I'm a midwife, ask me anything

[MidwifeAMA]

Midwife of 20 years, currently specialising in home birth.
Ask me anything :)

That’s such a shame.
birth at home, vote with your feet.
follow ‘March with midwives’ on Facebook
write to your hospital
write to you mp
its not ok to not offer a birth unit option, it is statistically safe for most women and babies, your hospital should be challenged. The government say they should be offering choice.
make a lot of noise!

Read up on how to support natural birth, positions etc so you can make gentle suggestions like shall we have a sit on the toilet etc. encourage her to drink and nibble regularly. Find a cool spray, flannels, etc in case she feels hot. Find out ahead of time if she wants some photos. Duck out of the room to give them some alone time as soon as the baby is born.

10lb 15 very squishy, gorgeous baby
I've had words a couple of times, usually staring at phones/tablets and not paying attention to their partners needs. Sometimes Need a little reminder of why we are here.

Was having my first 15 years ago , and was admitted due to high bp.
In a side room was a woman with severe leaning difficulties , she was in early Labour and was screaming and crying, and tbh it was very unsettling for other mum's and heartbraking as well.
She was eventually wheeled away on her bed , and on her knees crying out for her mummy ( who was not there )
I still remember this vividly and often wonder what happened to both mother & child.
Is this usual in these circumstances ,? I should imagine the kinder thing to have done for this woman would have been a planned c/birth. It just seemed so cruel.

Thanks for reply@MidwifeAMA

I’d go back and ask for a birth reflections debrief as there are just so many variables and only they can give you answers, it can be helpful to debrief to process something traumatic like this.

That sounds really difficult, I’m sorry you had this experience. And there’s no excuse for rudeness ever.
mots really really unlikely to stall at a lip with a second bag, sec d births and 99.% of the time super straightforward and quick.
think about a home birth if you are healthy and well and would like a natural birth, as statistically the safest place to be

This is more of a hypothetical than anything, but I'm hoping to have an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) later this year. The surgeon has been emphatic that you cannot get pregnant after the operation. I'm almost out of my child bearing years but it's made me curious, what would happen if a woman who had had a tummy tuck became pregnant and continued with the pregnancy? Have you ever seen this? Obviously the cosmetic effect might well be lost but I'm thinking more of the safety aspect and whether the wound might open or something.

Hi! How long should I wait before getting pregnant after a c-section. Google tells me different things 😃
thank you x

Also, my little one was born with his pinky toe overlapping the next one - I wasn’t given much advice on what I could do to help correct it, just wait 9 months and come back if nothing has changed. Is there anything I could do in the meantime? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! X

Do you think too many women are being induced?

How to you feel about eh saving babies lives "care package"

How much decision making around patient care is influenced by fear of litigation?

Why are women told to "trust their instincts" if they are worried there is something wrong but told to listen to the Drs when induction is recommended for vague reasons like "too big baby"

How do you prevent the "birth debrief" from becoming an exercise in corporate gaslighting?

Do you feel angry when a woman is induced for a big baby, ends up with an EMC for a 6lber?

How do you feel about the big baby trial?

• I may have a slight chip on my shoulder.

2 questions if that’s ok :)

1. Do you have any personal view of how maternity care was handled during the pandemic? I received care that has left me with PTSD. I get that covid was an issue, but surely it’s not acceptable to leave a woman in a room by herself 2 hours after EMCS with no staff around but also not let the partner in to help?

2. A midwife friend of mine said the most common cause of complaint is ‘midwife attitude’ and I’ve heard from quite a few friends that they weren’t believed about how far progressed in labour they were, or having their pain levels played down as low painthreshold when they actually had a raging infection. In your opinion, what’s the reason for midwives not believing women?

Are some women just unable to dilate? What would be the reasons for that?

I've had 2 c sections. The first I only got to a few cm after days of being induced and 24 hours on pitocin. Second I had an elective booked in but started contracting the day before. 20 hours of painful contractions every 6/7 minutes and I wasn't dilated at all so went ahead with the c section

I always wonder if I had given it more time would I have eventually got going or if my body was never capable in the first place.

My second baby - full term, normal svd, eight pounder, no opiates or epidural for labour - had an intracranial bleed during delivery. She had an Apgar of 1, required the paediatric crash team, intracardiac adrenaline, was grand mal fitting despite 3 different iv anticonvulsants, was hemiplegic, apnoeic, needed intubated, ventilated and a week in ITU.

