Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Anna's birth story

Given the nature of this post, reader discretion is advised. Details may be sketchy and/or inaccurate, as I was obviously in the throes of labor - this is how I remember it to the best of my ability.

~~~~~~~~~

Anna was born early on Wednesday morning, December 8th. The weekend before that, I started having regular, timeable contractions about every 10-20 minutes. They lasted about 30 to 45 seconds each, and were not painful at all.

That same Saturday morning, Miriam woke up with a fever. She said her head hurt, and later threw up a couple of times. It never fails that some or all of us get sick just a few days before the arrival of a new baby. Midwives have told me this happens a lot and ensures that everyone's immunities to the current bug making the rounds is high by the time baby comes. So in spite of the contractions, I "knew" the baby's arrival was still days away. Miriam got better within the next day and a half after I started letting her drink as much Reed's Ginger Ale as she wanted. The stuff is a miracle cure - it stops vomiting immediately, and brings down a fever faster than tylenol - no joke! She also got a red rash on her torso a day later, so my guess is that she had some sort of virus.

I had taken on a translating assignment that I was working on that weekend (an article from a medical journal), so getting that done and off my desk before baby came was fine with me, anyway. I did finish it up a couple of days before the deadline, just to be safe.

Contractions continued to be every 10 to12 minutes all Monday, with increasing intensity. In the evening, I ran a couple of errands, and other than having to stop whenever another contraction came and holding on to the cart, it was fine. I found some things I wanted to get the kids as Christmas gifts, but could not buy them because they were with me.

During the night from Monday to Tuesday, contractions kept me awake from 3 until 7 am. My mother-in-law is a flight attendant, but had the week off and was waiting "on call" to fly out in case I went into labor, to be an extra set of hands around the house. Around 4:30 am our time, I texted her that I thought she should come out, even though I was not convinced that this was "the real thing". Sure enough, when morning came, the contractions went away for several hours, during which time I slept in. Thankfully, my MIL still came out, as birth was obviously close.

This was Tuesday. I left grandma at home with the kids while I finished up a few last errands, and went back and bought the gifts for the kids I was unable to get the night before. Then I took a nap in the afternoon. Contractions were still every 10 to 12 minutes at this point, and getting to a point where they were requiring my attention. While I was cooking dinner, Solomon and grandma were sitting at the kitchen counter, playing yahtzee. I closed my eyes during a contractions and just stood there, and Solomon said something like "Oh look, Grandma, mom must be really tired. She is falling asleep standing up." It made me laugh, which hurt because it was right in the middle of a contraction.

We inflated the birth pool before going to bed, with the hose to fill it all hooked up and ready to go in case my labor reached the "point of no return" that night. We went to bed around 11 pm, at which time the contractions were about 5 or 6 minutes apart.

During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, shortly after midnight, my contractions were so strong that they woke me up. By about 2 am, they were about 3 or 4 minutes apart, and increasingly intense. I woke my husband and asked him to start filling the tub. At 2:34 am, I called my midwife and told her that I wasn't sure whether this was the real thing, but that my contractions were regular every few minutes, and becoming pretty painful. She said she'd come over right away. Both her and her assistant arrived within a half hour.

Other than the contractions, I still had none of the other symptoms of active labor, which is what made me so doubtful (i.e. water breaking, mucous plug, etc.). I asked my midwife to check my dilation when she first arrived, and I was at a 3-4 cm. I got in the tub at this point. I don't think the contractions ever got closer than 3 to 5 minutes apart, and while they were very painful/intense, I have had worse. They were relatively manageable with lots of moaning and some slight pressure on this certain spot on my lower back. Later on, I did start throwing up after contractions, but in between them, I felt pretty good, other than being cold (neither the room nor the water was cold) and tired from the lack of sleep in the previous days. 

