About Me
The story of M.'s birth.
M. called me at 1.30 am, sounding very urgent. Her water had broken and her labor had started, and it was very intense right from the start. Usually with first births, labor starts gradually with a long build-up. It is not uncommon that ladies are in pre-labor for a few days before active labor sets in.
It gives them time to call me with updates, so I can be ready for them when they call. I always ask that ladies call me early in the evening when they feel something starting, so I can make sure to go to bed early and prepare everything in advance, ready to jump into the car when needed.
I hadn't heard anything from M. for a few days, so I understood that this pretty much came as a surprise.
When I arrived at the hospital, Hadassah Ein Karem, I found M. in the reception area of the delivery rooms, sitting on the toilet. She was having hard contractions, and seemed to have a hard time dealing with them. I told her to relax her bottom and breathe slowly, and that helped her. The midwife who was running the reception area, asked M. to lie down for the 30 minutes of standard monitoring. It was really hard for her to lie down quietly, as it is for most women. It really doesn't matter what position you're in when you're attached to the monitor, as long as it keeps picking up the baby's heartbeat. M. found that she was much more comfortable on her knees, hugging her husband who was standing next to the bed while I was massaging her lower back.
Luckily, we didn't need to spend too much time in the reception area. and before long we were assigned a delivery room. It was one of the new ones. I saw that it even had a bath tub, but it wasn't in use yet. From what I understood, they're waiting for permission from the Ministry of Health.
In stead, M. went into the shower. It really made her feel a lot better. It was now 3.00 am.
The midwife in charge, Rivkah, wanted to check M. again and she already progressed to 8 cm!! It was really going quick.
The heart beat of the baby started to go down a bit, so Rivkah did insist that M. stayed attached to the monitor. During the check, Rivkah felt something that she couldn't quite place. She thought it might be an ear! She called in another more experienced midwife, Gila. I was really happy to see Gila. I had worked with her 2 weeks ago at R.'s birth, and that was just amazing.
Gila also wasn't sure what she was feeling, and suggested that the baby might not be in an optimal position. She called in the doctor, who also didn't know what it was, but who said that it's best to wait and see. In the end it was not an ear, and the baby was not in a bad position, and it did not cause any problems.
At 3.30 am, M. was fully dilated and ready to push. At first, she didn't really know how to to it effectively, but she learned as she went along. After an hour and a half, the midwives and doctor were not really satisfied with her progress. M. seemed to have too short contractions which didn't really give her the chance to push in an optimal fashion, and M. was starting to get tired.
It was decided to administer Pitocin to give her better contractions. As a result, M. pushed much more effectively but at the same time, the baby's heartbeat started dropping too. M. was using all kinds of positions to push in; squatting, kneeling, on all fours, but side-lying proved best in this case. When the baby started to crown, it became clear that he had to be born quickly. M. got an episiotomy, which sped the birth up by about 9 crucial minutes. If it would have taken any longer than it did, the doctor would have used a vacuum pump to get the baby out.
But that wasn't necessary. Within 1 push, a healthy baby boy was born at 5.55 am. The cord was clamped and cut right away, I guess as a precaution in case the baby needed immediate medical care. But luckily, he started crying right away. And within another 10 minutes, the placenta was born too. M. and her husband were delighted and couldn't believe their son was really there! All in all, the birth took only 6 hours from beginning to end.
Technorati Tags: birth, pitocin, doula, hospital, birth story
It gives them time to call me with updates, so I can be ready for them when they call. I always ask that ladies call me early in the evening when they feel something starting, so I can make sure to go to bed early and prepare everything in advance, ready to jump into the car when needed.
I hadn't heard anything from M. for a few days, so I understood that this pretty much came as a surprise.
When I arrived at the hospital, Hadassah Ein Karem, I found M. in the reception area of the delivery rooms, sitting on the toilet. She was having hard contractions, and seemed to have a hard time dealing with them. I told her to relax her bottom and breathe slowly, and that helped her. The midwife who was running the reception area, asked M. to lie down for the 30 minutes of standard monitoring. It was really hard for her to lie down quietly, as it is for most women. It really doesn't matter what position you're in when you're attached to the monitor, as long as it keeps picking up the baby's heartbeat. M. found that she was much more comfortable on her knees, hugging her husband who was standing next to the bed while I was massaging her lower back.
Luckily, we didn't need to spend too much time in the reception area. and before long we were assigned a delivery room. It was one of the new ones. I saw that it even had a bath tub, but it wasn't in use yet. From what I understood, they're waiting for permission from the Ministry of Health.
In stead, M. went into the shower. It really made her feel a lot better. It was now 3.00 am.
The midwife in charge, Rivkah, wanted to check M. again and she already progressed to 8 cm!! It was really going quick.
The heart beat of the baby started to go down a bit, so Rivkah did insist that M. stayed attached to the monitor. During the check, Rivkah felt something that she couldn't quite place. She thought it might be an ear! She called in another more experienced midwife, Gila. I was really happy to see Gila. I had worked with her 2 weeks ago at R.'s birth, and that was just amazing.
Gila also wasn't sure what she was feeling, and suggested that the baby might not be in an optimal position. She called in the doctor, who also didn't know what it was, but who said that it's best to wait and see. In the end it was not an ear, and the baby was not in a bad position, and it did not cause any problems.
At 3.30 am, M. was fully dilated and ready to push. At first, she didn't really know how to to it effectively, but she learned as she went along. After an hour and a half, the midwives and doctor were not really satisfied with her progress. M. seemed to have too short contractions which didn't really give her the chance to push in an optimal fashion, and M. was starting to get tired.
It was decided to administer Pitocin to give her better contractions. As a result, M. pushed much more effectively but at the same time, the baby's heartbeat started dropping too. M. was using all kinds of positions to push in; squatting, kneeling, on all fours, but side-lying proved best in this case. When the baby started to crown, it became clear that he had to be born quickly. M. got an episiotomy, which sped the birth up by about 9 crucial minutes. If it would have taken any longer than it did, the doctor would have used a vacuum pump to get the baby out.
But that wasn't necessary. Within 1 push, a healthy baby boy was born at 5.55 am. The cord was clamped and cut right away, I guess as a precaution in case the baby needed immediate medical care. But luckily, he started crying right away. And within another 10 minutes, the placenta was born too. M. and her husband were delighted and couldn't believe their son was really there! All in all, the birth took only 6 hours from beginning to end.
Technorati Tags: birth, pitocin, doula, hospital, birth story
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