Ok brace yourselves for TMI ladies - I've just been advised that immediately after my C/S to...

[Lotster]

...Stick my finger in my vagina, or my husband's (finger, not vagina) if I can't reach, and stick it in the newborn's mouth before anything else does (nipple, anyone else's finger etc).

The guy who recommended this runs a local health shop and has studied Nutritional Medicine for decades, I usually go to him before the chemist/doctor and he's never let me down so far! He pretty much cured me of insomnia, gastric reflux, helped with depression, lots of things and I really trust him but am wondering if I will look like a complete nut doing this?!!

Through trying to keep an enlightened expression to mask my I heard him saying something about innoculating the baby with the right bacteria, which usually happens naturally in the birth canal, but not with cesaereans, and the result of getting the wrong bacteria first could result in the baby having an flammatory immune system as opposed to an inflammatory one... if I heard right.

Sooooo, would you do this? Have you heard of anyone that has? And what reaction can I expect from the medical staff at being asked to stand back whilst it's done?

TIA

[NotQuiteCockney]

Hmmm. Well, to be fair, it's true that those bacteria are normally ones the baby is exposed to during birth. But you're going to have a catheter in. Monkeying around, down there, isn't a great idea at that point. I don't think the medical personel will respond well to you doing this.

[IlanaK]

I have heard this before. A vaginal birth introduces your bacteria to the baby and a csection doesn't. I have had three sections and the immune systems of all my dss have been crap. I totally put it down to the sections. However, I am not sure how on earth you would manage this in practice. After a section you will not be in any position (literally and figuratively) to stick a finger down there and into babies mouth. And I think the medical people will try to stop you.

[lulumama]

step away from the crazy man!!

i think there is some sort of rationale re your baby colonising himslef with your flora and germs and bacteria or those of your DHs rather than those of teh medics who iwll handle him after the delivery.

i really, really, really think, and i can be a bit of an old hippy, that sticking your finger in your foofoo and then into your baby's mouth is a bit uncecessary

good plain old skin to skin immediatley after delivery would be a good thing

i think the medical staff would look like but it's your baby and your foofoo and your choice

[lulumama]

and in all fairness, you won;t be able to reach ! once your baby is delivered, you will be being stitched up and your Dh won;t be allowed to stick his fingers anywhere near your vagina... surely that is an infection risk post birth?

and you will have a catheter, most likely and you will be bleeding and it is really a bit bonkers.

the more i think about it, the more bizarre it is and i can;t imagine anyone could do it

[cheesesarnie]

at lulu!pmsl

ive had 3 cs and did not do fanny thing.my dc are fairly normal.

[NotQuiteCockney]

Oh, I should probably say, both my boys were born by CS. DS2 had some exposure to meconium. Both of them have very healthy immune systems, afaik. (Granted, I'm pretty at the whole Nutritional Medicine thing.)

[mummy2t]

ok i can see his point but OMG!!! i was born by cs section 31 years ago and i have been super healthy all through my childhood and as an adult for that matter. think this one is down to you, do what u think is best. it actually makes sense just sounds abit weird. let us know what you decide. xxx like lula says your baby, your fanjo, you decide xxx

[meglet]

.

There is no way they would let you, or you would be able to. I doubt it would make much difference anyway.

[beansprout]

That would be quite interesting given that you won't be able to feel anything from the waist down.

Immunity from b/feeding is a nicer alternative I think!

[dinny]

if you've got Strep B hanging around there, the last thing you'd want to do is shove a finger up your vag and then stick it in dc's mouth

[lulumama]

if yuo manage to do it, please post a full report

[lulumama]

good point dinny.

[HeinzSight]

You will prob be bleeding loads, you're baby'll get a mouthful of blood. This man sounds a bit bonkers. Sorry

[lulumama]

surely, until the abdomen is closed etc. then it is a sterile , draped area, and there has to be no unsterile hands in the area. aseptic? is that the word i am looking for?

[DaisyMooSteiner]

Perhaps you could do the finger-thing before the CS when you're not catheterised/bleeding/numb from the waist down, and then make sure you don't touch anything else until the baby's born when you can stick your finger in the baby's mouth? Although you might look odd lying on an operating table with a mucusy finger stuck in the air.

[NotQuiteCockney]

Hmmm. I don't know when the bleeding starts. Presumably not right away? Not sure. You'll have a catheter, probably pants, and a pad.

Lulumama makes a good point, though, they'll have a barrier up (if you want to watch the baby being born, they can put a mirror up, or lower the barrier for the actual birth - but the standard arrangement is, you hang out with the anaesthetitist and your husband while they rummage around), and they won't want you anywhere near the incision while they're busy sewing up. Oh, and you don't want to bother them then, you want them focussed on the sewing, makes for a tidier scar.

[Lotster]

Hmm, responses so far in the majority seem to echo what I thought. Sounds reasonable in theory but very hard in practice, physically and in being allowed to anyway...



Maybe we should refer to this in future as "the fanjo/fanny/foo foo thing"...

thanks ladies, any more opinions gratefully received.

[whomovedmychocolate]

How on earth are you meant to do this with an epidural in place?

Also, both my dcs are cs children and they have stunning immune systems it seems but possibly we are dirty enough to have colonised them with our bacteria fairly efficiently early on oh and of course they've been breastfed.

[meglet]

you'd have to make sure it's not the finger they need to stick the pulse / heart rate monitor on.

[lulumama]

good plan, daisy..

you;d have to lie there, lotster, with your hand in the air, and shriek ' don;t touch me, i'm sterile' if anyone so much as breathes on you!

i thikn this is the funniest childbirth thread ever. in teh whole world

this chap has probably never seen a c.section

does he have children??

[Lotster]

Daisy, I think that is possibly the only way I could do it TBH!

[vacaloca]

Would a baby normally have his/her mouth open while being in the birth canal?

[Lotster]

Lulu, perhaps I could get a hyperbaric chamber like David Duchovny wears in Zoolander

[midnightexpress]

Ha. Well he's obviously never had a CS then, hey?

PMSL at Lulumama

[lulumama]

and on that note , i bid you goodnight