baby swallowing blood

[snugglebug14]

I was at a birth recently that ended in a c/s and the baby needed suctioning after she was born. there was no meconium but they suctioned 2-3 cc's of blood from her stomach. he lungs also sounded really congested for a while. what concerns are there with swallowing blood? any? thanks

[mendomidwife]

Blood can be irritating to the stomach lining, but is not a problem. It happens during vaginal births also.

Carla

[notjustmamie]

This happened during my vaginal birth.

Could I add a further question? If baby is spitting up dried blood several hours after birth and nurses suction her to get it out of her stomach, would that be considered "deep suctioning"?

[phreedom]

Originally Posted by notjustmamie

This happened during my vaginal birth.

Could I add a further question? If baby is spitting up dried blood several hours after birth and nurses suction her to get it out of her stomach, would that be considered "deep suctioning"?

I would think so.

Sometimes if bleeding is suspected a "gastric wash" is also done. This is where a tube is inserted into the stomach (through the mouth or nares) and the stomach is washed out with cold saline. This is if it is suspected that the blood may be from the baby or it seems to be bothering the baby (not feeding because it keeps gagging and spitting up). Then the blood is tested to see if it is maternal or fetal. It's not uncommon for the baby to swallow moms blood. So it's not an automatic freak out when we see it. (IME anyway...can't speak for all)

If is is obviously old blood and the baby shows no other signs of distress then usually we just let the baby do his thing and watch him. Sometimes shoving a suction catheter down there can cause further trauma and possibly bleeding. But sometimes it has helped the baby IME anyway. As long as the nurse isn't going down over and over and over. Some people over do the suctioning thing.

[notjustmamie]

Thanks

I've wondered for a couple years about that. DD was in the nursery for testing when it happened (we were told we couldn't go with and didn't know enough to argue) and the nurse just happened to mention that she'd spit up some blood so they suctioned her.