I'm a Midwife AMA

[MidwifeAMA]

Experienced midwife, hoping to spread good quality info :)
AMA

[Plutoisaplanet]

How common is failure to progress in a first labour?

[vivariumvivariumsvivaria]

How do you feel about the student midwives being taught how to catheterise a penis at Napier university?

Are there any midwives who are resisting the nonsense new paradigm that men can give birth and so we must now be birthing bodies and not mothers?

Because I can't be very confident in a healthcare professional who thinks that men can give birth. That'll disturb my oxytocin whatnots.

[MidwifeAMA]

@Plutoisaplanet

How common is failure to progress in a first labour?

Urgh I hate that term, so weighted.

It's quite common for first labours to slow or stall. More common if the physiological processes aren't supported, like keeping mobile, feeling safe, protective environment etc.

[SatinHeart]

What proportion of babies do you think have tongue tie and in your opinion, why are there so many anecdotes about tongue ties not being spotted / difficulties getting them cut in a timely manner?

[CurbsideProphet]

I'm pregnant through IVF and after miscarriages. It's been a very anxious time but I'm nearly in the 3rd trimester. I found in the early stages midwives did not know what was and was not appropriate to say in these circumstances. Is this something that comes up in training / CPD?

I had to raise the issue and I now have an amazing community midwife and I'm under Consultant care, but I worry a lot about having the same issue with midwives on delivery suite / post natal ward.

[MidwifeAMA]

@vivariumvivariumsvivaria

How do you feel about the student midwives being taught how to catheterise a penis at Napier university?

Are there any midwives who are resisting the nonsense new paradigm that men can give birth and so we must now be birthing bodies and not mothers?

Because I can't be very confident in a healthcare professional who thinks that men can give birth. That'll disturb my oxytocin whatnots.

I have not heard of this?!?
Is this trans post surgery prep? I don't know enough about the logistics of vagina to penis surgery, id have thought if you'd made your vagina into a penis then you'd not have been able to get pregnant but maybe I've assumed wrongly.
It seems a bit ott to be routinely training staff for something that they are extremely unlikely to come across.

[erinaceus]

How are you coping with the pressures that midwives are under in terms of staffing shortages?

[MidwifeAMA]

@SatinHeart

What proportion of babies do you think have tongue tie and in your opinion, why are there so many anecdotes about tongue ties not being spotted / difficulties getting them cut in a timely manner?

We are seeing it more and more. There's some thought process that it could possibly be linked to our better use of folic acid. The benefit of the FA outweighs the risk to me so it's strongly recommend carrying on with FA.
The nhs just doesn't offer a big enough service for tongue tie treatment, in some places it's very limited or unavailable, and some paediatricians still don't agree that tt is a legitimate issue.
My nipples beg to differ!!

[sleepdeprived321]

How common is it for women to get an epidural?

I was shamed by my midwife and told less than 1 in 10 women get it!

[MidwifeAMA]

@SatinHeart

What proportion of babies do you think have tongue tie and in your opinion, why are there so many anecdotes about tongue ties not being spotted / difficulties getting them cut in a timely manner?

We also don't routinely check for TT at birth bevause most tt babies will go on to have no problems at all, and most feeding issues are resolved with tons of quality support and technique. By early diagnosing tt you run the risk of it being wrongly assumed to be the cause of the problem and then technique and support being insufficiently worked on.

[MidwifeAMA]

@CurbsideProphet

I'm pregnant through IVF and after miscarriages. It's been a very anxious time but I'm nearly in the 3rd trimester. I found in the early stages midwives did not know what was and was not appropriate to say in these circumstances. Is this something that comes up in training / CPD?

I had to raise the issue and I now have an amazing community midwife and I'm under Consultant care, but I worry a lot about having the same issue with midwives on delivery suite / post natal ward.

Sorry to hear this.
We get very little training on this.
It's quite tricky because you see a lot of variation in what people want to hear and so there's a lot of really careful negotiation of language which won't always meet the needs of the woman.
We are working on language in maternity now, it's high on the Royal college of midwives agenda. Hopefully this will improve things.

[MidwifeAMA]

@erinaceus

How are you coping with the pressures that midwives are under in terms of staffing shortages?

