POLL - for those of you who have had a baby in hospital...

[electra]

When you went into hospital;

1 On arrival, were you asked to lie down while examined to see how dilated you were?

2 Were you encouraged to lie down / labour on a bed?

The childbirth / pain relief threads have got me thinking about this and in 2001, at my hospital birth nobody told me I might find labour a bit easier if I figured out how to breathe through the contractions.

I am wondering if this was just my hospital / whether today the approach in a hospital has changed at all?

1.) yes

2.) no i was encouraged to get up and walk about

Thanks for all your replies

So....from what I gather, being encouraged to labour on a bed is becoming less frequent in recent years?

squonk - grrrr, on your behalf - better for them maybe!

1. Yes - how else are they supposed to do it?

2. I could have laboured doing a handstand if my fancy took me, I was offered birthing balls and all sorts of nonsense but was quite happy on a bed, watching telly. I had a couple of baths, walked about, ate toast and drank cups of tea and generally did what I wanted though, I wasn't chained to the thing.

georgimama - at a NCT labour day I attended the anti-natal teacher told us that a good midwife should be able to examine you in any position and that if you don't want to lie down you should refuse. When I had dd2, the midwife examined me while I was on my knees.

Any position at all? I am sitting on my chair behind my desk at the mo, I doubt any docotor or midwife could get very near my cervix right now. If any could, then lovely, but I hardly think the gymnastics involved would be worth it.

I am all for mothers being empowered but sometimes it goes a wee bit far - it take 2 minutes at most, why not just pop onto the bed?

For the last 2 births I have asked not to be examined, and it's been fine. The mws could tell how far along I was from my noise and the shape of my back, apparently. Vaginal examination is surely only one technique they can use and its not essential.

Said it before and have to be honest, I can't make head not tail of examining on all fours. Not worth getting it wrong so do ask woman to semi recline for a min or two. Usually examin because woman wants some painrelief so we are gaining information as the the stage of labour to aid the decision making process, or because they have self referred to the unit in ?labour and want to know if this is it or not.

Yes and yes.

I disagree georgimama - when I was examined the first time I was told to lie down in preparation to be examined and then the midwife disappeared for about 20 minutes expecting me to lie on my back labouring for the duration, which was very painful and traumatic! Then she eventually came back and did it.

Why should women submit to something that is not actually in their best interests? In my case it was about what was easier for them and I don't see why I should go through it again.

Why would someone examine you on a chair? If upright it is far easier to cope if you have a contraction while being examined.

a)
1 yes
2 yes

b)
1 no
2 yes

c)

1. was already in hospital for a month before
2. sort of, it was night and was still on antenatel ward

treedelivery - I agree that it depends what the examination is required for, but in my case it was clearly just routine hospital protocol and did not benefit me in any way.

Also,as somebody else said, there are other ways of being able to tell what stage someone is at.

Well you said any position. I'm just pointing out how daft that is.

It's unfortunate that you were treated shabbily in that instance but that doesn't mean that it's wrong to exmaine a woman lying down. How was your last smear done, for example? Squatting?

Doubt it.

Not sure why you are being so aggressive, georgimama - so I won't bother to reply to you any more

1. I was examined when I arrived lying on a bed but this was when my waters had broken and I wasn't in labour at that point. Wasn't examined again til I was ready to push and I was on the bed at that point.

2. Yes & No. I was given pethidine and told I had to be on the bed after I'd had it. Mw said I could go on my knees leaning over the back of the bed but I felt too dizzy in that position (felt really high up and wobbly) so I did it lying down. (Do feel I should never have been given the pethidine)

Oh and as for breathing through contractions, my mw wouldn't help me with that. She didn't believe I was in labour .

Was not passing comment on any individual managemement - just giving the main examples of why I'm asked to examine or suggest examination. I'm still buggered if I can get acccurate fetal positioning right or gauge the head in relation to the spines on all fours.

I'm not being aggressive, you started a thread to prop up your theory that being exmaned whilst lying down is a bad thing and I think it's daft.

Sorry you find it hard to handle dissent.

I don't care if you or anyone else disagrees with me - and actually, it was a NCT teacher who expressed the view that examinations should be possible in most positions, if you read the thread. I am sure she was using the term 'any' loosely - and I can't believe you don't realise that.

Actually, I find it 'daft' that you would compare being examined during labour to having a smear - not the same at all as during a smear you are not having contractions! I think that most of us who have had a baby will have come to the realisation that if your uterus is contracting against gravity, it hurts more.

I did not start this thread to 'prop up' a theory I have and certainly not to start a fight - but really to canvass opinion on how hospital staff now approach things, as the last time I had a medically managed hospital birth was 2001. I think it's a reasonable topic to discuss, especially as there are currently a lot of threads on childbirth and people worrying about intervention.

The language you use, and the manner in which you post comes across as deliberately adversarial, and therefore aggressive. I don't like to engage with anyone who is looking for a fight, thanks.

1 - yes and discouraged from moving, even to the toilet

2 - hell yes

On arrival, were you asked to lie down while examined to see how dilated you were? NO

2 Were you encouraged to lie down / labour on a bed? NO I had been to ante-natal classes and they promoted active labour

Barbaric?
Well, I suppose I felt in labour that if the contractions I were having were getting me fairly near, then I could continue. If they weren't, and were going to get worse in all best estimates, then I needed assistance. I was in about the maximum amount of pain I was able/willing to tolerate so I needed a rough idea of how long I was looking at labouring.

So no not barbaric, just management of labour for those who get a 22 hour flogging [which for me was entirely what nature intended and what it did] and opt for some analgesia to help.

In my case.

As we all know lablour can take a while and the information can help us plan and manage our pain relief requirements.

my posting was not intended to suggest health profesionals simply examine and administer analgesia - it was more giving my experience of why women ask me to examine them. To gain informed choice.

It's ok stralight - I know lots of us would like to get people like me down a dark alley....

I can always not post or namechange if I don't want to be 'the midwife' on a thread as well.

The dilation issue is interesting. During my second labour it took me 10 hours to get to 6cm (my baby was posterior), then 30 minutes later after I had got into the birthing pool, I suddenly wanted to get out, my face became very hot and I could not get comfortable (the midwife said at this point I was in transition). I started panicking and asked for an epidural because the contractions were suddenly very strong. I was worried that as I had only been 6cm half an hour ago, I was going to be in agony for ages and wouldn't cope. I begged the midwife to examine me, thinking if I was still at 6cm I would need an epidural and she said 'I'm sure you are fully dilated now - I don't have to examine you, I think you are about to have the baby' (I was doubtful though!) 2 minutes later dd2 was born. So in my case the general markers of how a labour is progressing were not easy to measure until the very end (my waters stayed intact until the very end too).