I don't remember the exact times that it took me to dilate. I think an hour later (around 4:30 am) I was at 7 cm, and did not progress past that in the next 20 or 30 minutes. At that point, the midwife and her assistant relocated to just outside the room I was laboring in, to give me and my husband some privacy/quiet. By this point, I was starting to feel this urgent need to deliver the baby, while also feeling exhausted and like I was going nowhere. However, I did fall asleep between contractions, while in the tub, with my chin resting on my husband's hand on the edge of the tub. 

I'm guessing that it was about 45 minutes or so later when I suddenly felt wide awake. With the next couple of contractions, I felt "pushy", but did not feel like I was fully dilated for some reason. Pushing felt different than it normally did - like I was pushing against something, and also more painful. I asked my midwife to check me and make sure I was dilated, and other than a cervical lip, she confirmed that I was. 

Still, I could not get comfortable pushing. I decided that maybe I needed to use the bathroom, because even a bladder that is *almost* empty can get in the way of a baby's head coming down. Normally, I would have just gone in the tub at this point (sorry if this is too much information, but this is actually important to the story), but simply could not. So I dragged my wet, shivering self to the bathroom, which was only about 5 ft from where the tub was set up in the guest room. Still not able to pee, and still skeptical that I was fully dilated, my midwife wanted to check me on the bed rather than in the tub, which is easier and more accurate. 

As she did, she still felt that lip of the cervix, and coached me to push with the next contraction while she pushed it to the side. The baby immediately slipped into the birth canal, and was born completely within what I am guessing was less than 60 seconds from when she first checked me. What a relief!

I leaned back against my husband for a minute, who was supporting me from behind. As I usually do, I asked "Is the baby alright?", because I felt too weak to sit up and check for myself. I got no reply, so I asked again, and again got no reply. The baby had not cried at all, but that is pretty typical for our babies, because they are usually born in the water, which is gentler on them. I figured the midwife had not heard me because she was busy with the baby. So I asked my husband, who assured me that everything was fine. I sat up to take the baby (this was less than a minute after she was born, I'm guessing), and the midwife placed her on my chest and told me that the baby was okay, and coming around. I said something to the baby, in response to which she let out a little whimper, and then just breathed (sounding a little wet/raspy). I figured that her breathing had been what the midwife was concerned about, and that maybe she had needed to be suctioned. I checked to see if it was a boy or a girl, and was not surprised to find I had been right with my prediction all along. 

Just a minute or so later, my midwife said that she thought the placenta was ready to be pushed out, which surprised me. But sure enough, she was right, and the placenta came out with one big push. 

At this point, everyone came in to see the baby, John (the birthday boy) got to cut the cord, and we were all just rejoicing in this new little creature. It was shortly after 6 am on Wednesday morning. We spent the day resting. My MIL took the 5 oldest kids out of the house from about 9 am until the early afternoon, during which time my husband, Anna, and I napped, rested, and ate a late lunch. It was a nice first day.

It was not until the next day, when my midwife came for the 1-day visit, that I learned some more details about the birth that I was (thankfully) entirely unaware of at the time. I have debated with myself whether to include them here, but see no reason not to, as they are part of the birth story.

When my midwife checked me on the bed after I got out of the tub to use the bathroom, she was no longer able to feel the baby's pulse on the fontanel. Right before getting out of the tub, the baby's heart rate on the doppler had been normal. At this point, she could also see that the baby's head (right on the cervix) was lavender-gray (as opposed to pink, or maybe blanched). Which is why she held the cervical lip to the side and told me to push the baby down. Immediately after the baby came out, she was followed by huge amounts of blood. The baby's cord was also already flat and had stopped pulsing when she was born. All these symptoms indicate that it is likely my placenta had suddenly and completely detached right before the baby was born - a very rare and dangerous condition. Since the cord and placenta are the baby's lifeline, the baby will die in a matter of minutes (my midwife said a maximum of 6 minutes until complete death) if cut off from the placenta before they are born and can breathe on their own. Serious, irreversible brain damage starts occurring about a minute before that. 

