[dkenagy]

I have had 2 dds- both hospital births, but very positive experiences. My first labor was just under 6 hours in total and my second was just under 3 1/2 hours. Now we have moved further away from my hospital of choice and I'm terrified that I'll end up giving birth on the interstate. I'd love to give homebirthing a try for #3 (which we are planning to TTC this summer). My first dd was born with light meconium fluid. My second was born in moderate meconium fluid. My MW (a CNM) told me that this was probably because of the speed of my labors... that labors that are shorter tend to be more intense and could have stressed the babies enough to cause them to poop... I guess it scared the crap out of them?

Anyway- my question is does anyone have any experience they'd like to share with homebirths and babies born in meconium fluid? Someone mentioned to me that the meconium may have been a result of time spent in the birth canal, and to address that, I'd like to add that my pushing phase with DD 1 was 20 minutes long (about 5 contractions) and with dd 2 it was 3 minutes, 1 contraction.
I am gathering as much info as possible, because I really am going to have to work on my hubby to get him on the boat with me on this.
Thanks in advance!

 

[momto l&a]

My first dd was right on time and about a 5 hour labor, 45 mintues pushing no meconium. Land birth
Second dd was 2 weeks late, less than 5 hour of labor, 3 pushes and meconium. Water birth
Thrid dd was 3 weeks late 2 hours of easy labor, 1 push (only cause the assistant told me to :LOL ) and no meconium. Land birth

All where hb's. The mw had just taken classes about dealing with merconium in birth and that baby had no problems whatsoever. Her assistant at the time was an x nurse practioner and said if that birth would have been in a hospital there would have been panic, baby taken away from me and so on. So having a mw well trained in how to handle meconium is a big +. At the time my mw said that from her classes that merconium is often jammed further down when being cleaned out thus making the situation worse.I guess there is a special way of sucking the junk out or something.

Mw told me and I have read that meconium is usually due to being late, I have no clue.

Sorry I couldnt be of more help to you

 

[darsmama]

Darlene was born at home and when my water broke there was a LOT of meconium. I freaked out for a bit but it was no big deal at all.
I believe from what I've gleaned from my MW and others that the suctioning after birth is what can push the meconium into the lungs and then causes breathing probs/etc.
We didn't do suctioning after birth & Darlene had no probs. :smile

Hope that helps

Katie

 

[jraohc]

I'm also interested in an answer to this. I remember reading someplace that meconium doesn't necessarily mean problem, but I can't remember where I read it. Hopefully some more educated people who have already done the research can post. Good luck!

 

[plantmommy]

first ds was born at a birth center, OB attended, there was light mec when she broke my BOW at 5 cm, and she freaked. The rest of labor sucked, and I ended up with an unnecessary episiotomy, baby was rushed off so they could clear his chest, etc., and I didn't get to see him or hold him until after the OB delivered the placenta and stitched me up, so missed maybe the first 30 mins. of his life. Grrrrrr!!!! 19 hours of hard labor, 1 hour pushing.

dd was a hb/waterbirth, hard labor was pretty much just transition, so 1 hr., water broke after m/w checked me, told me I was 10 cm and the bag was bulging, so I gave a biiiiig push, broke the BOW, light mec, pushed for about an hour, but easily, baby was suctioned with a bulb, but no probs.

ds2 was nothing of a labor, didn't know I was in transition, felt pushy and couldn't believe it, because labor had been so light. Felt myself that the BOW was bulging when I was on the toilet (felt like I needed to have a BM, and had been in the birth tub), pushed and broke BOW, but no mec this time. convenient that I was on the toilet! Easy to see the water added to the water. heh.

I think whether mec is a problem or not is entirely in the minds of the m/w. Although after my first birth the OB had me so scared about it that it did stress me some for dd's birth when the m/w said it was there, and I was relieved that there was none for ds, even though it hadn't been a prob with the others.

Oh, gest. ages were: 39 weeks 1 day, 41.4 weeks, and 39 weeks 1 day. Babies were 6lb 12oz, 7lb 8oz, 7lb 9oz. EDD calculated in each case on date of conception.