It's very tough and midwives are leaving left right and centre. It feels like we can't recruit quickly enough to fill the leavers. Covid made it considerably worse.
See "March with midwives" groups on Facebook for more details of local and national issues.

[Wickywickyyow]

What do you feel about home births?

I had all three of mine at home after my first was unplanned (but midwives in attendance) but I always hear negative comments such as I risked my babies' lives by doing so.

[MidwifeAMA]

@sleepdeprived321

How common is it for women to get an epidural?

I was shamed by my midwife and told less than 1 in 10 women get it!

I'm sorry about that, there's no shame in having whatever pain relief suits you.
I'm not sure exactly but I'd think more than 1:10, on the delivery suite it's at least half the women but probably more.

[MidwifeAMA]

@Wickywickyyow

What do you feel about home births?

I had all three of mine at home after my first was unplanned (but midwives in attendance) but I always hear negative comments such as I risked my babies' lives by doing so.

Love them, really good choice for lots of women.

[MidwifeAMA]

@Wickywickyyow

What do you feel about home births?

I had all three of mine at home after my first was unplanned (but midwives in attendance) but I always hear negative comments such as I risked my babies' lives by doing so.

And a very safe choice for lots of women and babies too.

[OooohAhhhh]

Uww, Due to give birth soon & I'm worried about being in labour on my own because of childcare. Are 3 year olds allowed in the hospital in the pre labour wards or in the labour room? Thanks

[MidwifeAMA]

@OooohAhhhh

Uww, Due to give birth soon & I'm worried about being in labour on my own because of childcare. Are 3 year olds allowed in the hospital in the pre labour wards or in the labour room? Thanks

Generally no, covid restrictions are mostly just your partner.
I know it's far,far from ideal but we do sometimes have women who come alone if partner needs to stay with children and you'd be looked after really well.

[Louise0701]

We are TTC DC4. 3 previous ELCS; 1st due to breech. 3rd ELCS @ 38w as 2nd ELCS was a classical cut due to heart rate dropping.
Would a 4th ELCS also be 38w with the risk of uterine rupture. Or are the risks so high we would be mad to continue trying?
straight forward, no complication pregnancies each time. None of the DC have had any issues post birth.

[AwkwardPaws27]

Will my 2nd degree perineal tear ever heal?
The stitches broke down & I had antibiotics at about 2 weeks post delivery.
Now almost 6 weeks and it's still looks... gaping.

GP sent me to the gynae ward when it broke down, and it was pronounced "superficial" with no follow up needed but it looks pretty horrible (to me, anyway, and both the GP & practice nurse seemed pretty concerned - the nurse said "they should have cut you" which was a bit upsetting). I'm a bit worried the GP will send me back again when they check it at 8 weeks.

The community midwife checked it last week though and discharged us (DS had also been slow to gain weight) and she said it was fine and would gradually heal by secondary intention. I just can't believe it will ever look "normal" again...

[Felix125]

I can remember when my son was born, I wanted to know what the current advice/thinking was to prevent sudden infant death syndrome - as a new dad it was something that was always on my mind and I got all sort of mixed messages (lay them on their back, don't lay them on their back, keep them wrapped up, don't keep them wrapped etc etc)

So, I thought I would ask. Now they kind of brushed around the subject by talking about tog values - but as soon as i mentioned the term SIDS, I was more or less shouted at and told not to 'mention that in here!'

Is this normal? I thought this would be the best place to ask. Its like not being able to talk about preventing heart attacks on a cardiac ward.

[overthinkersanonnymus]

How often to women present with mental health problems during pregnancy and what sort of support is available to them? What do the perinatal mental health midwifes actually do?

[PinkyU]

Can I ask a technical question.

What do you think of this ABG (cord blood sample), would you think it needed action or is ok?

[Reallyreallyborednow]

How common is failure to progress in a first labour?

as a follow up, my friend was telling me how she nearly had a section for “failure to progress” 5 hours after her first contraction (first contraction to birth 10 hours total). Backed up by her mum who thought labour and birth is done and dusted in under 2 hours.

how much pushback do you get from people who have elaborate birth plans, or google/mum/granny/aunt has told them they should get/do x or y?

is it easier if someone is happy to go with the flow guided by you, or do you prefer knowing what they want and make decisions based on that?

[Fitzfatsfeist]

Can I ask how common is an en caul birth and have you seen one?