In Anna's case, she came around again very quickly, and she is perfectly fine, leading us to believe that she was probably cut off for no more than a minute or two. Most cases of placental abruption are milder (i.e. partial), and have warning signs like bleeding. In our case, all the bleeding was blocked by the baby's body, hence the gush of blood that followed her. There is no way to predict placental abruption, and for cases such as mine (sudden, complete detachment with no warning signs), there is nothing that can be done. No emergency cesarean could be performed quickly enough to save the baby's life, as there are only a couple of minutes that mean the difference between baby living or dying. Hence, placental abruption is one of the leading causes of stillbirth/neonatal death.

Inevitably, I know that this might make some question the safety of home birth, but as I said, being at the hospital would have done nothing to get the baby out faster. On the contrary, I believe that having my labor "managed" would likely have interfered with my natural instincts, such as realizing that pushing didn't feel quite right (probably due to the placenta starting to detach), and getting out of the tub when I usually deliver all of our kids in the water. Any drugs that I might have received at the hospital (such as pitocin) would have greatly aggravated the condition. It was just a rare fluke, that thankfully ended well because of God's hand of protection. We are very blessed indeed.

Other than being more fatigued than usual because of the blood loss, I feel very well. There was no tearing at all, and the afterpains have been manageable with a hot rice pack and some cramp bark tincture. Nursing is going well. Anna is a very easy baby, and already in a predictable pattern of eating and sleeping. I have held/carried her pretty much non-stop since she was born, not because I have to (although it does help keep her asleep), but because I don't want to set her down and miss even one second with her. She has been peacefully asleep on my chest the whole time I spent writing this post.

My husband has been such a huge help with the kids, around the house, and running any necessary errands. My MIL had to work a trip a few days after the birth, but is coming back again today and staying through the end of the week. 

I'll leave with some more pictures of our little doll.

 Solomon reading to her out of a "book" that he wrote


 This is what happens with older siblings in the house - baby might end up being pushed in a play shopping cart on a pretend grocery store trip. No worries, Solomon was very careful not to let her fall out. 

 Only set her in the bouncer to take her picture

 She really enjoyed this bath. It was so cute.

 That's me, giving her a bath in the kitchen sink.

 With big brother John

 sisters

Miriam is all over the baby, asking to hold her constantly. Becky - not so much :)

40 comments:

  1. Wow! It sounds like you have an amazing midwife there! You are right: being in a hospital would have made no difference in this case. In fact, I would hazard a guess that it might have made things worse; in a hospital situation the midwife would have been aware of the situation and called for help. All that help rushing into the room would have alarmed you and possibly taken you out of that 'zone'. So, rather than being relaxed and ready to push you would have become worried and tensed up.
    Thanks for sharing your birth story
    Oh, and does this mean that you have an increased risk of abruption with subsequent births?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was just reading about placental abruption. The fact you started having so many contractions on the weekend might have been a sign that the placenta had partially detached, but, yeah, it doesn't sound like you had any clear signs of abruption. And the only way a hospital birth might have helped is if there was a partial separation with no clear symptoms, it would have been caught with ultrasound, if the doctor had done ultrasound at the beginning of labor to check baby's position, size, etc. But if the placenta had separated abruptly right at the end, without being partially separated at the beginning, nothing in addition to what your midwife did could have been done. I'm glad you didn't lose too much blood. Maternal shock from blood loss can happen after a placental abruption.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Praise the Lord you and Anna are okay!! :) God is so amazing indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Why is she already being submerged?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Praise God that both of you are all right. She is just adorable, and so alert! WOW!

    ReplyDelete
  6. So amazing how God works everything out!
    So glad that you had a good midwife, and I agree you being at home was the safest place.
    Anna is beautiful, savor these precious moments:0) Seems like with each baby, time goes by faster!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow amazing birth story! God is so good. I agree that you were at the safest place for delivery, so glad you had good midwives.
