Did I do something I didnt have to do...

[RJones1204]

My DS and YDD were born at home. DS was a lightening fast perfect water birth. I couldn't have asked for a better/ more perfect first time homebirth experience. It was BEAUTIFUL and something to always be cherished He was 9lbs 13oz and I didn't even tear. It was a water birth.

Then you have YDD's homebirth. While I think it was great, it was totally different from the birth of DS. She was posterior and so I had back labor. So I climbed into my birthing tub and things got heavy and the cxt were really close together. Finally I hit tranistion and started to push. My water broke in the tub. Meconium came shooting out into the water. The MW was like "ok we need to get her out now". I was so angry/ annoyed/ sad/ upset because I did NOT want to get out. It hurt so bad and DD was RIGHT there. I could feel DD's head in the birth canal. I had to climb up onto my bed. So anyhow I ended up laying on myside and pushing her out with my one leg held up. She was covered in pretty thick meconium. Though the meconium in the water dissipated and you couldn't see it much anymore after a while. So MW said it wasn't toooo thick. Then they suctioned her with a tube/ machine contraption. Then my placenta had a hard time coming out I was hemmoraging pretty bad. I could tell MW was right on it and concerned but very composed. DH was upset and had to leave the room for a minute. They gave me patocin (sp?) to stop the bleeding. Everything was fine in the end. Besides the fact DD has SOOO much hair it took 2 seperate baths to get the poo outta her hair. So much for letting the vernix rub into her skin and putting off that first bath.
My question is... was it really necessary to get out of the tub. I have read other stories of moms who passed meconium and got to stay in the tub and no one freaked out (or were very concerned at all). MW said it is something she doesn't mess around with.

[rhiandmoi]

Most birth professionals I've ever talked to prefer to have a land birth if there is mec, especially thick mec. If your baby was so thickly coated with mec that she needed two baths, that seems pretty thick to me. How do you feel about your MWs professionalism and experience? I think from your description that she was on it but composed, I think she made a experienced call to have you go to the bed.

Sorry it didn't go the way you wanted.

[HeatherB]

I'm sorry that happened. I don't know if it was necessary or not, but it seems your MW definitely thought it was.

One thing I've really been thinking about as I learn more and reflect on my previous births (including 2 HBACs), is that having a team you trust implicitly is SO important. If you trust your MW, and believe that she has the experience, skill, and expertise to guide you through birth, then you did the right thing. I know with my first homebirth, I ended up birthing flat on my back, knees pulled back, curling up to push as hard as I could - all at my MW's instruction. I remember thinking clearly at the time, "If I was in a hospital, I would NEVER do this. But I trust these women and I know this is what I need to do." Was it the perfect thing to do? Was it 100% necessary? I can't really say for sure (I actually want to look at the birth notes next time my MW comes to visit), but I know that these MWs believed that, at that time, with that baby, and that scenario, it was the best option available. And, it worked. Healthy baby was born, and very quickly!

One thing I do think could be a factor with a mec baby is simply access to the baby. If you have meconium, you likely have a stressed baby. Could be from a cord around the neck, which is easier to manipulate on the bed. Baby might need resuscitation, which, again, might be easier on the bed. The midwife has a lot better access when you're on dry land than in the pool, and I think that may well have been a factor in your birth. She also probably has a better idea of how much meconium there is when it's not being dispersed in the pool. At any rate, there are definitely some considerations that make it justifiable, in my mind, whether or not it's essential.

[Eaglevoice]

I thought that one of the benefits of waterbirth was that the baby won't inhale the meconium, because the pressure of the water makes it all come out of the baby's mouth when they are born???

[HeatherB]

Originally Posted by Eaglevoice

I thought that one of the benefits of waterbirth was that the baby won't inhale the meconium, because the pressure of the water makes it all come out of the baby's mouth when they are born???

I've never heard that as a benefit of water birth. With a vaginal birth, the baby's chest is squeezed through the birth canal, helping baby to expel fluids which normally occur in the chest, and prepare for breathing oxygen. I was just looking at pictures last night that included a baby, head out, with fluid coming out of its mouth from this phenomenon. It certainly may be helpful with meconium, too, but I don't know that being in the water would have a great effect on that.

