the phrase "breaking the bed"

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I went to a midwifery meeting and the phrase came up a couple times. I didn't have the courage to ask what it meant. :smackingf

beckinben - I only do it if she's already in stirrups and not coming out of them. Unfortunately most of our patients do labor in the bed because they've been induced and put on pitocin and have epidurals... they aren't eligible to be in all of those positions anyway. We do put baby straight to belly...but there is that moment between getting a good hold of the shoulders and belly that's a little iffy, lmao, so I understand the fear.

I rarely, rarely get the stirrups out. I probably have a 50% epidural rate (for a variety of reasons), and I still try to get the ones with an epidural into a side lying position for delivery. It's better for preventing or decreasing tears, and reduces your chances of a shoulder dystocia, but it's hard to do if the bed is broken down.

I remember the days of feeling like I might drop the baby. You will get to the point where you don't worry about it quite so much. It takes practice. ;)

Did you hit the floor when the bed broke? I am so terrified of this, LOL!

Yes, and the nurse and patient both laughed their you-know-whats off.:chuckle

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The bed with my daughter "broke down" to be about 6 inches lower than the rest of the bed. I sat upright and pushed legs on the lowered part and was almost all the way upright. It actually was really comfy. After baby was out they set placenta bowl under there and it kinda plopped into the bowl.

Wasn't to shabby.

With my DS I was squatting on the floor. Nurse wanted to break bed down and have me use squat bar.... There was no way I was getting on that bed at that point. I just squatted and pushed right on the floor next to bed. LOL they figured it out how to keep floor clean and play "catch" all at the same time. I'm sure more work for OB lol but that bed is just a scary like contraption.. and whomever thought lets have this lady climb up on the bed and stand on it with a head coming out her crotch has obviously never experienced that sensation!

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I am a student who prefers the bed to be broken down. The nurses do not like to break the beds though because there's a potential for a mess on the floor (which is harder to clean up than just changing the bed linen). Most of my classmates do not like to break the bed down because they are afraid they might drop the baby, and with the bed there you have a soft cushion and there's really nowhere for it to "fall" if it were ever to happen (highly, highly unlikely)

I don't like to lower and sit on the bottom of the bed because I weigh a lot and don't like how unsteady (ie weak) that little part of the bed feels under me. But I only say yes to breaking the bed if the woman is *already* in stirrups.

As an L&D nurse I don't really care if the bed is broken down or not, it is up to the doc or cnm as to what their preference is and what is most comortable for mom and I think that most of my coworkers would agree that our top concern isn't how much of a mess there is rather that mom and baby are comfortable and most importantly safe, and I don't clean the floors housekeeping does so maybe housekeeping has a preference.

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Whilst working as a nurse in the USA I have noticed that in the main all of the doctors want the beds broken down for one reason only to make them feel comfortable and incontrol to be fair most of them have never caught any other postion other than in this postion so they know no different. For me it is completly mind blowing when I worked in the UK we had t- shirts made called the martine midwives - any time any place anywhere- and it was true! Unfortunatly here things are different but I try and do what I can when a woman is stuck in bed I lower the bottom of the bed and sit on the keeping the woman higher than me at all times giving her a feeling of control- I have been doing a mini audit and so far all the women seem to gain some benifit. - I see no benifit at all to the bed being broken down it places the woman in a sumissive postion unable to move - as a side note when I worked as a midwife my clients were often very vocal( which is normal in uk woman can get very earthy ) and I can be a bit messy but you know what you can clean floors!

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Breaking the bed (and putting the mother is stirrups) is placing her in the lithotomy position, which was invented way back to for the removal gallstones or kidney stones. To his day, it only serves to make it easy for the practitioner. Interestingly, I've heard a mother ask to but put in stirrups, nor are they ever asked if that's okay. I've been able to catch babies in any position that the mother wants. An MD going down on his/her knees to get to the mom's level is so unlikely it's funny to imagine.

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As an L&D nurse I don't really care if the bed is broken down or not, it is up to the doc or cnm as to what their preference is and what is most comortable for mom and I think that most of my coworkers would agree that our top concern isn't how much of a mess there is rather that mom and baby are comfortable and most importantly safe, and I don't clean the floors housekeeping does so maybe housekeeping has a preference.

Where I have been working the RNs clean up after the births, not housekeeping. I should have said "IN MY EXPERIENCE..." Of course not all nurses are the same, but I have been told very clearly, to my face, by nurses, what I said in the previous post. Glad you don't mind, but of course we can only speak for our own experiences. :wink2:

Also, as I am a student, I do not always get to make the final decisions on positioning, walking ect. Preceptors follow hospital rules and students must do as they are told by midwives teaching them! Once we learn the basics there will be plenty of time for us to practice "our way." :wink2:

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You know what when practicing as a midwife not only would I look after mother and baby when it came singlehandedly when we had transfered to pp- we would then clean and restock the rooms I never had any problem with this one good thing as I knew where all the stocks we kept- I knew where everything was in my room and kept things clean and organized as I worked.

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The other thing about breaking the bed which I don't understand is what would you do in the case of shoulder dystocia? you can't turn the mother on her side and definitely not on her back.

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The other thing about breaking the bed which I don't understand is what would you do in the case of shoulder dystocia? you can't turn the mother on her side and definitely not on her back.

correction - I mean "on her hands and knees" not "on her back" That's one of maneuvers for shoulder dystocia

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