I’m a midwife. AMA.

[Clappyhapper]

I’ve been a midwife for 13 years. AMA.

Obviously not personal medical advice. :)

What an interesting thread. I thought about training to be a midwife in my 30s but life got in the way. You do a wonderful job.

HappyClapper what a great thread.
My first was a water birth all very civilised. Pushing for 30mins.

My second was induced, tonnes of backache, one push, WTF just happened, sort of delivery.

Why are over 40 mum's & fertility babies immediately classed as high risk?

What percentage of ladies haemorrhage after the birth?

What are the main causes of haemorrhage?

I will come back to these, just got a poorly small one.

Hope they feel better soon

Hi OP!

Sorry if this has been asked. But is a back to back labour more painful and longer in your experience than if baby was right way?

Also, is it normal for midwifes not to tell you that your baby is back to back and why it may result in a longer birth?

Thank you!

This thread is fascinating!
My son was born with IUGR (growth restriction). He was too poorly and underweight for natural delivery so when he stopped moving I had emergency section. It wasn't diagnosed until birth but the only person who seemed to pick up correctly that something was going wrong with the pregnancy.
Is this a particularly common condition? Have you come across it in practice/would you know what to look for?
Thanks.

Sorry my post should have read the only person who seemed to know was COMMUNITY MIDWIFE. Doh.

Hey, I will be studying Midwifery at university in September. Do you recommend any websites/books/documentaries for aspiring midwives?

How common is it to have a rapid induction (I had PROM so was induced with Propess and went from not even a twinge to full dialated in 4 hours). If I have a spontaneous labour next time is is likely to be faster?

No one believed I was in labour despite me repeated telling the midwife I was having contractions every two minutes and no one carried out checks. I understand that midwives are reluctant to carry out a VE due to risk of infection but surely something could be done to ascertain I was in labour? They were very much of the attitude at the Propess must stay in for 24 hours and ignored all signs of labour! Also due to ‘not being in labour’ I was denied any form of pain relief (they wouldn’t even give me gas and air) during my induction with a back to back baby.

If I get pregnant again is there anything I can do/say to prevent the above happening again (being ignored in labour and not given any pain relief)

Come back @Clappyhapper!

mintyneb

I had a long induced back to back labour with DD. She hadn't turned by the time I came to push and I remember having a team at the bottom of the bed ready with the ventouse to help out. However, she actually turned as she was coming out and came out the right way. The midwife said that didn't happen very often, just curious to know if that was the case?

Also just picking up on someone else's question, DD had to be transferred the next day to another hospital for unplanned surgery and after a few days, the midwife who'd looked after me on the post natal ward came to visit us to see everything was ok. So I know you do care about the babies you've looked after.

And finally I was lucky enough to deliver my neighbour's baby a few years ago. All totally unplanned and I was only with her 5 minutes before the birth and before the ambulance arrived but it was the most amazing experience!
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Babies are pretty clever and they do try to rotate into the right position when they can. Sometimes this is during the dilating part of labour, and sometimes they do it as they come down and out. We often see babies rotate on the way out, but I’m guessing your midwife was surprised your baby did this because it was staying persistently back to back and they didn’t think it was going to (hence getting the ventouse ready). First babies are less likely to do it at the last minute.

We do try to follow up families in difficult situations, we like to know that everyone is ok.

How exciting to have been there for your neighbour’s birth, hope it all went well and you are going to come train to be a midwife now!

pancakes22

Good morning, great thread and a great career, thank you! I have two questions, one personally and one surrounding the career generally

I'm currently pregnant and pretty terrified of birth after my last resulting in EMCS due to failure to progress past 2cm on the drip. Had a subsequent cervical infection and frozen bowel so recovery was tough. Currently 14 weeks and SPD already. My concern is if I try for a VBAC that the pain from SPD will be too bad and because I only got to 2cm last time my body doesn't know what on earth to do. Do you think when there are things involved like SPD and previous failure to progress that it's better to elect or do you think the success rates of VBAC are still valid? I could potentially go for epidural but worried I won't feel the true benefits of having a natural birth if I do.

