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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

When your dd/ds was born did you..........?

109 replies

pepperpots · 19/01/2006 22:16

Have them delivered straight onto you? ie skin to skin And do you think it affects bonding if not?

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fishie · 19/01/2006 23:10

edam i felt just the same way about ds, even though had a disastrous time leading up to birth. glad and lucky for us.

Nemo1977 · 19/01/2006 23:12

I had both ds and dd delivered straight onto me.
With ds was a bit of a shock as i hadnt discussed it and they sort of shoved him up my top. With dd was much nicer as I wanted it to happen.

moondog · 19/01/2006 23:19

Top???
Are you folk wearing clothes to give birth then??
I am always amazed when you see women in bikini tops in birthing pools.
Que????

You're defecating in what is practically a municipal bath! As if a flash of your nips matters....

georginars · 19/01/2006 23:30

well I still had a bra and t-shirt on when I gave birth. I have NO idea why they were still on!

moondog · 19/01/2006 23:38

Far out!
I imagine some people even wear their glasses??

I'm always as nekkid as the day I was born...

georginars · 19/01/2006 23:39

It wasn't a conscious decision, believe me. I must have just never got round to taking them off...

mummytosteven · 19/01/2006 23:41

I had a hospital nightie on, with lots of drapes on my legs as I had a ventouse delivery. I don't think it ever occurred to me to have my top half uncovered.

RTKangaMummy · 19/01/2006 23:59

I couldn't hold DTs cos they were intubated {put on ventilators} and taken down to intensive care in neo natal unit

threelittlebabies · 20/01/2006 00:00

ds1 wasn't as he was stillborn, and MWs wanted to clean and wrap him up. To this day I still think of this as one of the things I wish I had done. ds2- no, because he was cs, and I had a huge pph which they had to try and stop, give me a transfusion etc, so I didn't get to hold him until 3 hrs later
dd was also cs, but they took her and wrapped her up, did apgar etc, then I was able to hold her- quite soon in comparison to ds2. Also got to have her tucked up in bed as they wheeled me out of theatre (pph kind enough to wait until back on ward!) which was lovely
Next time, probably the last time, would love baby to be delivered onto me, but as there is a 99% chance I will need a section I assume it won't be possible. Does anyone know if this is possible with a cs?

LeahE · 20/01/2006 00:07

No I didn't (had a c-section and a bad case of the shakes from the drugs) and no, I don't think it affected bonding. Gave him a cuddle early on and bf as soon as we got back to the ward (could have bf in theatre I believe if not for the shakes). And then there was just me and him in a private (as in single-occupancy, not as in paid-for) room for four days so we had plenty of opportunity to bond. I really don't think that missing the skin-to-skin in the first few minutes made the slightest difference (would have liked to have done it if circumstances had been different, though).

I did most of my labouring and pushing in a sort of vest top that was part of a pyjama set - as pp says, just never really got round to taking it off (had been in hospital since my waters broke since we were high risk for cord prolapse - so 18 hours or so of traipsing the corridors trying to get into established labour (probably not appropriate to be naked at that point, plus the corridors weren't as warm as the delivery rooms) and somehow the issue of taking my top off never featured as my #1 priority after that). It wasn't covering much, though - a pretty skimpy top at the best of times and had ridden up in some places and down in others.

I assume they put me in some kind of surgical thingy for the actual c-section (can't actually remember so have just gone and looked at the pictures and there's definitely a garment with the unmistakeable ring of "hospital" about it). And in the photos afterwards where I'm feeding ds I'm clearly not wearing anything but a strategically placed blanket and a blood-pressure cuff, so presumably at some point the top came off but I don't remember.

Still breastfeeding now (and he's a year old on Saturday) so I don't think immediate skin-to-skin was particularly important for breastfeeding in our case. Having him "all clean and swaddled" worked out just fine, and avoided my dropping him on the floor which I think, on balance, was best for all concerned...

Meanoldmummy · 20/01/2006 00:10

DS1 yes - but he was dark blue, had the cord wrapped round his neck and body and wasn't breathing. I was terrified. They dumped him on me and then whipped him straight off again, his head flopped back and I thought he was dead. Stupid fools. They then took him to intensive care, and I got rushed to theatre with massive pph and retained placenta and third degree tears and oh God, why am I talking about this it's horrible

DS2...yes, it was wonderful, I breastfed him when he was 4 minutes old and he latched on and looked at me. Then I had a massive pph and passed out, and it all went horribly pear-shaped again (sigh) I would go through fifty labours for that first few minutes with him though!!

LeahE · 20/01/2006 00:10

threelittlebabies - I think it is possible if the c-section goes well, but you need to make it clear in advance that that's what you want. I certainly got the impression that if I'd not had the shakes I could have had ds straight onto me.

