Ok after delivering 2 in a hospital and having an aweful experience with the L&D nurses my first... and a much better with my 2nd (LOL one nurse was a little resistant but did good )
Anyways how open are you to 100% natural births?
I mean my DS was a natural birth but met with a lot of resistance from my L&D nurse. With my first my nurse was down right mean about me wanting a natural birth.
With my son my nurse was the "natural birth specialist" but yet she wasn't. Every fwe min was trying to do EFM with every contraction, told me no about everything I requested. (I wanted to push squatting on floor, she said no, lol i ignored her and just did it) She wanted me in bed.. lol OB didn't care he said hang upside down if I wanted.. it was only the nurse.
She and my midwife who was with me as a doula really butted heads. Told me no wash cloth on perineum while pushing (LOL i thought that felt great! no need for that thing washcloth on the forehead!). Kept wanting me to put on gown vs letting me run butt naked or wear my own clothes (skirt and bra).
With my first the nurse was down right aweful. Told me to "get a grip" working thru a very fast labor/transition (3hours) as a first time mom. Came in every 5-10 min asking me if I was ready for epidural yet...refused to give me IV meds when requested or zofran (lots of puking)
Is this the norm? How do all of you feel you fit in with natural births or do you not like them? Love them? Think they are more or less work? What are your thoughts on mothers with birthplans for natural births or wanting one? Anyone here never even seen a natural or drug/intervention free birth?
both times my postpartum nurses both times were fabulous.
It is important to listen shortly after a contraction if not thru one to evaluate baby. If you wait until the mom is "ready" many times you are listening well after the contraction. I try to explain this when mom isn't contracting.
The other thing I have noticed in my 24 years of OB nursing is the complete lack of understanding some patients have about emergency situations. You hear them telling their family on the phone about the horrible gruesome procedure they just went through and it was really a frightening emergency in which the provider did a wonderful job of preventing a tragedy.
I had a patient with a midwife who both wanted everything as natural as possible. Fine by me but after an AROM, I listen to FHTs as per AWHONN recommendations. They kept telling me you don't have to listen now, she's not ready. Well, this was one of the few cases where I didn't listen to them, I guess it was my gut feeling. I listened heart tones were in the 50's. Midwife wouldn't check her, so I did (while she was pulling my hands away) Prolapsed cord. What would have happened if I had waited til mom was "ready". Sometimes another side to the story. But I bet this mom was still telling people what a horrible nurse I was!
It is important to listen shortly after a contraction if not thru one to evaluate baby. If you wait until the mom is "ready" many times you are listening well after the contraction. I try to explain this when mom isn't contracting.
The other thing I have noticed in my 24 years of OB nursing is the complete lack of understanding some patients have about emergency situations. You hear them telling their family on the phone about the horrible gruesome procedure they just went through and it was really a frightening emergency in which the provider did a wonderful job of preventing a tragedy.
I had a patient with a midwife who both wanted everything as natural as possible. Fine by me but after an AROM, I listen to FHTs as per AWHONN recommendations. They kept telling me you don't have to listen now, she's not ready. Well, this was one of the few cases where I didn't listen to them, I guess it was my gut feeling. I listened heart tones were in the 50's. Midwife wouldn't check her, so I did (while she was pulling my hands away) Prolapsed cord. What would have happened if I had waited til mom was "ready". Sometimes another side to the story. But I bet this mom was still telling people what a horrible nurse I was!
How sad Hopefully baby was ok.
Yes I never said she couldn't listen to heart tones, just to not jump at me midst a contraction. She could listen thru the contraction and after as long as she wanted, just don't start in the middle and god forbid tell me your going to be touching me. (I had eyes closed so couldn't see her).
In the situation your talking about yes listening after and sometimes checking after an AROM is necessary heck or even after they sponaneously rupture. But mine were intact. It could wait 30 seconds to 1 minute for her to start between contractions and to just remain there thru the contraction until its over.
The confined private space of a bathroom is the perfect place for a labouring woman! May not be so convenient for the attendant, but it is easy to think outside the square and work around it. I frequently 'recommend' women sit and labour on the toilet( and deliver there if they wish) and in many years of midwifery I have never had to fish a kid out of the water. Plus it's real easy to pop a pair of gloves in your pocket!:heartbeat
And if I'm really thinking someone might deliver on the toilet, or she's worried about the baby falling in, I'll put a hat in there, just to help with that fear. Hats are good for placentas, too. Sometimes just sitting on the toilet gets that placenta right out, and the hat makes it much easier to retrieve.
Yes I never said she couldn't listen to heart tones, just to not jump at me midst a contraction. She could listen thru the contraction and after as long as she wanted, just don't start in the middle and god forbid tell me your going to be touching me. (I had eyes closed so couldn't see her).
In the situation your talking about yes listening after and sometimes checking after an AROM is necessary heck or even after they sponaneously rupture. But mine were intact. It could wait 30 seconds to 1 minute for her to start between contractions and to just remain there thru the contraction until its over.