Secondly, I'm actually considering retraining in maternity care or midwifery myself even though my the time my baby is old enough to leave I will be in my late 30s/early 40s. Do you still think there is room for midwives to be starting their training later in life? Do you think it's realistic to undertake a full time course with the demands of midwifery when you already have a young family? How does your family cope when you have to work bank holidays/Christmas etc?
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Hi,
Spd, horrible thing, would be a good reason to try for a vbac- the research shows that cs women actually have more pain for longer from their so than those having normal birth. You have to be a bit conscious of avoiding position which open the knees very wide for long period but that shouldn’t really be a problem.
Being induced with the drip at 2cm is a bit Like trying to push a rock up a hill, it’s bloody hard. It’s not the same as going into labour naturally and I wouldn’t let that put me off trying for a natural birth the next time. You would labour like a first timer as your cervix hasn’t opened before, but if you have a supportive unit you could use the pool with waterproof monitoring etc. Chat it through with your midwife.

It’s absolutely feasible to train in your 30s and 40s, lots do, and life experience is so valuable as a midwife. Usually it’s finance that holds mature students back these days as we lost the bursary funding a while back. It’s long and intensive but it’s totally doable if you want it enough.
I trained pre family so it’s just been our normal always for me to work holidays etc, like anything you just get in with it, the atmosphere at Christmas is lovey and we all make it fun for each other. X

If a woman came in and was induced because of no feral movement, and the baby has no heartbeat, what happens it's discovered she'd had a fetacide injection, could you tell from the baby's presentation? Or would it be a look like the baby had just died of natural causes?

Obviously in this scenario she doesn't say what's been done.

Sorry for morbid question

@CallingFromLondon what kind of question is that!?

@Clappyhapper With my first DD I was induced and had my waters broken, my 1st midwife brilliant, the second left me constantly and never gave me any reassurance (I realised this because when she was on a break another amazing midwife came in and the reassurance from her made me calm right down and breath through the contractions) the only time I felt confident in my midwife was when she delivered DD and took control when i started to haemorrhage, How can i make sure with my next L&D I am happy with my midwife

With the birth of my Dd, I had a cord prolapse and the midwife (amazing lady) was up on the bed with me holding the cord as I got rushed off for an emergency c section - I had to have a GA and Dd was born within minutes. Also had a severe pph and had to have 4 or 5 blood transfusions.

Dd was fine thankfully.
Is that rare? I remember my consultant/anaesthetist bringing med students to me telling them what had happened, apparently it was very unusual.

Took me 9 years to pluck up the courage to have our second!

Hi I’m wondering if you can help me.

The 1st day of my last period was 26th December gone. I Done a test on the 16th and got a faint second line. I then did a CB digital on 19th and it said preg 1-2 weeks. I start bleeding on the 24th for 2-3 days and did another test yesterday and it said not pregnant. I'm quite worried and confused! I rang the pregnancy unit in the hospital and they said there was nothing they could do but to monitor the bleeding and test again in 10 days.

My mam bled every month on my sister and it took almost 6 months to show up that she was actually pregnant. So never thought anything of it because she got her period every month and negative tests. This was 34 years ago times are a lot different now.

I’m so confused at the minute and don’t know what to think

Hello
I'm 16 weeks pregnant and I keep wanting to lie on my back when going to sleep. Sometimes I wake and find I'm on my back and I panic. Other times I lie on my back and just shift my body weight slightly so I'm slightly on my side but mostly on my back.

Am I harming my baby and what can I do about urge to lie on my back ?

Thank you

@OneMoreWish Long pillow behind your back! X

Don't know if you will be able to answer this but here goes. I had spd on my second baby. I hope to have another, is it a given that the spd will come back again? It was uncomfortable but manageable the last time, but with other injuries after a fall I'm terrified I won't be able to manage it the next time.
I twisted my pelvis in a fall and have had almost 3 years of physio to sort the issue. Unfortunately sciatica doesn't seem to want to clear.

Hello I would really like some advice please, I had a emergency c section 16 weeks ago which tore my womb since that day i have bleed some days lighter but mostly heavy bright red blood. I also had the coil fitted 5 weeks ago but nothing has changed im still bleeding. I have anemia and always will as my body doesn't produce normal blood cells. I really need to know why I am still bleeding I am so fed up and tired of this please help

Great thread!

How old is the oldest woman who has had an unassisted pregnancy been, in your experience?