Ladies who have given birth recently, is this something new?

[Jeafl]

My cousin's wife Myrna just gave birth to a full term baby who was only 4 lbs. 3 oz. Of course she is super tiny and only weighed 97 lbs. when she was 9 months pregnant.

Anyway, my cousin told me that the doctor delivered the baby's head, but then made Myrna deliver the rest of the baby herself! . It turns out that Myrna accidentally pulled the baby straight up and ended up ripping herself and getting 11 stitches! She bled so bad that she ended up staying in the hospital for one day longer than she was supposed to.

I haven't given birth in 8 years, so this is all new to me. Isn't that what you are paying the doctor for? I just can't imagine a mother being at the right angle to pull the baby out straight. What also concerns me is that if there is a problem, like the cord wrapped around the baby's neck, how could you see that until the baby was already out? Wouldn't this be a lawsuit waiting to happen if something goes wrong?

I figured the people of the DIS could enlighten me to all this. Has anyone ever done this? How did it all work? There's never a shortage of opinions here!

 

[gymnasticsmom68]

I did that, the doctor asked me if I wanted to. They know when the baby's head is out if the cord is around it's neck. It's not nearly as big a deal as you're thinking it is. I was, in fact, delivering my own baby, instead of letting the doctor do it.

BTW my daughter, who I delivered that way, will be 8 next month, so it's not entirely new.

 

[JetMom]

I did this when my middle DS was born 10 years ago. It was a WILD experience!

 

[Jenn Lynn]

I was offered to do that by my Midwife, but I did not want to. DH reached into the water and pulled her out instead. And then put her on my chest.

When the head comes out, they feel for the cord before you push the baby out the rest of the way.

I have heard of it being done quite a bit with Midwives.

 

[Pembo]

I have heard of it but the doctor is getting paid alot of money so I let him do his share of the work.

Poor Myrna, sending lots of healing pixie dust her way. Ouch!

 

[whirlsy]

Do you get half off the delivery? If not why would you want too? Ewwwwww.

 

[Princess_Aurora]

Don't know much about the delivering your own baby thing, but I know about the tearing. First, let me say OUCH! I had a 4 degree tear and apparently an incompetent dr. I had to go back 6 weeks later to make sure the stitches had healed and he said everything was all good.

Fast foward five years later when I had my second baby and a new dr. After my DS was born, the new dr asked me why I hadn't been stitched up. When I told him I was he said either I wasn't stitched up right or the stitches had somehow torn after they were put in. Either way, he said it was something the dr should have caught when I was examined six weeks later. I now have to go have surgery to get it all fixed, but it's a pretty painful sounding surgery and since my job is done sitting down all day long, it would put me out of work for a while, so I've been putting it off.

Anyway, just make sure she has her stitches checked out and stuff.

 

[gravymom]

Well, my DH had to deliver my third child, quite by accident. Not only did we NOT get a discount on the OB's fee, it ended up costing more (ambulance ride, being at an out of network hospital, etc.) But it was a cool experience.

 

[vald1977]

I've never heard of mothers delivering their own children and my ds is only 4. Of course, he was delivered via emergency c-section so it wouldn't have been an option.

 

[danacara]

I think generally it's more about guiding the baby out than literally pulling. But yes, I think I will leave the guiding to the doctor personally when that day comes.

 

[amid chaos]

I dont think i could have bent over enough to do it at that point.

 

[kadaten]

Never heard of it, but they have all sorts of things going on in OB these days.

Wouldn't have been an option for me....at least with DS, anyway....the *&%^$#@ anesthesiologist overdosed me on my spinal and I was paralyzed from the neck down.....they had to tell me to breathe because my body wasn't doing it....DS ended up just sliding out on his own....no pushing or anything....like I said, completely paralyzed from the neck down...*&%^$#@ anesthesiologist....he screwed up on my first birth, too....ended up with nicked dura both times and had to have a blood patch to get rid of the spinal headaches....that idiot shouldn't be practicing!!

Sorry....touchy subject....

 

[Stimpy]

I've seen it done on "A Baby's Story" on TLC ("Crack for the pregnant woman" LOL). I wouldn't want to do it myself. I'd be too afraid of dropping the poor baby!

After all the complications I have had with this pregnancy, that's one less thing I need to worry about. I don't think it would be a pain issue for me. With DS, now 4, the L&D was so horrible, I was ready to take a scapel myself and do my own c-section or an operation on DH if I could've reached him at the time LOL.

 

[caitycaity]

wow - i don't think i'd want to do that.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I really like touching and holding them much better after they've been rinsed off and those cute little hats are put on their heads.

 

[Roemama1]

I never was offered the choice to do this but wish I was. It sounds really awesome. Both of my DD's were delivered in the actual "delivery room" because of slight complications. Although, not really sure if I would have been able to reach. I'm 5 foot 1, so I was all belly as my DH's had nowhere else to go because of my height. My younger DD came out so fast the cord broke without being cut. (She still hasn't slowed down since, LOL).

 

[Jenn Lynn]

You can reach better if you are in a sitting position vs. the hospital way of having you lay down. I saw DD's whole birth, including her head being out while the rest of her was still inside. It was cool seeing her head under water (a little weird too.) (She was a water birth.)

 

[disneyluvers]

Dr: Psst! Hey, guess what? You two can get to deliver the baby yourself.

DH:You mean I still have to pay full price!

Me:

 

[gymnasticsmom68]

You can reach better if you are in a sitting position vs. the hospital way of having you lay down.

I was in the hospital, in the bed, when I delivered DD this way. I've never had a doctor or nurse tell me I had to lay down to give birth. That may be an old midwive's tale.