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Natural Birth
RockyMtnMama
member
Homebirth moms or moms-to-be - what if you have baby quickly/unassissted?
RockyMtnMama
member
So I'm most likely switching to homebirth for this 3rd kid and someone on another mom's board brought up the question, "Are you comfortable and what is the process if you have the baby unassissted before the midwife gets there?"
Basically, my midwife is an hour and half from our house and there are no other nearby midwives to fill-in. So if she missed the birth what would we do?
I imagine it would only happen if my birth was super fast (and it's my third, so I'm guessing I'll have some forsight to call her in time to get there). If she was close (and I knew from cell-phone coverage), I'd probably just stay home and wait for her to come do the exams.
But if she was far away, I think I would I just coordinate to take the baby for an exam at the ped (small town, so he comes to the hospital, but his office is closer than the hospital) and I could coordinate with my current OB/midwife practice to have myself looked over if there was a tear or anything.
What would/have you talked with your midwife about doing if you accidentally have the baby before she gets to your house or if she was planning to be there, but can't get there for some reason?
Two boys already - ages 5 and 3...
...baby #3 is here...
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Homebirth moms or moms-to-be - what if you have baby quickly/unassissted?
I had this fear with #3. My MWs were both an hour and a half away. #2 came pretty quickly and I figured that #3 would be even faster. Well, she was OP and took longer than #1, so all the worrying was pointless. lol
To ease my fears my MWs taught DH and my BF how to catch the baby at my home visit. They used a baby doll and showed them exactly what to do if the cord was around the neck, what to do after the birth, etc. It was really helpful. And they reminded us to call them and they would be on the way walking us through everything as it happened too.
Worrying about this never occurred to me.
I guess my plan would be to call the mw. Her policy is for moms-to-be to call as soon as they even think they are in labor. So we'd be in contact already. For example, with A. I woke up and was having contractions. I called my midwife midmorning to let her know. I made it clear that I didn't didn't know if it was the day or not but I was having irregular contractions.
Being in contact if something seems to point to active labor allows my midwife to decide if she needs to stay close (fwiw, she lives 2 minutes away from us)/get back to the area. (With J., when I first called she was camping 2 hours away.)
Anyway, by the time I decided it was active labor with A. I had already chatted with my midwife various times. So she was prepared for cancelling the rest of the day's appts. and coming over.
And she was there is plenty of time. A. arrived 1 1/2 hours after the midwife (1/2 hour after her assistant).
If it looked like they wouldn't be in time, I'd have DH be talking to them on the phone. They would talk him through things.
Assuming baby was healthy/no issues for me, I'd probably want to wait for the midwives to arrive and only go to the hospital if they recommended it.
I haven't really thought to be worried about this, despite my fairly quick/easy delivery with my son. I think I'd be more at risk of this if I were having a 2nd hospital baby, as I know I'd want to (again) stay home as long as possible...and that got me pretty darn close the first time.
At least with a homebirth, I have no worries about communicating with them as soon as possible...since there no clocks, no drug temptations, no restrictions, I think I'm more likely to communicate that I'm in early labor and have my midwife on her way to me (versus me being on my way to the hospital) with far more time to spare.
We planned a hospital birth but instead had an unassisted homebirth.
We called the ambulance, mostly so they could talk DH through the delivery while MW got to us as quickly as possible.
Her back-up midwife also came to us, because it's their policy to have 2 midwives attend homebirths.
Ambulance officers got to us before the midwife. LO was head out when they arrived, so they talked DH through the rest of the delivery, did the APGARs, and left me to snuggle her while we waited for the midwives.
When midwives arrived I delivered the placenta, and they examined me to ensure all was well.
It was stressful at the time, but ultimately not an issue.
Elizabeth 5yrs old Jane 3yrs old
#1 came in 6 hours and I was about 3 hours in before I realized I was really in labor. (She was a planned home birth but preemie = hospital.) I'm very worried #2 will come super fast so DH is going to get some training on how to "catch" and then the MW would check me out when she got there. I also think my MW would know she has hurry
Chances are even if your midwife is still far away you will be fine waiting for her to get to your house. She can check out the baby and you when she get there. That will save you from running around just after the birth.
Of course talk to your midwife to find her opinion.
I once had a midwife tell me that the short and quick labors worry her less than really long labors. I know the quick labors do have a higher risk excessive blood loss. Generally speaking if your baby comes too quickly to be caught by the midwife, you and the baby will be fine.
With that said, I believe that any expecting parent should learn what to do in the event of an unplanned unassisted birth. It doesn't matter if they are planning on a homebirth or hospital birth.
(My common gripe about emergency childbirth instructions is that they usually instruct the mom to lay down to push the baby out. I believe that mom should push in the position she is most comfortable in)
Below are a couple of guides to emergency childbirth (aka unplanned unassisted birth):
Department of Defense Guide to Emergency Childbirth
Emergency Childbirth: A Manual by Dr Gregory White
Birth is safe as life gets - Harriette Hartigan
I've been told the same thing about fast deliveries generally being issue free.
I was told that they considered me borderline hemmorhaging. My midwife gave me a shot of synotocin (sp?) but not straight away, maybe two hours after LO was born when I continued to gush blood.
I agree with pp that Mums should deliver in positions that they feel most comfortable in. I just wanted to say that I was in the shower on my knees when I could feel LO start to crown and I was trying to make it clear to DH that baby was imminent.
The ambulance dispatcher had DH, get me out of the shower and on my back on the floor. In hindsight, this was for two reasons; 1) to slow the baby down 2) to give DH, a novice baby deliverer, the best access and view for doing what he needed to do and to deal with any potential issues like cord around baby's neck.
Obviously an experienced midwife can deliver a baby any which way, but for a stressed husband it really was the easiest option for him, and I was fine either way.
Elizabeth 5yrs old Jane 3yrs old
This did happen to me, much to my surprise, but it was fine and not a big deal really. We didn't really plan anything out in advance.
My birth team was all on their way when our baby ended up being born in the water to DH's and my hand's, and my midwife arrived 5 minutes later. We were in contact with her on the phone, and DH had called her about 5 minutes before to see whether she was close. She asked if we were having the baby now (I didn't think we were NOW), and gave DH a few tips for what to do if baby came before she got there.
I've heard too that fast births generally mean that everything is all lined up and ready to go without problems for baby coming out. That was the case for us. It was super straightforward. Baby's head pops out, baby's body slides out, scoop baby up out of the water, keep baby warm and hang out looking at baby in surprise till the team arrives.
The full birth story is here:
https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/64812434.aspx
If I were you I would probably stay home and have the midwife talk you through things, and if she thought there were any concerns, she will tell you to call an ambulance. If it's nothing that needs an ambulance, it can probably wait till she gets there or she can talk you through things.
i was going to post this too! my favorite quote from him is something like "while the attendant will most likely be praised as a hero or heroine, he or she can relax and know that his/her simple tasks could have been performed by any bright 8-year old."
Thanks for sharing everyone. And thanks for the great birth story JulyJen.
I honestly hadn't really even thought of this until another mom brought it up and our last birth center did have an "emergency childbirth" instruction class when you were around 33-35 weeks that you were required to attend with your DH/SO. We should probably just ask about that sort of instruction again from our midwife.
We really are only 4-5 min from the city hospital also, so I'm not too worried.
...baby #3 is here...