I gotta question about the toilet...

[Jennah_Gole]

so many homebirthing unassisted birthing mommas use the toilet seat to birth on top of....so I am just curious is it used like in place of a stool -- because its sort of high and a nice hard seat and isnt there the fear that the baby might fall in the toilet or are you sort of just sitting on the edge of it?

just curious so if I need to use it I can use it the right way

[rootzdawta]

You should read The Baby Catcher--it's an excellent book by a midwife. One of her clients actually did deliver in the toilet. It wasn't such a big deal--just had to have warm towels and blankets at the ready. Baby won't drown or anything. It is indeed used like a stool and when I was in labor last time, it really increased the strength of my contractions (a little too much). The toilets is high, yes, but you can put a stool under your feet to make your knees higher than your waist. I've heard lots of mamas say it's great for birthing. I might give it a try again this time--I'm making sure to keep my toilet really clean.

[Jennah_Gole]

yeah but the toilet.... i mean its still dirty and the baby could bump his head real hard if he comes out quickly and i dont know mayb I will just buy a high stool to sit on and a foot stool --

why is it important to keep ur knees higher than ur waist???

[impromptukiss]

Originally Posted by Jennah_Gole

why is it important to keep ur knees higher than ur waist???

it just makes the pushing more productive.

[organic-momma]

I laboured on the toilet, it was great for opening up my pelvis! Didn't birth there though, we used the bathtub for that.

[southernmommie]

Originally Posted by Jennah_Gole

yeah but the toilet.... i mean its still dirty and the baby could bump his head real hard if he comes out quickly and i dont know mayb I will just buy a high stool to sit on and a foot stool --

why is it important to keep ur knees higher than ur waist???

How is the toilet "still dirty" if you clean it? You can make this your labor project.. lol.

[To-Fu]

Toilets don't have to be dirty! I agree about the labor project.

The great thing about laboring on the toilet is that it does help you open up. We naturally relax all our muscles down there when we sit on the toilet, so it can be a great place to labor. My Bradley instructor actually recommended sitting on it facing backwards with a pillow or towel over the top of the tank to rest your head.

I plan to change positions a lot (everything I've read says that helps), but the toilet is one of the places I plan to be. And yes, it's totally safe! I recommend reading The Baby Catcher, too. Peggy Vincent talks about more than one mother laboring and/or birthing on the toilet and it's just not a big deal at all.

[Jennah_Gole]

I will definitely try to get the book...but what I mean is it is still a toilet where you go and urinate and crap and excuse my language but u'll probably be urinating in it during labor and/or crapping and then u mite have the baby in there....?!

Well i would use it but I think I would sorta move away from it when I thought it was time for the baby to come but its sorta hard with me cuz I have never known the head was comin until it was out so.....

anyways i like the idea of sitting the opposite way and laying ur head on the top of the tank. thanks.

[AngelaB]

We subconsciously relax our pelvic floor muscles when we sit on the toilette so its a great place to labor. I noticed that my contrax were much more intense when on the pot with my last ds. It makes sense! I wouldnt want to actually push him out on the toilette but its not unheard of and its just my preference. I would however have some chux pads and blankets, towels ect in the bathroom on the floor if you labor on the pot and then decide to labor on the floor or hands and knees, whatever when baby actually starts to crown, you would be ready.
Angela

[kehliouise]

the toilet was one of the only places that i felt comfortable last time. ds was posterior and i only felt comfortable on my hands and knees or on the toilet. so i sort of rotated back and forth between the two. the midwife didn't want me to stay in one position the whole time. my water didn't break until i was almost completely dialated and it broke while i was sitting on the toilet.

[southernmommie]

Originally Posted by kehliouise

the toilet was one of the only places that i felt comfortable last time. ds was posterior and i only felt comfortable on my hands and knees or on the toilet. so i sort of rotated back and forth between the two. the midwife didn't want me to stay in one position the whole time. my water didn't break until i was almost completely dialated and it broke while i was sitting on the toilet.

PERFECT TIMING! I hope my water breaks, if it gushes into a toilet. Less mess!

[gratefulbambina]

My midwife said that its ok to labor on the toilet, but as soon as you feel you need to push to get off because the baby can come out and hit their head on the porcelain.

[Pilgrim]

Well I'm really glad this subject came up - as I have an offshoot question. I got a super bad hemmie sometime around the beginning of the third trimester. Ever since then, I will not sit on the toilet. I must actually stand on the toilet. If I do sit on the toilet, even for just a short time, everything swells back up to a very, very painful hemie!

So, I can see the benefit to laboring on the toilet, but what about generating some massive hemmorhoids in the process?

[wobit]

re: the offshoot - these days I love peeing in the shower, I feel like I get emptier there. Doesn't help much for the poops, but that's one option for peeing.

Jennah - if laboring on a real toilet really skeeves you out, go buy a toilet seat and make a commode-type birthing chair that you only use for laboring. My midwife has a birthing stool which is a low thing to sit on in labor, with a seat in a horseshoe shape that supports you but exposes your vulva. Hers is pretty painted wood but it needn't be.

[Jennah_Gole]

My midwife said that its ok to labor on the toilet, but as soon as you feel you need to push to get off because the baby can come out and hit their head on the porcelain.

Thank you!!!!!!!!


wobit thanks for the idea that sounds cool....I really like it...