Whose birth is it anyway?
Everyone has their limit. Each person will feel differently about pushing themselves to their absolute extreme-- it depends on their motivations, their past, and their beliefs. For example, I would do anything to avoid a c-section. And the only reason I would have an epidural is for a c-section. Some do not feel so strongly and pushing for 5 hours is more traumatic than a natural birth is worth. I think midwives should figure this out long before the birth to really understand their client goals.
I attended a birth last night that was a train wreck and ended in a transfer (finally). It started so well, mom coped great with dilating and made it to "complete" pretty fast. But, this is where things started going down-hill. Having an out-of-hospital birth for this mom was stepping pretty far outside of her mainstream life and I could sense that she was not very sure of her strength or very trusting of her body. She questioned everything that was happening. "What should I do... I'm not doing this right... Should I push..." etc. The last time the midwife checked her she was about 6 cm. I would guess by her reactions that she was now about 8 or 9 cm. The midwife says "follow your body," and "you can try pushing with the contractions." Do those two statements belong in the same sentence? I don't think so.
If someone is questioning whether or not to push, I feel that generally they are too much in their head. I would tell them to follow their body and not to worry because there may be a point when they will know without a doubt that they have to push and if they never feel that way that is OK too because your strong uterus will be pushing with or without your conscious effort. Every time I have heard a midwife throw out "you can push if you want" when the mom is not really in-tune with their body the mom begins to push because she thinks that is what she is supposed to be doing. And then it seems like I see a lot of swollen anterior lips or babies that don't come down after hours and hours of pushing-- like this mom. 5 hours of pushing for this poor mom and then a trip to the hospital in a state of pure exhaustion. In cases like this I think an earlier transfer would be called for. It would be good to ride in the car, be admitted, wait for the OB, be examined, get an epidural, etc. before a woman hits the point of exhaustion and apathy. Being in labor for hours, with no sleep, then pushing forever, and then ending up with a c-section... That would be awful. It would be hard to welcome that baby at that point.
And the worst part of the entire night happened at the very end. The midwife tried one last ditch effort to turn this now OP baby. It was torture for the mother who eventually was crying and saying "no, no, no, no, I can't do this, stop, I want to go to the hospital..." Why do this? That is just flat out abusive. What was this midwife trying to do-- cover her own ass by avoiding the hospital at this point more for her own reputation than for the sake of the client? Whose birth is this? Who gets to decide when enough is enough! Is a natural, out-of-hospital birth always the die-hard goal regardless of feelings or client wishes?
I attended a birth last night that was a train wreck and ended in a transfer (finally). It started so well, mom coped great with dilating and made it to "complete" pretty fast. But, this is where things started going down-hill. Having an out-of-hospital birth for this mom was stepping pretty far outside of her mainstream life and I could sense that she was not very sure of her strength or very trusting of her body. She questioned everything that was happening. "What should I do... I'm not doing this right... Should I push..." etc. The last time the midwife checked her she was about 6 cm. I would guess by her reactions that she was now about 8 or 9 cm. The midwife says "follow your body," and "you can try pushing with the contractions." Do those two statements belong in the same sentence? I don't think so.
If someone is questioning whether or not to push, I feel that generally they are too much in their head. I would tell them to follow their body and not to worry because there may be a point when they will know without a doubt that they have to push and if they never feel that way that is OK too because your strong uterus will be pushing with or without your conscious effort. Every time I have heard a midwife throw out "you can push if you want" when the mom is not really in-tune with their body the mom begins to push because she thinks that is what she is supposed to be doing. And then it seems like I see a lot of swollen anterior lips or babies that don't come down after hours and hours of pushing-- like this mom. 5 hours of pushing for this poor mom and then a trip to the hospital in a state of pure exhaustion. In cases like this I think an earlier transfer would be called for. It would be good to ride in the car, be admitted, wait for the OB, be examined, get an epidural, etc. before a woman hits the point of exhaustion and apathy. Being in labor for hours, with no sleep, then pushing forever, and then ending up with a c-section... That would be awful. It would be hard to welcome that baby at that point.
And the worst part of the entire night happened at the very end. The midwife tried one last ditch effort to turn this now OP baby. It was torture for the mother who eventually was crying and saying "no, no, no, no, I can't do this, stop, I want to go to the hospital..." Why do this? That is just flat out abusive. What was this midwife trying to do-- cover her own ass by avoiding the hospital at this point more for her own reputation than for the sake of the client? Whose birth is this? Who gets to decide when enough is enough! Is a natural, out-of-hospital birth always the die-hard goal regardless of feelings or client wishes?
posted by Student at 14:46
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