Meanoldmummy · 20/01/2006 00:12

oh, and clothing, just for moondog

Ds1 - a violently purple cheap T-shirt stle nightie - I looked like a giant Ribena berry as I was all puffed up with pre-eclampsia - and thrombosis stockings

ds2 a revoltingly twee white frilly cotton babydoll nightie with a sort of smocked bodice and spaghetti straps. It was good enough to get covered in blood and yuck.

Arabica · 20/01/2006 00:13

I think you can have baby delivered straight onto you with a sectionthere was a recent photo article in The Guardian about a 'natural' section where this happened. In my case DS had to be taken off to be checked immediately because they were concerned (it was an emergency cs). It really didn't affect anything though. I had the same reaction as Edam, looking at him as if to say, Oh, it's YOUhis face seemed so familiar already andit was as if I was meeting someone I had known and loved for all of my life, if that makes sense.

moondog · 20/01/2006 00:15

Oh threelittlebabies...so sorry.

lol at Leah's top going up and down!

moondog · 20/01/2006 00:15

Arabica!
How is everything going????

Ellbell · 20/01/2006 00:41

No. Dd1 was cs and was small (4lb 12oz) and quite cold so was wrapped up like a pass-the-parcel present before being passed to me. I did get to hold her pretty soon after the birth though - within a couple of minutes I'd guess - so not bad (and a relief just to see her after quite a problematic pregnancy).

With dd2 my experience was a bit like Hettie's. Gave birth kneeling up and hanging on (for grim death) to the rails on the head of the bed. After a 2-hour second stage, all done in that position (I did vaguely hear my NCT teacher's words about changing position in my head, but it all seemed SO difficult!) I was literally unable to move, so dh picked dd up and then passed her to me once I had wrenched my clenched fists off the bed and managed to get the other way up. I think (but not sure) that I held her before they wrapped her up though. All goes a bit hazy at that point in my memory!

I wore a t-shirt when I had dd2, not out of conscious decision, but I'd put it on at some point and once I was clenched onto the bed there was no way I could let go to get it off! Oh and I had my glasses on too, but I'm so short-sighted that without them I could have given birth to a puppy and not noticed the difference! Not wearing glasses is NOT an option for me!

eidsvold · 20/01/2006 04:35

nope for either... both were c-sections.

dd1 was rushed off to ICU and I did not get to hold her for a day or two.

Dd2 was cleaned up and swaddled BUT we had skin to skin and she fed whilst I was in recovery. I did get to hold her etc in theatre whilst they stitched me up.

no problem with bonding either time. Dd1 was in ICu and then SCBU for a total of three weeks and we did lots of kangaroo care etc and she had no problem bonding with either dh or I.

bobbybobbobbingalong · 20/01/2006 04:47

I had a water birth and so had 10 minutes of lovely skin to skin. it probably would have been longer but the midwife was concerned about bleeding and they wanted to haul me onto dry land.

Dh whipped his shirt off, but by then ds had been wrapped in a blanket - it would have been lovely if he had taken over. He has said he wanted a degunked baby - though in the end it was only some vernix and he would have been quite happy with that - it was more blood he has an issue with - so he did very well stood next to a bath full of it!

Bouj · 20/01/2006 04:53

Ds was delivered straight on to my stomach. I was wearing a top (hideous nightgown) so I assume it was on to that. He was whisked away for oxygen pretty quick smart. But I will never forget his little face looking at mine. He looked SO pissed off!

uwila · 20/01/2006 08:01

No. DD was an emergency ceasarean under a general so she obviously couldn't have been given to me. I assume she was cleaned, wrapped, and then handed to DH. DS was planned caesarean and I asked for him to be cleaned and wrapped up nice and warm before giving him to me.

And I relly don't see how the first five minutes or so outside the womb can have much effect on bonding.

Laura032004 · 20/01/2006 08:19

No - DS was emergency c/s and needed resuscitation, so that came first! He was given to me in a towel, still 'dirty' (first pictures show him with lots of lovely meconium stained vernix all over him! )

He was then taken off to special care (where he had something to 'perk him up' - don't know if that was formula?), and I spent a while in recovery.

No effects on bf - fed him fine a couple of hours later, and have never looked back.

georginars · 20/01/2006 09:23

oh I totally missed the point of this thread when I posted. No, DD needed resucitation, but immediately after she'd eventually started crying, she was handed to me for lots of lovely skin to skin.
But I don't think it affects bonding, as far as I'm concerned it's all propoganda! Yes it's lovely but what's the point in making you feel guilty if you don't have skin to skin and like you've already done something wrong? (Unless it's just to get you used for being made to feel guilty for the next, ooh, 18 years at least)

georginars · 20/01/2006 09:25

oh my spelling. I must learn to edit before I post. Propaganda. Resuscitation. Actually that looks wrong too....

Beetroot · 20/01/2006 09:38

I did with all of mine. NO idea if it halps bonding. Didn't bond with ds2 as well but he was still skin to skin..

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