Birthing question

Specialties NICU

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this is probably a common sense question but i was unsure, i was reading a post on home births and they were talking about the mothers not having iv's so they drink a lot of water and then the baby has brain damage. can someone explain this to me? :confused:

I agree, it would take a lot of water to cause problems. I must admit, when I've gone to a delivery, and mom has been in labor for a long time, I worry about the babe's blood sugar. Moms are given LR when in labor, and that doesn't do anything for the baby. I make sure that it gets to breast or formula asap.

Babies have brown fat to burn for energy reqirements while moms milk comes in. Also, mom's may be uncomfortable because of hunger and lack of energy but they generally dont become hypoglycemic unless they have diabetes, etc. We have glycogen storages for when we go through times of starvation and increased energy needs.

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You are referring to what I posted. I took care of a baby whose mother refused any IV during labor ( at home) so the midwife instructed her to drink A LOT of water instead. The baby was born with severe electrolyte imbalances causing seizures.

Have you ever heard of water torture as a form of Frat house initiation?

Well, a 20-something year old guy in California died from drinking too much water during a hazing episode.

BTW, The baby died from brain damage due to the electrolyte imbalance (seizures=brain damage) :(

Kim

There have been new reports out recently about athletes overconsuming water. There were posters put out at my old gym warning about overconsumption. It is something that can happen :( .

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Specializes in NICU.
Excuse me, but i don't lie. This mom drank quarts of water, don't remember exactly how much, but way too much. I personally read the chart of this baby and know the history. You would be surprised at what moms do or don't do while in labor to "protect" their baby and end up causing harm.

I've seen it first hand.

I wish the original poster would have just sent me a personal message about this.

Kim:(

Why are you taking this as a personal attack from me? :( When I posted earlier today, there was no way for me to have known that the original poster was actually referring to a post written by a NICU nurse on this board. Only after you PM'd me did I search back and find out that you wrote about it 2 months ago. I don't think it was my responsibility to do a back-search to see who posted that story. I wasn't even sure the original poster read about it on All-Nurses or some homebirthing message board.

I was just voicing my opinion that it would take gallons of water for such an imbalance to take place. I do not think this is common practice nor a common occurance. I'm sure it did happen to you, but I'd hope that most midwives have enough medical training to avoid this type of situation.

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.
Babies have brown fat to burn for energy reqirements while moms milk comes in. Also, mom's may be uncomfortable because of hunger and lack of energy but they generally dont become hypoglycemic unless they have diabetes, etc. We have glycogen storages for when we go through times of starvation and increased energy needs.

You are correct that full-term, AGA, non-stressed infants have plenty of brown fat to burn to meet their energy (glucose) needs in the first hours of life.

But not every newborn is full term, AGA, and non-stressed. Borderline pre-term infants, those who are stressed by prolonged labors, and those who are cold-stressed after birth are at risk of depleting their brown fat stores and experiencing hypoglycemia.

I also wonder if it is possible that mother who has consumed massive amounts of oral fluids during labor may have been drinking sugared beverages, thereby raising her own blood sugar level and that of her baby, causing an exaggerated insulin response and severe hypoglycemia in the newborn, much like we see in IDMs.

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Specializes in NICU, Telephone Triage.
You are correct that full-term, AGA, non-stressed infants have plenty of brown fat to burn to meet their energy (glucose) needs in the first hours of life.

But not every newborn is full term, AGA, and non-stressed. Borderline pre-term infants, those who are stressed by prolonged labors, and those who are cold-stressed after birth are at risk of depleting their brown fat stores and experiencing hypoglycemia.

I also wonder if it is possible that mother who has consumed massive amounts of oral fluids during labor may have been drinking sugared beverages, thereby raising her own blood sugar level and that of her baby, causing an exaggerated insulin response and severe hypoglycemia in the newborn, much like we see in IDMs.

I don't think I ever mentioned a glucose problem in the infant. It was an electrolyte imbalance with Sodium and Potassium issues...causing seizures.

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Specializes in NICU, Telephone Triage.
Why are you taking this as a personal attack from me? :( When I posted earlier today, there was no way for me to have known that the original poster was actually referring to a post written by a NICU nurse on this board. Only after you PM'd me did I search back and find out that you wrote about it 2 months ago. I don't think it was my responsibility to do a back-search to see who posted that story. I wasn't even sure the original poster read about it on All-Nurses or some homebirthing message board.

I was just voicing my opinion that it would take gallons of water for such an imbalance to take place. I do not think this is common practice nor a common occurance. I'm sure it did happen to you, but I'd hope that most midwives have enough medical training to avoid this type of situation.