Can you explain how you would have handled that during a home delivery, and whether you would have achieved the same brilliant outcome as the hospital medical staff - DD graduated uni, has no motor or sensory deficits, a high IQ and a career as a senior manager.

Are 2nd births usually better than 1st or is that a myth? Traumatised by first birth now expecting number 2.

How usual is it for babies to be born before arrival? In home births.

I had my first at home and am
now pregnant with my second. Through my labour I was told that I would have 2 midwives with me for my labour and birth at home.

In reality I had 1 midwife who arrived 20 minutes before baby was born because someone else was giving birth on the same night, paramedics were already with us as the baby was coming out! I didn’t really want paramedics there but we didn’t know what else to do. They did encourage me to get into the pool and just stepped back which was the best thing they could have done!

I do want to have my second at home and am making peace with the idea that the midwife will arrive when she can but that could be after the baby is born. It was quite a shock to me first time round though the difference between the level of support that had been discussed in advance and what was available on the night.

I don’t want to poo poo Homebirth as it was a lovely birth and I found it incredibly empowering. The lack of available support however is pushing me more towards free birth literature purely to save the upset of last time when it became apparent when I was far too far along to get in the car that the midwife might not get there.

And that’s not considering the 1 in 10 chance that the home birth service might be suspended the night I go into labour -_-

I'll be having an induction at 39 weeks to give birth to my first baby. What's a typical length of labour after the gel (my hospital uses the gel and eventually the drip after waters have broken)? How long can I expect to be in hospital post partum? I won't be in a rush to leave even though I have to stay in hospital throughout the induction process. Thanks!

Is it a general thing, or perhaps specific to the hospital I gave birth in, that you aren't allowed gas and air until 4cm? And what might be the reason for this?

Thanks for volunteering for AMA! What's your most memorable/favourite birth you've ever supported?

One of my babas was way over 11lb (natural delivery) and I'm pregnant again, I'm 28 weeks pregnant and baby is on the 99th centile. (Almost 4lb already)
My question is, should I get some 6-9 month clothes just incase the 3-6 don't fit her? My little chunk, bless her.

Thank you for taking the time to answer all our questions. You sound like a lovely positive midwife.

I wonder if the events of the birth of one my DC is fairly common or not. Baby had measured large throughout the pregnancy, had examination at 40 weeks and advised baby was high and not in a favourable position for induction, so I had a planned c-section. About 30 mins into it, the consultant/surgeon said can I get a push and all the staff from the theatre plus a few extra people? came over and they all applied pressure to my bump. Baby was delivered about 90 seconds later by forceps.

DC looked ok at the time but now has a lot of complex additional needs and is severely delayed. I can’t help wondering if the birth played a part. Professionals I have asked cannot say definitively one way or another but it plays on my mind.

If first baby was back to back, how likely is it my second will be the same?

I also felt that the midwives looking after me during my second induction, in the main, thought I was exaggerating and being difficult when actually I was progressing very quickly to the point they left it so late to ring my partner that baby was crowning as he arrived. They were trying to give me two paracetamol and a shower when i was 6cm plus, I was stuck alone advocating for myself of course so I ended up having to have a bit of a shout at them to make the examine me. Which in a four bay antenatal ward wasn't ideal.

During my first induction, and during the antenatal care I had with my second I wouldn't have a bad word said about midwifery and the wider team, but staff like the ones that I had that night do no favours to the profession and I wonder if there is any appetite from within to challenge that kind of practice or is it just too complex?

That same night I'm almost certain at least one baby was actually born on the antenatal ward and if I hadn't shouted at them I think mine might have been the second...

Thanks so much for the work that you do.
My daughter is due her first baby in a few weeks. She is healthy and low risk, so is booked into a birthing centre attached to a labour ward. She’s keen to have a water birth, her husband is very supportive. They have attended an active labour class.
In your experience, how likely is she able to have a water birth? My husband worked for decades as an Obstetric Anaesthetist in a teaching hospital, where many ladies were high risk with a high incidence of caesarean. He never saw the women who didn’t require interventions, so he’s biased! I’m really asking on his behalf.