Anybody know what causes meconium?

[Caring Touch]

Is it just something that happens at random or is there some sort of contributing factor? Just curious.

Thanks

[jordmoder]

meconium is the lining of the intestine that dies off as the baby grows, and becomes the "packing" to keep the tubes hollow (kinda cool)

Why some babies pass meconium before birth has to do with stress - that is, when there is a lack of oxygen, the anal sphincter opens, and meconium is passed. The more severe the oxygen lack, the more meconium, as the sphincter is open longer. There is more of this stress possible as babies go overdue, that is why it is more common then - but obviously, not all overdue babies pass meconium inside.

Not all babies who have meconium in their birth water are in trouble - but it is a sign that some sort of stress at some point has occurred. After the baby is born, there is some understanding on how long the meconium has been there by if and how much the membranes and placenta are stained green.I have even seen a green baby. Who turned out just fine, by the way (thank goodness)

If a baby passes meconium before birth and breathes it in with their first breath, it is possible that the sticky sticky stuff will get into the bronchial passages and not allow the lungs to inflate properly.

Hope this little book is helpful!

Barbara

[Caring Touch]

Wow Barbara,

That was great! Thanks for the info. That really helped me understand it.

Are there any tricks or ideas on how to prevent it? It sounds like it's a survival mechanism for the baby, so probably not, but I thought I would ask just in case somebody knows some efforts that one might know of to help prevent this from happening.

From what I understand it's fairly common.

Thanks again for the info.

[sadie_sabot]

Hay CT, we're in the same neck of the wods!

anyway, I heard that meconium was all the hair that babies shed before they're born--that they drink amniotic fluid and digest the hair! guess that's not so? But I liked that theory.

[jordmoder]

Babies do drink amniotic fluid; they pee and that makes some, and the mom makes some. We do also have hair before we're born, and it is absorbed by the time we're born at term. But babies don't digest anything until they get that first sweet suck of (hopefully) colostrom!

[Angiemama]

I had a client the other day who had a beautiful birth, but they foudn out their was meconium in the water.. tehy suctioned the baby as soon as she was born, but apperntly, her lungs were very wet (she was COVERED in meconium) THey had a hard time with clearing her lungs. She had some other problems that tehy are trying to figure out if they are connected. Shes been in the NICU since 3 hrs after n=birth.. it's been about a week now. Shes about to go home. Her paretns are AMAZING adn have been with her through the whole thing. Mom has been pumping and has started nuring now as well.

[XmasEve]

I had a baby 9 days ago. She was two weeks overdue and well-stained with meconium. She's doing great, has been from the start. The doctors and hospital were panicked when my water broke and showed meconium, so as soon as she was born they suctioned and suctioned and even pumped her stomach. My doula and I feel it was all unnecessary-- she had 9 and 9 APGARS, so I'm very upset at the rough handling they put her through. It gave her quite a sore throat that really complicated nursing attempts that first day.

Quite a while before she was born , I just *knew* she had passed meconium, but also just *knew* not to worry about it. I wouldn't have allowed them to "treat" my baby that way, but the Dr. scared my husband by saying that 50 years ago half the babies born with meconium died at birth. :angry

[Apricot]

Originally posted by greenfaeriedog
I wouldn't have allowed them to "treat" my baby that way, but the Dr. scared my husband by saying that 50 years ago half the babies born with meconium died at birth. :angry

Maybe 50 years ago, babies with meconium really had something wrong with them? There may be factors today that cause the passing of "benign" meconium, were babies who had it in the past might have had serious problems? Anyway, I think appealing to the dad is standard hospital procedure. You know those shirts that say, "Mom says 'NO'? Call 1-800-GRANDMA" I think it's the same deal. I keep telling myself the doctors really think it's neccesary, I know they would never hurt anyone on purpose, they really believe it, so that makes it seem a little better.

Anyway, there is some talk that using castor oil as an induction method might cause the baby to pass meconium. The same action that causes mom to have bowel contractions causes baby to have some too. No proof on that one, though.

[Caring Touch]

I did some further research into the issue and came across this article. Thought I would share it. It's interesting because the article says that 90% of meconium babies clear up on their own.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?uid=1733193&form=6&db=m&Dopt=b

Thanks for sharing your stories. :D

[Angiemama]

The birth I was attending at ws in a BC in a hosptial and is very baby firendly... One of the nurses said to me "In the last hospital I worked at 50% of the babies were born with meconium ( :jaw ) - I think it's b/c of all of the interventions we didi.. we jsut could NOT leave those opoor moms alone!"
That made me so sad....

[velveeta]

Do any of you ladies have any anecdotal evidence that incidences of meconium are more or less common with hospital births? Like, for example, due to increased stress? Just curious. This is very interesting!

Jean

[Lucky Charm]

My second child had meconium. my water broke, and it was green. In nursing school, and according to my midwife and OB/GYN, meconium is passed because the baby is stressed (and i dont know how you can *prevent* it from happening) or because the baby is "late".

In my case, my son had a tight cord times 3 around his neck. the aggressively suctioned him. but that DID NOT hinder his nursing!! after the NICU doctor checked him, and finished suctioning him, he was given to me, where he had no trouble latching on, sucking at all. he nursed for 3 hours in a row, and was a champ afterwards.:D