My point was that sometimes the mom doesn't see the urgency of the situation and could relay to friends and families that the nurse wasn't caring or didn't listen to her needs/requests. I also had to intervene as charge nurse where the patient wanted a new nurse. The baby had late decels, rising baseline and no variability. The woman didn't want an IV. She was angry with the nurse who was desperately trying to convince her to take the IV. The husband yelled at the nurse that the IV could wait until mom was in a "better place". Her attending was on the way in and she was sectioned 10 minutes after he got there. PH was 7.00. Sometimes it has to be about the baby and not the mom. The nurse who was caring for her was very appropriate in her communication.
My point was that sometimes the mom doesn't see the urgency of the situation and could relay to friends and families that the nurse wasn't caring or didn't listen to her needs/requests. I also had to intervene as charge nurse where the patient wanted a new nurse. The baby had late decels, rising baseline and no variability. The woman didn't want an IV. She was angry with the nurse who was desperately trying to convince her to take the IV. The husband yelled at the nurse that the IV could wait until mom was in a "better place". Her attending was on the way in and she was sectioned 10 minutes after he got there. PH was 7.00. Sometimes it has to be about the baby and not the mom. The nurse who was caring for her was very appropriate in her communication.
I 100% agree. My point was I KNEW it wasn't an emergent situation. Our doula was our homebirth MW (CPM) and had been a MW for many years (6 or 7? as well as being a doula for 15 years). She would have swatted back at me and told me no we need this for one, and I knew our nurse was just getting into the mode of getting what she needed.. forgetting this mom wasn't confined to bed with an epidural and couldn't feel what she was doing. LOL there were a few other things that suggested this and maybe she wasn't fully awake yet (7am)... she missed her coffee .
Our bathrooms on our current unit are larger, but on our previous unit (our unit moved) the bathrooms were fairly small. Had a lady in the shower, went in to help her get dressed afterwards. She had a ctx, gripped my shoulders and started to crouch down, so i did too. then we were both squatted on teh bathroom floor. She was 39weeks preg, i was 36weeks, so we were belly to belly in this tiny bathroom, lol.
I tried laboring on the toilet and found the seat too hard and uncomfy.
Not a nurse yet but a proud mother of two...shame on that nurse. I would have asked her how many kids does she have and God forbid if she answered 0. The labor would have had to wait. That is ridiculous. Some things are out of our control. Now if the baby came unexpectedly, I could understand the natural process because that is what God intended, but I am all for medication. Who wants to experience that kind of pain? Especially if you cannot tolerate it. Sounds scary.
I guess it is very easy to post things about labor nurses and make them sound horrible. The thing is they aren't here to defend themselves and I just know somewhere my actions are posted on a message board as being that of Nurse Kratchet.
Perhaps there wouldn't be so much animosity if questions such as "Are you l and d nurses all for natural births? weren't asked in a judgemental way.
I have had too many patients who want natural childbirth, who come with a doula, who are fighting with me before I even open my mouth. I feel as if there is no way I will meet thier expectations because they are expecting me to fail. They are critical before anything has even happened. And it is an aggressive encounter to boot.
I always try my hardest to meet my patients requests and needs, but I also expect the patient to show me respect until I fail to earn it.
I once had a patient who I brought into a room for induction. I asked if she had a birth plan or any requests that we needed to know about right away. She threw her gown at me(which was lying on the bed with robe and slippers): and told me if I made her wear that horrible confining gown, she knew I would never be able to take good care of her.
I have heard this many times and think it's really unfair. Some hospitals hate to see doulas coming, and one has unofficially "banned" them due to some real problems with attitude and agenda. I know some moms and doulas that just cannot believe that the L&D nurse is on their side! They walk in expecting the worst, defenses up. I believe it is an opportunity lost..so sad.
An interesting side note...some have mentioned that their doula is their midwife. Here in OK midwives are not always welcome in the hospital. I had a friend transfer from a birth center to hospital and the midwife was not allowed thru the door, even to act as doula! The birth center has since closed. We have very few laws governing lay/professional midwives, but they do not have much support from the medical community. There are very few of them around.
It seems like a "fad" to have a horror story to tell, especially about hospital births. Some of this stems from people walking in with a mile long birth plan without understanding the reality of childbirth- it's work! You can't just copy a birthplan out of a book and expect it to happen! I don't even have my clients write a birthplan- they have ideas about what they want and prepare for that. BUT you cannot always predict how things will go. You have to be flexible sometimes. Sticking a list of "demands" in the nurse's face is not the way to make friends!
One of my clients labored after SROM for 30 hrs (birthcenter) then had a c-section. The baby had the cord around his neck 3 times and could not descend!! Ya never know...
In my experiences as a doula, the L&D nurses have always been great and tried to work with mom/family. I honestly have no complaints. Maybe we have good nurses around here :)
Now if the baby came unexpectedly, I could understand the natural process because that is what God intended, but I am all for medication. Who wants to experience that kind of pain? Especially if you cannot tolerate it. Sounds scary.
