How many of you were sick during labour?

[mostlyalurker]

My lovely niece is choosing weather to train to become a midwife. She is really keen but is not good with sick at all. She feels that as she wants to do it so bad, she shouldn't let this phobia stop her. This is the only thing thats holding her back. Do you think she could cope?

Nope - wasn't sick in either

I was sick after the mw insisted I have a banana smoothie 'for energy'- I told her I really didn't think it was a good idea.... but she wouldn't listen.... cue projectile yellow vomit all over delivery suite

My first response to pain is to vomit- sorry- I'm not unique in that!

Surely though- she will get used to it, just like mums get used to wiping up poo, vomit, whatever!

I was sick once, just before i started pushing.

I was sick throughout early labour both times.

Is your niece properly emetophobic or just "not keen on sick"? If the latter she'd probably just get over it, I think, whereas if the former some professional help might be called for. I think CBT is supposed to be good with emetophobia, if this is something she really wants to do.

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I vomited so much I had to be put onto a drip in my first labour. it happened every time i had a contraction

even a small capful of water to wet my lips made me throw up

Sick each time when I reached transition. In fact with DS#2 it let me know that I needed to finally make the mw move me to the delivery suite. I'd been labouring quite happily in the ward and the corridors until then.

me, but only at home before any midwife involvement, and only because dh was trying to make me drink lucozade for some reason best known to himself

I wsa almost sick just before we left for the hospital, but have a cast-iron stomach so didn't actually boak. Dry-heaving....

i was sick at the start of my labour but not during. my friend was sick alllll the way through

Yep here too.

Does she have / is she planning to have kids?

They throw up on you A LOT.

Just read the op.
She will definitely have to get over this problem.

I'm like OrmIrian, I throw up when I hit transition. I think it might be quite common as when I did it the first time the MW immediately knew - midwifery is messy, I was standing up, threw up violently yellow fluid (due to the G&A) and at the same time time gushed what felt like half a swimming pool of hind waters.

Your neice does know about the poo aswell?

First time, not at all...well, unless you count the next day when it suddenly hit, i couldn't stop - reaction to drugs I think.

Second time only when I hit transition, and that wasn't too bad because I hadn't eaten so nothing came up, I was just retching as my stomach was being pushed up into my throat with each contraction. I didn't feel sick so that was Ok, it was just the physical event iyswim.

I am scared about vomiting but don't mind others doing it too much

Depends if she is like me or not. I could cope with people doing it as long as I didn't have to.

Both times, straight after delivery. But bear in mind that it'll generally be people who were sick that will reply to this thread...
I'm sure she'd cope once she got used to it. There's worse bodily fluids at a birth!

Sick every 10 mins or so throughout the entire thing! But it was just the water I was drinking coming up each time.

I was sick at first whiff of gas and air, then sick after delivery.

Sounds to me as though being sick is as common as pooing!

I was sick both times, sorry. First time I managed to seriously p off the doctor who was trying to use ventouse and I splattered his tie . I've never seen anyone jump so high or fast in my life

Women who were really sick will be drawn to this thread though, perhaps those who weren't just haven't opened the OP.

Even so, I think we have established that you can't be a midwife and never have a patient being sick.

I think women who were sick will naturally want to say they were, which is why I (who was not sick at all) joined the thread to try to even out the balance a bit. But tbh, even if you women who were sick only represented 1% of women giving birth, it would be enough to put a true emetophobe off the job.

Oh and btw, 3 points:

1. being the mother of children who are sick does not "cure" a true emetophobe and neither will being a midwife.

2. emetophobes have babies knowing they will be sick, but in my case, that is something I have to endure so I can participate in the natural biological process of continuing my genes. It would not be something I could overcome for a mere job.

3. to an emetophobe, there is no worse bodily fluid. I am completely unfazed by urine, poo, diarrhoea, blood, mucus, amniotic fluid and any other bodily fluid you care to mention.

If she has a phobia of sick then she should not do it.

If she just doesn't like sick, then she will get over it.

I wasn't sick, but only because I demanded an anti-emetic because I had been sick throughout pregnancy and refused to do it in labour too

Thanks everyone for all your replies. I will show her this thread. Like you say this thread may not attract the non vomiters. However it points out that it does happen (in gruesome detail).

i spewed after they topped up my epi with diamorphine (i had warned them i'd spew). and the epi only worked on my flipping knees in any case so was more trouble than it was worth.

in fact, i puked so often that dh wasn't getting the little cardboard containers to me quickly enough so he resorted to putting them on my head like a hat so that they'd be available when i needed them.

agree with flamey, if you are a true emetophobe then nursing not the career for you, full stop. it's absolutely not fair on patients to see a look of revulsion, however fleeting, cross an HP's face.