I thought you saw my original message and knew it was on allnurses, guess I assumed incorrectly. The original poster didn't mention where she read my post...when she should have, or at least asked me first before starting another thread that may end up as heated as the home birth thread that I posted to originally!:uhoh3:

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You are correct that full-term, AGA, non-stressed infants have plenty of brown fat to burn to meet their energy (glucose) needs in the first hours of life.

But not every newborn is full term, AGA, and non-stressed. Borderline pre-term infants, those who are stressed by prolonged labors, and those who are cold-stressed after birth are at risk of depleting their brown fat stores and experiencing hypoglycemia.

I also wonder if it is possible that mother who has consumed massive amounts of oral fluids during labor may have been drinking sugared beverages, thereby raising her own blood sugar level and that of her baby, causing an exaggerated insulin response and severe hypoglycemia in the newborn, much like we see in IDMs.

Absolutely, especially cold stress. But, a baby born in a controlled environment should not be cold stressed (unless a certain midwife or two who practises in our hospital leave the baby laying in a pool of mommygook while the cord stops pulsating!!). Either way you made a great point!

It would be plausable tha the mom was trying to drink calorie dense drinks to keep her energy up, so she flooded her body with fluids and kicked the kids insulin release into overhaul....anything can happen (my new motto!!)

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.
I don't think I ever mentioned a glucose problem in the infant. It was an electrolyte imbalance with Sodium and Potassium issues...causing seizures.

Kimbalou,

I don't know what post you are referring to. I was responding to stnurse2008's question about a mother drinking excessively during labor resulting in brain damage to the newborn. I was simply presenting a possible hypothesis that severe hypoglycemia may be the cause of brain damage.

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Specializes in NICU, Telephone Triage.
Kimbalou,

I don't know what post you are referring to. I was responding to stnurse2008's question about a mother drinking excessively during labor resulting in brain damage to the newborn. I was simply presenting a possible hypothesis that severe hypoglycemia may be the cause of brain damage.

I wasn't sure why the hypoglycemia issue ever came up, if we are talking about the baby I mentioned. I never said the baby had that issue, it was electrolyte imbalance r/t excessive water drinking by the mom, causing seizures in the baby.

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.
I wasn't sure why the hypoglycemia issue ever came up, if we are talking about the baby I mentioned. I never said the baby had that issue, it was electrolyte imbalance r/t excessive water drinking by the mom, causing seizures in the baby.

Again, I was responding to stnurse2008's question. I wasn't aware at that time that you had posted any information regarding this case, and I still don't know what thread you are referring to.

Please understand that most posters don't read every word of every thread. (We simply don't have the time!) If you reference information in another thread most of us won't have a clue what you are talking about, unless you post a link to that thread.

This BB is meant to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas. We realize that it is not the ultimate word on nursing or healthcare, and take what we read with a grain of salt. Most posters are trying to learn/share/be helpful to others with questions. If you do not agree with a response given by another poster, please consider to whom that response was directed.

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Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

As many of us know, home birthing threads can get a bit toasty--NOT THAT I'M saying this one is!!!! Just be aware, ok?

From the OP, I'm not sure the water intake and the brain damage are necesarily cause and effect. Could've been some other thing that caused the brain damage, water intake was incidental.

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WOW, I am sorry that this thread got so heated. I did not mean to cause a problem I was just curious and looking for an answer. It was something I had never heard before and thought maybe one of you could help me understand it. I joined allnurses because I thought it was a place that I would have access to people that had more education than me and that could help me find some answers. I did not post this as a comparison to home birthing or birthing in the hospital, that is a personal choice and don't think it is anyones business what others choose (I know that risks and understand why people don't agree with it, NOT trying to start another fight). All I wanted was an answer as to why water consumption can cause brain damage thats it.

Kimbalou-I am sorry that I offended you by using your post. No one knew what I was talking about and I was curious. I am sorry if I offended you and did not mean to do anything wrong. I hope that you can accept my appology. I also wanted to let you know that I do believe that you saw this happen and I don't want you to think that I am questioning your nursing knowledge, you have been doing this a lot longer than I. Also thank you for sharing about the person that, that happened to, that was all I was wanting to know.

I know that the topics that we are faced with are very touchy and deal with personal morals and thoughts but it is a little disappointing that there is so much fighting on here and I am truely sorry that I started a fight. I guess I was naive and should have never used anyone elses post. Again I appologize to everyone for putting you in a bad position, and thank you for your help.

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