    Anna is beautiful, and so precious. Savor these moments, seems like with each baby time goes faster!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Alice,

    I think that statistically, it does make it more likely to recur. My midwife advised me to take fish oil supplements and walk vigorously throughout pregnancy to help prevent that from happening.

    Elisabeth,

    I have had prodromal labor with every pregnancy, sometimes for as long as two weeks leading up to the birth. Then it goes pretty fast once it actually starts for good. For me, that was not alarming at all.

    Personally, although I have no way of knowing this, I believe my placenta did not start separating until about an hour and half before birth, when I was at a 7 for a half hour without dilating any more. That is the point in my labor when the way contractions felt and I perceived them shifted.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm wondering that if because there is an increased risk will you choose to stop having children now? Or are you leaving it in God's hands? I don't understand the whole 'leaving it up to God/trusting God' thing so, if you have time, if you could explain that to me. I would appreciate it :D

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congrats again and praise God for His miracles!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Alice, what does it matter to you if she does or doesn't stop having children now? God knows all about it, and He can take care of it, just like He did with her birth this time. Why would she stop having children because God took care of her and let her baby live? That would be kind of odd, wouldn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Alice: not that I really think you are interested, but here's an article that might help explain the thinking of trusting God with our family size.

    http://pursuingtitus2.com/2009/02/12/blessings-but/

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh Mann, diese birthstory hört sich ja ganz schön dramatisch an. Was für ein Glück, dass noch alles gut gegangen ist. Gott hat Anna bewahrt.

    Ich komme aus dem Staunen nicht heraus wie du das alles auf die Reihe kriegst mit eurer großen Familie. Du bist echt eine starke Frau, Zsuzsanna!

    Ist die Großmutter jetzt zu euch gezogen oder war sie nur zu Besuch da wegen der Geburt?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank God Anna is fine and you didn't loose too much blood! What a scary story. It's scary to think that if you had been in the hospital they most likely would have put you on pitocin to hurry things up which would have been so bad in this situation! She is so beautiful and you are truely blessed!
    I pray to God this will not happen again, is there a reason this continues to happen? A deficiency of some sort? Sorry I'm just ignorant of the topic.

    ReplyDelete
  15. This question is not meant facetiously or sarcastically at all, but should the kids not be supporting Anna's head better when they hold her?

    Or do you think this is one of these overhyped old wives' tales about babies? I'd be very interested in your opinion, that's why I'm asking....

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thank you for sharing this story. It's interesting, scary, and incredibly well-written. I am in awe that English isn't your native language. You write better than most America-born Americans.

    ReplyDelete
  17. That was a nice story with a wonderful happy ending. Praise God. I'm glad you are all okay. All these newborn babies on the blogs I read make me want one.

    I'm so glad everything turned out well. She is a doll. Little girls are the best.

    ReplyDelete
  18. First of all, congratulations on your new baby! She's so sweet...Secondly, unbelievably scary and yet amazing story - so glad that everything worked out for you and Anna. As for people asking whether you will stop having babies, I'm not really sure I see why you would. Personally, I do use birth control and want to manage my family size (don't worry - it's not the Pill, but a barrier method, not that you would necessarily agree with that one either...). However, if you want to "leave family size up to God," this is probably as good an example as any of God's hand in things. Plus, any pregnancy, in fact anything in life, can always end badly. We can't make decisions on that basis. Enjoy your little doll!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Praise God you're both okay. It must have been very scary to learn about. Inseresting about the fish oil. Do you know exactly how it's supposed to help?

    ReplyDelete
  20. All I can say is that when I read Anna's and your birth story, it was evident to me once again that God is in control of everything. I believe this with all my heart and appreciate hearing stories of God's provision and powers among the believers. Praise to Him for you and your baby's safety! May He continually bless you and your family as you follow His leading and bring glory to His Name!

