I missed a birth!!!!

[Eli's_mommy]

So I'm a new doula... I've been to less than 10 births (not for long though!).

I had a client that we thought was due mid Dec (first time mom). She kept telling everyone she was due mid November and we were all just sort of thinking she was done being pregnant

I get a call the other day- she's having consistent contractions and she laughed so hard she thinks she peed her pants Then she asks if I think it's ok for her to go swimming tomorrow.

I told her that it sounded like her water broke and she ought to call the midwife to have the fluids checked. To make a long story short, I talk to her at about 11:30- she says her contractions are 20 seconds long and ten minutes apart (I figure I'll be finishing up my day at work). She sees the midwife at noon. She gives birth at one.

Holy shocker batman!!!!! The dad calls and leaves me a message saying the baby is here- and they all seem really excited and stoked (and why not- she didn't even feel like she was in labor!!!!! )

I was completely bummed at first and felt like I should've left work earlier, but when she called and said her contractions were 20 seconds long and ten minutes apart and she seemed to be coping just fine, I figured a lady had some time!!!!!

Has anything like this happened to anyone else??? I did drop by and see her and she seemed in good spirits and happy to see me which made me feel a ton better. But wow :

[mothercat]

Yep, about 6 weeks ago.
Only I'm the midwife and should have made it in time!

We were at the mom's house for about 90 minutes and contractions petered out. It was late, so I sent her to bed and went home thinking she would probably call back in a few hours after she got a bit of sleep.
She woke up about 90 minutes later with a 29 minute labor. Gave birth about 3 minutes before I walked in the door.
Turned into a UPUAHB.

[sarahn4639]

I would have felt terrible too! BUT it certainly doesn't sound like you did anything wrong. The last thing you heard from them was 10" apart until 2 hours later that baby was here? If that is the case without any other contact there is no way you could have predicted what happened. Even if they had called you at noon from the midwife it wouldn't be unreasonable that you would have had problems making it. I'd just follow up with your agreed upon postnatal appointments and all should be fine. Sorry you had to miss a birth though!

[Eli's_mommy]

Originally Posted by mothercat

Yep, about 6 weeks ago.
Only I'm the midwife and should have made it in time!

We were at the mom's house for about 90 minutes and contractions petered out. It was late, so I sent her to bed and went home thinking she would probably call back in a few hours after she got a bit of sleep.
She woke up about 90 minutes later with a 29 minute labor. Gave birth about 3 minutes before I walked in the door.
Turned into a UPUAHB.

Oh this makes me feel better :

I was actually consoling myself because I was thinking if I hadn't of told her to call her midwife she probably would've given birth at home. She was so shocked when I told her she was in 'early' () labor.

I suppose it'll happen everyone once in awhile. Was the mom upset with you? It's a helluva story for her though!

[Eli's_mommy]

I should note that giving birth at home is actually a wonderful thing- but she wanted to go to the birth center and I think an unassisted birth at home would've scared the crap out of her!

[shanesmama]

You never know. I hadn't had any painful contractions at all. The at 12:00 anight boom, hard contractions fast. I had my baby a couple minutes before 2:00, and 45 minutes of that was the drive to the hospital. My Doula made it, but it all happened so fast. If she wouldn't had made it, I wouldn't not have been upset, I was just happy my labor was just so fast.

[mothercat]

Originally Posted by Eli's_mommy

Oh this makes me feel better :

I was actually consoling myself because I was thinking if I hadn't of told her to call her midwife she probably would've given birth at home. She was so shocked when I told her she was in 'early' () labor.

I suppose it'll happen everyone once in awhile. Was the mom upset with you? It's a helluva story for her though!

We have talked about it several times, and I have apologized just because I worry I missed something. She assures that no, none of us had any way of knowing and I came as fast as I could (20 min. drive).

The biggest problem was that it was unexpected and a birth that fast can be pretty intense. You may get several hours of contractions all crammed into half an hour.

She told me that she is quite the star of her MOPS group. Comments, such as "what a woman". I think the assumption is that a short labor is always a good thing, but it can be really scarey.

I give the "what to do..." handout to all the families I care for, make sure they both read it as a just in case and post it on the fridge. I have missed three births in the last 4 years because moms didn't think they were in more active labor. But with a labor that lasts 2 hours or less it's kind of hard to gauge things. It can go from early labor to transition in a matter of minutes.

[Peppamint]

Oh wow, sounds like all's well that ends well though in both cases. Those whirlwind births can leave everyone feeling rather :.

[DoomaYula]

This is sort of OT but YES! Short labors can be intense and crazy and scary. I had a 90 min labor with my most recent baby, and it was the most painful 90 min of my life -- not to mention that I kind of flipped out when I felt the urge to push, because I couldn't believe I was actually ready (didn't have any VEs).

[SublimeBirthGirl]

Defnitely not your fault! 20 seconds long and 20 minutes apart isn't even active labor. You couldn't have guessed it'd go that fast.