is your first child, so you both know what to expect. I know, the macho man doesn’t want to go, neither did my husband believe it or not, but ask him now and he’ll tell you how much of a difference it made for him. We’ll, I have children to deliver in the morning, so for now that’s it, but we’ll get back to where we left off saturday. Untill then, God bless.
Meredith – RNC
This being my first post, and primarily because I’ve spent so much time trying to figure out all this blog set-up stuff, my post will probably be a little short. However, no matter how insignificant this may seem, do not take this lightly.
I have to believe that I am not the only one that has felt this way, but while at my Postpartum depression support group this past Monday I remembered 3 VERY important points that are true:
- Its not your fault. Its not because of anything genetic from you.
- You did not cause it. No matter what you did, you did not and can not cause this.
- It WILL get better. If you keep working towards getting better. Talk to your healthcare team and counselors and take any medications needed. IT WILL GET BETTER !!
We are stressing those to the mothers in our support group but no one told me that. I had to figure them out for myself, maybe that made me stronger for having to work through it myself, but thats the point of our support group and thats the point of this blog, for you to find the help and support you need so that you don’t have to go through this alone.
I want to strongly encourage any of you who have had experience with this to offer your advice and experiences on this discussion. There are a lot of women out there that could use your help and experience, they need to know that they are not alone and that these feelings have been felt by many of us.
Talk to you soon,
Meredith
For You From Me 
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