GynoFiles

Water births are not being endorsed but sitting in the tub, or as gynos put it “water immersion,” during labor can be done safely  in maternal centers, birthing suites and other certified birthing centers. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics are not as sure. Newest guidelines call for allowing labor, although no maternal or fetal benefit has ever been shown, but not actually birthing in the tubs. The tubs used do have planned ways of making sure that between patients the tub is clean and safe for the next maternal-baby unit, so we don't have concerns regarding infections. All water immersion programs have specific criteria that a woman must meet when she presents in labor, she and her fetus must continue to meet these criteria as her labor progresses , and there are  emergency strategies as to when to move out of the tub to a bed for when there are signs of maternal or fetal stress. If these policies for ...

Deciding how to labor and birth has a lot of factors. And one topic that comes up is use of a tub to labor or deliver in. Information from clinical studies has been trickling in, and the newest research tracked over 3000 women in order to make professional recommendations regarding the practice of pushing or birthing in water. Water can support weight and it's been thought that water birth could offer positioning advantages. Position in labor and pushing in the right position has been thought to be able to speed things up for mom, so lots of research and engineering design has been devoted to making this happen. In 2004 Gupta and Hofmer published a study looking at being sitting in the 30 degree position vs laying flat on your back to push the baby out, and yes, sitting was better: by 4 minutes...so baby's birth was sped up roughly the amount of time it takes for one extra contraction. Other gynos have looked at other factors such as mom's comfort, the health of t...

Being obese doesn't always mean you will have a difficult labor. There are many risks of pregnancy for those who are obese. These risks extend to wide reaching consequences including increased pregnancy associated diabetes and hypertension, larger babies, pre-eclampsia and going over due. Obese women and over weight women are 20-40% more likely to have an over due pregnancy. If you are overdue you may need an induction of labor which is more problematic and more likely to have a c-section than if you go into spontaneous labor. Obese women have more problems with the delivery itself. More inductions of labor, labor will progress more slowly in obese patients and if they do have an induction less success with inductions, which is responsible for many of the extra c-section deliveries for those with obesity. Physical obstruction of the birth canal is also a problem that can lead to c-section. But in a study published in the summer o...

Pain treatment is an important step for overall good mental health. The newest studies show that women who have untreated and uncontrolled pain in labor are more likely  to suffer from post partum depression. Untreated pain in labor also has been associated with post-traumatic stress disordered and even your thinking and cognitive function can be disrupted if you have uncontrolled pain in labor. The cause of labor pain may be one of a number of factors. Like the stretching of pelvic nerves, the dilating of the cervix and the contraction of the uterus itself. We know that psychologic stress makes the pain worse as well. And the pain of labor leads to abnormally high blood adrenaline which can cross the placenta and affect the baby as well as affect the amount of blood flow to the placenta by over 50%.So when planning your birth, discuss your options with your provider, think about ways you can safely decrease the amount of pain that you may experience, it is important for your he...

The celebration of medical firsts, a rather obscure topic I'll admit, is fraught with a likelihood that we just didn't have the facts. First performing a technique, and eventually claiming that technique or publishing that technique was much like the invention of words. A new word is just a silly slip of the mouth until we all are spouting that same nonsense! So knowing really when a first occurred, might be difficult. Especially since in the prior times the female midwives did the deliveries and the male obstetricians documented them! One of the obstetrical masters of his day was one Fielding Ould, who practiced in the Rotunda hospital in Dublin in the late 1700s. He wrote the famous Treatise on Midwifery in 1742, and is credited with the first description of a cut to help a woman deliver her baby if her perineal tissues were too rigid: it was a mediolateral episiotomy. The cut was thought to be so valuable an aid to delivery the great DrLee recommended that every person sh...

Sacagawea had a long hard labor, in spite of the fact that she was one very active pregnant lady as a leading guide of Lewis and Clark across their epic exploration across the country. However when Sacagawea's labor stalled, she used a very modern solution to her ills ! All information ,according to what we know about the birth , was that she was essentially hiking and touring up to the day she gave birth, but actually delivered on train with those now legendary explorers. On February 11, 1805 when Lewis and Clark saw their young interpreter 16 year old Sacagawea was greatly troubled, they suspected obstructed labor knew she needed relief. Sacagawea's story is well known, was a Shoshoni woman captured by the Hidata Indians in the Dakotas. She was married to the French fur trapper interpreter Toussaint Charbonneau, when Lewis and Clark hired her, and what most people familiar with her story didn't know she also was pregnant! And prior to labor she had certainly exercised, ...

Natural labor is best.