    Sorry I'm posting anonymous but I've left some disagreeable comments in the past with different parts of my real name, so... If you're not publishing anon. comments anymore, at least you can read it and know that I was blessed and happy to hear your story! I'm planning my third home birth for my baby due next May and I truly believe it is SAFER than a hospital birth. :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Praise God, he is always in control! He is the author of life. You know your body and midwives are so amazing in these situations. I had a natural water birth in a small hospital but if God blesses us with another one I would bring the show home for sure. Your family is so inspirational to me! Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  22. WOW! Praise the Lord for His watchful eye over your little one...so much could have gone wrong! I am still a HUGE fan of home birth. Great story and BEAUTIFUL baby! :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Has your midwife checked your hemoglobin? If not, how do you know you don't need iron or a transfusion? I knew something wasn't quite right since you didn't publish the birth story soon after her birth.

    I notice that you don't use Anna's name in her birth story; rather you refer to her as the "baby." It's her arrival documentary; why not use her name?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Katy-Anne, I do not understand your hostility towards me. It does not matter to me if Zsuzsanna does or does not have any more children. I was simply wondering if, given the circumstances of Anna's birth, she was going to choose to stop. In previous comments I have made it clear that I do not believe in God and therefore I really struggle with the 'trusting God' aspect. The Christian commentators have praised God for his intervention in Anna's birth; I simply see it as an excellent and skilled midwife doing an excellent job. Faith is something that fascinates me and something that I am trying to get my head around. I find Zsuzsanna's posts on her faith very interesting and enlightening. I doubt that I will change my standpoint but I do like to hear from view point's other than my own
    Further, I did read that article and it still doesn't make it clearer to me. I really do wonder why, if someone has a history of problems, they would have more children. Is it because you believe that God will provide and even infant or maternal mortality or morbidity were to occur it was His hand at work?

    *disclaimer* I am not in any way suggesting that Zsuzsanna now has a history of problems. One case of placental abruption does not make a history

    ReplyDelete
  25. I am so happy to hear that everything turned out fine. I am so thankful that we had a home birth for our second child. We are expecting again..by the way.:)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Glad all was well in the end for you and Anna :)

    When you are back to blogging a bit more can you tell me a bit about the rice packs you use? I use wheat packs, but DH complains about the smell and it seems to irritate his asthma. I've never heard of rice ones before, so want to find out a bit about them to know if they might be a better option here than wheat.

    ReplyDelete
  27. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  28. What a scary story! So glad you both are OK.

    - Sally (but not the Sally who posted earlier)

    ReplyDelete
  29. Wow...what an incredible birth story! I am so glad that you and Anna are well. It is such a blessing to have a skilled midwife! Anna is absolutely adorable! I love the picture of Solomon reading to Anna. Enjoy this precious time with your precious littlest blessing!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Ohhh, that is a scary story! Thank goodness you guys handled it well and baby is okay! Hugs. Your instincts were right on.

    ReplyDelete
  31. All Glory to God for protecting you and your little one and giving your midwife wisdom to do what she did to get the baby delivered fast.

    ReplyDelete
  32. What a precious birth story, and a remarkable ending showing the Lords protection for you! Your baby girl is beautiful, just like the rest of your children.

    Blessings,
    Christy

    ReplyDelete
  33. Thank you for posting this personal post-it will bless many. I found it so interesting that I have found myself thinking about it. Psalm 119:133(KJV)says that the Lord orders our steps in His Word,etc.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Come on guys, give Alice a break, she disagrees with us, but she is disagreeing respectfully and genuinly curious, shouldn't we encourage that?

    In my belief, and I can't say whether suzanna would agree with me entirely or not, but for me it isn't so much about choosing to have more children despite complications, it's choosing to have more children and not being afraid of the complications. We believe in allowing God to control our family size, and it being hard dosen't stop it being right.

    Christians in some countries are persecuted, even killed, for praying. But they continue to pray, because it's what they believe is right. It puts them in danger, but God is in control of that danger, he will protect them, or, for whatever reason that we may not understand at the time, he may allow them to be hurt or killed, to serve some other purpose (many people have come to christ through the testimony and death of fellow christians, for example). Ultimately it's up to God.