LOL there are benefits to a natural birth. Its not the pain its the intensity of it that can be overwhelming. But the recovery is so different between a natural and epidural birth (i've had both). It is also best for both mom and baby (usually) if labor can progress intervention and medication free. An epidural can lead to a cascade of interventions and eventually c-section all because your on your back laboring in bed without any pain... there is a method to the madness. Some epidurals are needed for women who simply cannot relax enough to dilate... Usually they are close and just can't relax enough to get to a 10 you get epidural and baby is usually born within a few short hours.
I have had too many patients who want natural childbirth, who come with a doula, who are fighting with me before I even open my mouth. I feel as if there is no way I will meet thier expectations because they are expecting me to fail.
Your right this is why we had the doula. Given our first experience (no doula and no written up birth plan) we were walked all over. Granted it wasn't fair to our nurses to think 2nd time they would be how they were the 1st time. We actually brought no bake cookies that I made prior to coming into hospital for all of the nursing staff. We had a great nurse prior to the one I swatted at, but again I wasn't in transition then either. So shift change happend my doula/MW said the second the nurse walked in the door I didn't like new nurse. Not fair to new nurse but at the moment I really didn't like anyone. (BTW the nurse that came in while in transition was the 2nd nurse in the room when I had my daughter, she attended to baby). So new nurse walked in myself and DH recognized her and it brought back a lot of the same feelings we had with nurse my first baby. Not fair as she didn't do anything wrong she was just guilty by association. Altho it worked to advantage in some ways. When that nurse walked into room I'd regain my composure lol... doula said she kept laughing because I'd get all stoic every time I seen her.
An interesting side note...some have mentioned that their doula is their midwife. Here in OK midwives are not always welcome in the hospital. I had a friend transfer from a birth center to hospital and the midwife was not allowed thru the door, even to act as doula! The birth center has since closed. We have very few laws governing lay/professional midwives, but they do not have much support from the medical community. There are very few of them around.
It seems like a "fad" to have a horror story to tell, especially about hospital births. Some of this stems from people walking in with a mile long birth plan without understanding the reality of childbirth- it's work! You can't just copy a birthplan out of a book and expect it to happen! I don't even have my clients write a birthplan- they have ideas about what they want and prepare for that. BUT you cannot always predict how things will go. You have to be flexible sometimes. Sticking a list of "demands" in the nurse's face is not the way to make friends!
In my experiences as a doula, the L&D nurses have always been great and tried to work with mom/family. I honestly have no complaints. Maybe we have good nurses around here :)
Our MW could be present as our Doula but could not in any way act as a MW. No doing anything medical. At one point she did FHT for us because nurse was trying to set up room and get bluepads etc down on the floor. But anyone can hold a monitor on belly and listen to FHT. The strip recorded them and nurse was able to look at it when she was done. Actually our OB was very anxious to meet our doula, knowing we had been planning a homebirth before and she's got such a low transfer rate many in hospital do not know her. They talked quite a bit, OB was asking how they suport pernieum to prevent tears to see if it was different than what OB was doing. (The OB group we seen is about as close to MW's as you can get for OB;s they are wonderful)
The laundry list of a birth plan is NEVER a good idea. I would however say write some kind of a birth plan. Going in without one with my daughter didn't work well for us. Our birth plan 2nd time was very short and most of it pertained to immediately after delivery. But yes with these plans that are 2-10 pages long its bound to fail because birth just doesn't happen like that.
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So shift change happend my doula/MW said the second the nurse walked in the door I didn't like new nurse. Not fair to new nurse but at the moment I really didn't like anyone. (BTW the nurse that came in while in transition was the 2nd nurse in the room when I had my daughter, she attended to baby). So new nurse walked in myself and DH recognized her and it brought back a lot of the same feelings we had with nurse my first baby. Not fair as she didn't do anything wrong she was just guilty by association. Altho it worked to advantage in some ways. When that nurse walked into room I'd regain my composure lol... doula said she kept laughing because I'd get all stoic every time I seen her.
PegRNBSN
167 Posts
It is important to listen shortly after a contraction if not thru one to evaluate baby. If you wait until the mom is "ready" many times you are listening well after the contraction. I try to explain this when mom isn't contracting.
The other thing I have noticed in my 24 years of OB nursing is the complete lack of understanding some patients have about emergency situations. You hear them telling their family on the phone about the horrible gruesome procedure they just went through and it was really a frightening emergency in which the provider did a wonderful job of preventing a tragedy.
I had a patient with a midwife who both wanted everything as natural as possible. Fine by me but after an AROM, I listen to FHTs as per AWHONN recommendations. They kept telling me you don't have to listen now, she's not ready. Well, this was one of the few cases where I didn't listen to them, I guess it was my gut feeling. I listened heart tones were in the 50's. Midwife wouldn't check her, so I did (while she was pulling my hands away) Prolapsed cord. What would have happened if I had waited til mom was "ready". Sometimes another side to the story. But I bet this mom was still telling people what a horrible nurse I was!