oxygen at a homebirth - Page 2

[mwherbs]

so yes to have it for ttn- and for babies who don't breath well- I agree- first attempts at resuscitation not necessary

how we would get oxygen is to call all the suppliers and say we are midwives and need some for a home birth- or say we needed it for a birthing animal- like a goat ; ) or get some from someone's grandma- sometimes in person works better than on the phone if you show up with empty tank in hand and money to pay for it... emts or paramedics will get tanks filled for you sometimes... there are are ways to get a tank of oxygen you just have to be persistent-- probably the most creative way I have seen it obtained was a dentist wrote an RX--- they can legally do that and though that the risk/benefit was worth it to him...

[michiganmidwife]

I don't think the idea of giving O2 to mom for baby with bad heart tones is to try to bring the HR up. In theroy the idea is to saturate the placenta with more O2 so that the baby has a higher level of O2 in its blood to send to vital organs/brain in light of poor FHT's. In my experience, if there are really poor heart tones at the end of second stage.. (not just talking 100's while coming around the bone) the baby responds better to resc. efforts after the birth when O2 is admin. to mom. Kind of like getting a jump on resc. efforts with the presumption of secondary apnea.

[Reha]

Bridgett,

Just wondering if you have a reference for that info? I would be interested in reading more about that. Thanks!

[Maggi315]

I always carry it, hardly ever have had to use it. Twice for mom-once for a cord prolapse and recently for a mom who kept thinking she was going to pass out from pushing for a few hours in 100 degree heat.

Here in PA, we need an order to get medical grade. I tried to get it a few different ways with no luck. I think some of the midwifery supply catalogs offer full tanks, but they are a few hundred dollars.

[Earthy Birthy]

Originally Posted by mwherbs

we had a baby with MAS and blow by kept him pink and the retractions were almost gone we didn't do other resuscitaion things because his heart rate stayed good but when ever we weaned him off the blow by the retractions returned and he turned a bit dusky-- if I had an O2 monitor on him I am sure that the stats would have been lowered - and I have seen babies who have some retractions then smooth out and stop retracting completely or some of the TTN babies slow down
-- I am not a big one for alot of O2 use but I think that there are some applications- never used it on a mom who has hemorrhaged though -

most likely the O2 is drying out the lungs- is part of why that works for the TTN and maybe the retracting kidos too-- and it is still standard of care after the first rounds of resuscitation efforts-

My baby, who will be 4 wks old tomorrow, had TTN due to wet lungs that were a result of a *very* tight cord around the neck, and we used O2 at home until we transported 4 hrs after the birth. Every time we took him off of O2, his color got very dusky very quickly, and I am glad that we had it on hand so that we did not have to treat his respiratory problems like a blaring emergency. Had we not had the oxygen, we probably would have had to call an ambulance, which would have made the whole situation even more stressful. It really has sort of changed my perspective on having O2 at births.

[michiganmidwife]

Lennon,
Sorry to say that I don't have a reference. This is why I said "in theory."
The idea of my post was just to clear up that O2 to mom does not improve fetal heart tones, nor is it intended to do so. I think that there is a misconception that that is the purpose of using it. (Someone had mentioned that in another post on this thread.)

[mwherbs]

Originally Posted by michiganmidwife

Lennon,
Sorry to say that I don't have a reference. This is why I said "in theory."
The idea of my post was just to clear up that O2 to mom does not improve fetal heart tones, nor is it intended to do so. I think that there is a misconception that that is the purpose of using it. (Someone had mentioned that in another post on this thread.)

I appreciate the experience you have given-something I am glad to read about and to keep in mind..