    People in those countries know that praying is right, and commanded. They do what they can to protect themselves from being hurt in the process, but not praying because of the potential concequences is not an option for most of them. The fact it is dangerous does not stop it from being right. Childbirth is similar. Potential danger does not stop it from being the right thing to do, and ultimately we believe God controls the outcome, and should it go badly, there is a reason for it, perhaps one only He knows at the time, but we trust him. I realise that for you, as a non-christian, that is probably a laughable concept, but that's where faith comes in, and where our entire worldviews begin to differ. When you look at the world through the lenses of faith, it looks quite different.

    Of course there is grey area, like ectopic pregnancy, and that ends up coming down to personal conviction, but in this case, with the proper care, having another baby is somewhat more dangerous but also has a perfectly reasonable chance of happening without danger. If it is Gods will that suzanna have no more children, then he will cause her to be infertile, there could have easily been further complications in this birth that resulted in damage causing infertility. It dosen't look like that has happened, but just as God controls conception he controls the lack of it. Trusting God with family size does NOT mean having as many children as possible. I know a woman with 12 children who recently had a complicated miscarriage resulting in permenant infertility, and she is at peace with that. She was not an old woman, she still had quite a few childbearing years ahead of her, but just as she believes God intended her to have 12 children in what many consider a relativly small amount of time, she also believes God intended for the 12th to be the last one, and he has now closed her womb, and that's ok. That is part of trusting God too.

    I hope that helps a little bit in understanding. As I said, suzanna may disagree with some or all of this, even among christians there are disagreements, which is why you will find some women who believe childbirth should be completely unassisted and unchecked medically. But this is my personal conviction on the matter.

    Congrats on the bub coming safe and sound suzanna!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Thank you everyone for the kind and supportive comments.

    Alice,

    just for the record, I did not perceive your question as rude. The thought whether we should stop having children because of this honestly had not even crossed my mind until you asked. But no, we will not change our beliefs on birth control after this. As Katy-Anne and Renee pointed out, God protected us both, so if anything, that is reassuring to me.

    I do understand that you can't fully grasp the concept of faith in God. If you had faith in God, you would be a Christian, as that is the only thing it takes to be one. Just as we get saved by faith, we are to live our lives every day by faith, not guided by fear.

    Rebecca,

    die Großmutter wohnt nicht bei uns, sie war nur zu Besuch und ist heute leider wieder nach Hause geflogen.

    Karen,

    my midwife said fish oil and lots of walking would help to prevent this from happening again. But then, nobody knows what causes it, or how to prevent it.

    Annelise,

    I agree that babies' heads should be supported. The kids are good with it, but I think in the photos it doesn't always look like that. Solomon is the only one who is allowed to hold the baby while walking around, the other kids have to sit on the sofa and I lay the baby in their lap.

    Sarah,

    no, I don't know why fish oil is supposed to help. Maybe it somehow supports healthy circulation, which will make the placenta implant better? Just a guess.

    anonymous @ 10:41, Dec. 15 -

    my midwife did not check my hemoglobin, because there was no need to. I passed out the night after giving birth to our oldest at the hospital, so I do now what it feels like to have lost too much blood. They never once checked my hemoglobin.

    I am taking a very good, 100% natural and plant-based liquid iron supplement (floradix), and am feeling almost completely back to normal by now.

    We did not choose Anna's name until after birth. In fact, we had not even thought of it before, nor did we know if we were having a boy or a girl. So for most of my labor, she was just "the baby". It would sound strange to me to refer to her by anything but that in the birth story, but my style may not be yours.

    Miranda,

    my rice pack consists of an old cotton sock filled with uncooked rice, with a knot to keep it sealed. I microwave it for about a minute to heat it. Voila!