[Kidzaplenty]

I don't think anyone can answer the question as to if it had to be done that way. Hind sight is 20/20, as they say. You have had time to reflect and rethink. In the moment, it sounds like the MW did what she thought was best for the baby and you. And it very likely could have been the best call.

Plus, you said you were hemoraging, if you had been in the water, it could have masked that need and you could have ended up in trouble from that.

So, perhaps it did all have to play out as it did.

Sorry you did not get you hoped for birth.

[loveneverfails]

To be honest? It sounds like getting you out of the tub was definitely within the realm of reasonable judgment calls, and it's exactly what I would expect and would want my midwife to do. Here is why:

Thick mec in a baby whom you probably already suspected was big is an indicator of a stressed baby. That baby could be stressed because this is a shoulder dystocia in the making. Some babies who are stressed try to gasp for air. I would not want that happening in the water. Being in the water also limits your midwife's ability to do the complicated maneuvers that may need to be done to resolve a difficult shoulder dystocia.

It's a judgment call based on individual experience and level of comfort. It could be that in 9 out of 10 cases you don't need to get out of the water, but in that last 1 out of 10 your outcome is significantly improved by being on land. In that situation, you have to decide whether the 90% or the 10% is more important, but I would guess that to your average midwife that 10% is too high to risk it. And it could easily be more like an 80/20 split instead of 90/10, or even 70/30.

My advice is to ask your midwife what she was concerned about right then that made her feel like the safest course of action was to birth on land. I'm sorry you didn't get the birth that you wanted in this regard, and maybe having a better understanding of the reasoning why would give you some peace.

[laohaire]

I know what you mean about not wanting to get out. I was pushing for a long time (6 hours) in the water. At some point they wanted me to get out of the tub so they could drain and refill it, since the water was really murky. I told them very politely, no way. They ended up just draining it halfway with me still in it and then refilling it, a great compromise. But my point is, I know the feeling, you're in the water and it's kind of holding you together and you just want to focus on pushing the baby out - versus being dragged outta there and OW it hurts, and it's screwing up your focus and so on.

But I agree with the others. We don't know if it was NECESSARY for you to get out in hindsight, but it was a reasonable course of action for the midwife to decide. My midwife couldn't really do much when I was birthing in the pool. With a mec baby your midwife wanted to be able to be right on top of things, checking for maybe a tight cord around the neck or be ready for a Gaskin manuever or whatever.

[attached2ethan]

I know how you feel. I had envisioned the perfect waterbirth with my 2nd DS, and it started out that way- but my blood pressure suddenly spiked at the very end, right as I was ready to push, and I had to get out of the tub, climb onto the bed, and deliver him on my left side.

Did it suck? Definitely. But I look at it like this- I was able to avoid going to the hospital, and it was only a few minutes until he was born, so essentially it was still, in my eyes, a perfect and gentle birth.

My first birth was a hospital induction, where my baby had meconium and was whisked away from me for the first 5 minutes of his life- and compared to that, the birthing center birth was bliss

[alton]

I'm so sorry that you didn't get the kind of experience that you were expecting and hoped for. It sounds like it all got very traumatic and a bit frightening. And while you are grateful that your daughter was born safely, it's ok to feel bad for what you've been through.
I found it very difficult to come to terms with my feelings about my first labour, because people were so quick to jump in and remind me that the most important thing was that DS was safe and healthy. I knew that! Of course I did - no one on earth could care as much about that as I did. But I still felt traumatised and psychologically brutalised by the experience. This time there is a part of me that is expecting to be let down. It's my self-protective mechanism. You had no reason to expect that this birth would go like this, so it must be a huge shock to the system. I felt emotionally raw for a long time after the birth - it takes time to heal on the emotional/spiritual/psychic level - and it is important to take that time for yourself.
I wonder if at the moment you might be asking the wrong question. Instead of trying to determine if what happened is necessary, just give yourself permission to feel sad and angry that it did.
Sending you big cyber hugs!!