 

[paquerette]

What about suctioning with a squeezy bulb, and/or wiping the mouth with gauze? Good idea or bad idea?

 

[plantmommy]

Well, my dd didn't nurse right after birth, and I think that's due to having been suctioned... ds2 latched on within a minute after birth, and nursed for two hours straight. He wasn't suctioned.

I don't know about wiping, but it's not ingestion of the mec that's a problem, but supposedly aspirating it, so I don't know what good it would do, unless babe seemed to have a mouth full of it, which I doubt would happen.

Being birthed on an intact perineum forces fluid out of their lungs and mouths, anyway, so it would seem to me to be pointless, unless mom had an episiotomy.

 

[pamamidwife]

I don't suction for meconium. There is a strong theory that the inhalation of meconium comes IN UTERO, not with the first breath. I believe that triggering the vagal response and gag reflex doing suctioning is unnecessary and actually may cause more problems.

If I needed to resuscitate, I would suction a baby with thick heavy meconium so I could get a clear airway. However, I would only do that with a deLee. I think those blue suction bulbs are a waste of time and don't do much but piss a baby off.

I don't freak out over meconium - only if it's accompanied by non-reassuring heart tones.

 

[dkenagy]

Thank you everyone for your responses!
My hubby is so worried that something will go wrong if we try HB, but I am way more willing to birth at home than in the car on the side of the road! I think much more could go wrong trying to speed to the hospital than relaxing in my own home.
I am still gathering as much info as possible, and finally found a LM in my area that I have been in contact with, even though DH tells me today that 2 are enough.

I can't imagine never giving birth again! Maybe his tune will change when our 7 month old is a little older!
BTW, if anyone has any articles/research about the to suction or not to suction question, I'd LOVE to see it!!
Thanks again!

 

[TurboClaudia]

our son was born at home after approximately 36 hours of labor (at least 24 hours of it was active labor, and pushing was over three hours). our midwives noticed meconium somewhere in the last hour or so, and he was born with some in his mouth and nose. he did not breathe on his own intially, so they suctioned him and used an ambu-bag to help him out. they used both the blue suction bulb and a deLee (sp?). just after birth, one of the midwives noticed that his cord was totally limp and she suspected that my placenta became detached as he was passing through the birth canal. my feeling about how long he was suctioned and how long they used they ambu-bag to help get him breathing was that it seemed like forever before he was breathing well enough on his own, but in actuality, when i watched the video of his birth on his 100th day of life with us, it was less than a minute. about an hour after his birth, while the three of us (my partner, our new son and i) were cuddling in bed and getting to know one another, our son started crying vigorously and cleared the remaining mucus and fluid and meconium from his throat and nose and wherever else and began breathing clearly. we watched him closely for the next few days to be sure he showed no signs of infection from the presence of meconium near his airway, but nothing out of the ordinary occurred. he's a relatively healthy boy at 6+ months of age.

warmly,
claudia

p.s. he is our first child and we will plan another homebirth for any and all subsequent children. it was truly a surreal experience. you can read his birth poem here: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=168000

 

[mama-mukti]

There was HEAVY Mec with DD, born three years ago. We were induced at 41 + weeks and when the OB (hospital birth) broke the BOW it was definitely a total crisis mode. We ended up having all the interventions I didn't want, except the C-Section. "They" said it was because she was late and large (9 lb, 9 oz). The mec was present before any of the hospital interventions. My personal theory is that her bowels were over-stimulated in-utero by all the ctx I had three weeks earlier. I was drinking caffeine which would stimulate my bowels and thus, probably hers.

This time around we are having a homebirth and I am approaching my due date. DH is worried about the late/large baby/mec syndrome but I am not. My midwife is competent and will know what to do. One thing we all are doing differently this time around is we are not aggressively trying to induce. I have been resting and calming my uterus instead of over-working it ahead of time.

Wanted to add that DD displayed no heart distress during anytime pre-labor or post-labor. She was calm. They did a zillion tests on her for two days afterwards and she was always fine.