    abba12,

    well said, thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Given your most recent post about how busy you are at the moment, I thank you for taking the time to answer my question.
    I think you have pretty much nailed it: I don't believe in God so therefore cannot understand faith. For the record my husband grew up Christian and he has tried to explain it to me many times and he struggles with it. It's almost like words can't explain how it feels to have that relationship with God. I suppose I like things to be tangible and I can't see or perceive God as being tangible.
    Abba12, thank you for taking the time to answer my question. I still don't fully understand the concept of trusting to God (it's tied up with the faith thing I don't 'get') but it has given me more to think about and mull over

    ReplyDelete
  37. Much congratulations to you, your husband, and your family. God was truly with you during your time of need and how interesting that your homebirth may have saved you and your child's life.
    I was surprised to read that you'd had a little girl! You were so sure it'd be another little boy--it seems God is making your family a bit more even--another wedding to help plan in the future!
    Thank God for the safe delivery of beautiful Anna! One can tell of her laid back nature just from the photographs--what a lovely edition to your family, she truly is gorgeous.
    Mindy

    ReplyDelete
  38. I have to respond to this as a nurse:

    "There is no way to predict placental abruption, and for cases such as mine (sudden, complete detachment with no warning signs), there is nothing that can be done. No emergency cesarean could be performed quickly enough to save the baby's life, as there are only a couple of minutes that mean the difference between baby living or dying."

    It can be "predicted" with ultrasound, as sometimes the cause is blood clots within the placenta. When people have this condition, extra walking and exercise is the worst thing that can be done, as it makes the placenta more vulnerable for abruption. Bedrest is the order when women have those clots. I am so thankful Anna turned out ok, and I'm not saying you HAD to be in a hospital (I think it's great you give birth at home), but when there is placental abruption in a hospital setting, the baby is out in less than a minute, and there IS something that can be done. There were no warning signs for you because you weren't on monitors. If you were, there would have been many warning signs (again, I think it's great you birth at home).

    I have seen complete placental abruption when the baby was out in 30-60 seconds, and survives. I understand (give the circumstances) you feel the need to defend giving birth at home, but I don't think you need to. As you said, this can happen anywhere (home or hospital)...I just needed to point out that it can be predicted, things can be done, and to a previous commenter, yes, one time of placental abruption makes a history.

    I'm curious, if this were to happen again, (and there were signs) would you call an ambulance?

    ReplyDelete
  39. Pascha,

    thank you for your input. To clarify, there were no blood clots in my placenta. In fact, the midwife said it looked very healthy. The walking was not suggested as a treatment for a detaching placenta, but rather as a way to help prevent it from developing by improving circulation.

    While ultrasound can, in fact, detect placental abruption, I have never had or heard of having an ultrasound exam during labor "just to be safe" (remember, there were no warning signs such as bleeding). Much less continuous ultrasound monitoring while pushing. Based on how the pain changed, I believe the placenta started detaching during transition, and completely detached a minute or two before the baby was out. I am not sure what other monitors you are referring to that can predict an abruption.

    Statistically, and ironically, it has been proven again and again that mortality rates and morbidity rates go UP in direct proportion to how many monitors are used.

    Also, I am not sure what measures you were referring to that the hospital can employ to get the baby out in one minute that are not available at home. Obviously, you cannot be referring to a c-sec, which takes a lot longer to prep and perform. Maybe a vacuum and or forcepts? Anna DID come out in less than a minute, but if she hadn't, my midwife said she would have guided her out manually (I guess like forcepts, except using her hands - not ideal, but better than the alternative).

    I also agree that this incident DOES mean I have a history of placental abruption.

    As for an ambulance - most certainly, if there were a medical emergency (during birth or otherwise), I would call an ambulance. In this case, that would have been entirely worthless, though.

    ReplyDelete

Your KINDLY WORDED, constructive comments are welcome, whether or not they express a differing opinion. All others will be deleted without second thought.