Mothering › Forums › Pregnancy and Birth › Birth and Beyond › The smell of birth......???
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

The smell of birth......???  

post #1 of 61
6/4/08 at 8:27pm
Thread Starter 
Well, tonight DH asked me if I'd be offended if he wore a painter's mask for the pushing/birth part of our UC... because he had a really REALLY hard time with the smell at DS1's birth.

Any tips for him that would make him a little more photo-friendly?

Would you be offended? (I mean, I can totally see where he's coming from... it was a pretty bad smell... )

Do you think the smell would be masked at all if I birthed in the tub? I'd probably drain it shortly after and then do an herbal bath after placenta delivered (which he's also kinda scared about... I mean, watching it come out. He said he'd be happy to chop it up for dinner, but didn't want to watch it come out odd).

Anyway, thoughts? And if you dry-land-birthed, did you, your SO, or anyone ever notice the smell?
post #2 of 61
6/4/08 at 8:46pm
I have been to both as a doula, and now that you mention it, the smell of water birth (assuming you are in there for a bit before the birth part) is much less pungent then land birth.

But i kinda like the birth smell in a weird way
post #3 of 61
6/4/08 at 8:58pm
There's a smell??? That would never have occurred to me! Please don't jump down my throat like on the placenta thread, I'm not dissing anyone! I wasn't on the other thread either but now I'm paranoid!

Anyway! I'm learning so many new things on this site! Why doesn't he put cotton wool or something up his nose? Might be more photogenic!!
post #4 of 61
6/4/08 at 9:00pm
I've given birth 3 times and never noticed a smell... I was kind of distracted, though. I'll ask my DH.
post #5 of 61
6/4/08 at 9:29pm
There is definately a smell. I generally notice it just about the time that a mama is "complete" and will soon be ready to push. It is actually usually a better indicator that pushing is impending than any vaginal exam would be. Right up with the movements/sounds she's making.

That said...yes, a water birth would dilute the smell. SOme of it would still be coming from your pores that were above the water. I think it's probably pheremones in your sweat...but there would be fewer of them floating around!

Then, too...he COULD hold a piece of gauze or cotton with an essential oil near his face if he got squeamish...but--my husband is VERY squeamish about smells--I would probably tell him to just mouth breathe and get over it. Not that you shouldn't have "consideration" for him...but it is only a short time, and he'll probably be just FINE.
post #6 of 61
6/4/08 at 9:36pm
There's a smell? :

what is it...like.......a yani smell? I'm confused??
post #7 of 61
6/4/08 at 9:39pm
He could put vick's vaporub on his lip to cover the smell.
post #8 of 61
6/4/08 at 9:41pm
It smells like amniotic fluid, blood, sweat, poop (sometimes), and...I dunno...birth!

And as a PP mentioned, I think it is some kind of pheromone or something.

Also if you have BV or any other vaginal infections, it could smell fishy.

And if the woman hasn't washed up or has been laboring for a long time, it could very well smell like sweaty crotch.

Not trying to offend anyone, but this is my experience as a sister, doula and nurse.

Of course, I didn't smell anything like that at my son's birth. I was pretty busy with other things.
post #9 of 61
6/4/08 at 9:43pm
It is more of a hormone smell.... hard to explain. It is very "earthy" smells a bit like fresh menses, strong but not foul body odor, musk of a woman's yoni, there is a amniotic fluid smell too sometimes that is kind of sweetish to me. It is not unpleasant to me or most women for that matter. Maybe to much feminine for some guys?? not sure. Probably smells different to every person.

when I worked as a Rn and had to help in ortho surgery the smell of sawing bone and carterizing skin (burning flesh) bothered me alot.... I would put lemon juice in my mask or an essential oil under my nose (lemon, tangerine or bergamot). Lavendar might work too, for example. Citrus would probably hide the birth smell better though.

Michelle
post #10 of 61
6/4/08 at 9:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gabysmom617 View Post
There's a smell? :

what is it...like.......a yani smell? I'm confused??

Everything that comes out of the body has some sort of scent. as does amniotic fluid, sweat (which can change with homones and such), meconium if that is present, and any other fluids that come with a baby.

Birth does have a distinct smell. I havnt found it to be a bad one. I imagine that some people could be real sensitive to it though.

and it does seem that water birth could help with this. as long as it is drained shortly after.

what is it with men anyway, LOL. they act all tough, really, a placenta can bring them to thier knees LOL!
post #11 of 61
6/4/08 at 9:46pm
I remember than lochia had a distinct smell. Otherwise, I don't remember.
post #12 of 61
6/4/08 at 9:48pm
Wow I had no idea there was a smell! I asked dh about it and he said he doesn't remember. Of course our UC was a surprise so he was probably in panic mode and didn't notice it because of that. I remember having him wipe my poop off the floor so certainly there had to be some sort of smell going on!
post #13 of 61
6/4/08 at 10:09pm
Wow. Learns something new every day. Learning that there is a smell some find offensive just sent a rush of embarrassment over me for some odd reason...then I'm remembering how adamant after birth my midwife was that I take a shower. (And I'm like, hello? I"m nursing? Can it wait a minute?) And it all starts to make me think........`
post #14 of 61
6/4/08 at 10:19pm
I didn't notice a smell at all during ds1's birth/labor, but with ds2 I noticed my sweat started smelling very different than usual towards the end of labor. I asked dp if he noticed it and he said definately yes, he said it actually made him...well...feel like he was in a frenzy and wanted me really bad.

If your dh doesn't like the smell I agree with pp- he should just rub some vick vaporub or some essential oils above his lips, I don't think a mask would really block that scent completely.
post #15 of 61
6/4/08 at 11:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LoveChild421 View Post
I didn't notice a smell at all during ds1's birth/labor, but with ds2 I noticed my sweat started smelling very different than usual towards the end of labor. I asked dp if he noticed it and he said definately yes, he said it actually made him...well...feel like he was in a frenzy and wanted me really bad.
Way TMI info here but perhaps is related... Sometimes I can tell when DH is about to have an orgasm because the taste of his mouth changes. Is that pheromones too?
post #16 of 61
6/5/08 at 12:48am
I had two waterbirths and never noticed any kind of smell...my DH was right there in the tub and never smelled anything either.
post #17 of 61
6/5/08 at 1:41am
My dh commented on the smell, but he just said it was interesting and different. He didn't think it was bad. I think I'd probably feel offended if he was that awful about it. Geez, I might even tell him he doens't have to bother being in the room if it bothers him that much.
post #18 of 61
6/5/08 at 1:53am
when my water broke with dd1, dh and ds both thought it *stunk*, so much so that dh was really scared to smell that smell again when dd2 was born. but that time it didn't stink. i don't mean to hijack, but any ideas why? there was meconium in the fluid for dd2 (the one that did not stink) but not in dd1's (the one that did stink).
post #19 of 61
6/5/08 at 1:55am
My amniotic fluid didn't stink w/ any of mine. They all smelled the same. I actually thought lochia smelled a lot like amniotic fluid. Not a bad smell at all, imo, just different (given you're changing your pads often enough and don't have any crotch funk going on, of course. )
post #20 of 61
6/5/08 at 2:01am
I have attended a few births and only noticed a smell at two of them. One was the smell of blood due to hemmorage. The other one-- when her water broke it smelled a lot like BO but it was not a horrible smell. Just really strong.
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Birth and Beyond
This thread is locked  
Mothering › Forums › Pregnancy and Birth › Birth and Beyond › The smell of birth......???