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As soon as you find out you are pregnant one of the things you begin to think about (a lot) is your labor and delivery. There are many things to consider such will you require a schedule c-section, do you want to have pain medication or an epidural during your labor, or do you want to try going natural.
So, what if you are planning on going natural, what questions should you ask your doctor to help ensure you are in the right hands for the choice you are making? Not every doctor is going to be the best one to support you in this decision. By asking a few important questions early on you can determine if you are in the right hands or need to seek out a new, more compatible doctor.
- What percentage of the births you attend are cesarean deliveries?
- What percentage of the births you attend require delivery assistance such as forceps or vacuum extraction?
- How often do you attend vaginal births after cesareans (VBAC) and what is your stance on VBACs?
- What do you consider to be reasons to require or recommend a c-section?
- What is the hospital’s rate of cesarean deliveries?
- Does the hospital allow VBACs?
- What percentage of the births you attend are induced and under what circumstances do you recommend induction?
By asking a few questions and doing your research you will be more likely to get that natural childbirth you are looking for. Don’t be afraid to ask your doctor these questions.
No matter what decision you ultimately make be sure it is the right one for you. Educate yourself about your options, talk at length with your doctor or midwife about what to expect, and remember that when it comes down to it everything might end up going a very different way. Keeping an open and flexible mind will help prevent you from being disappointed with how your labor and delivery ultimately play out.
Here are some great online resources for information on childbirth that can help you as you research your options.
A study released this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found that babies born prematurely (before week 37) are at risk for health consequences into adulthood. The study used data from tracking done by Norwegian doctors of 1.2 million people born in Norway between 1967 and 1988.
It has been commonly known for quite some time now that infants born before the 37th week of pregnancy were at risk for health problems as infants, however, little was known about the long term health consequences until now. The study found that preemies were at a greater risk of death during childhood, were less likely to reproduce as adults, had slightly lower educational attainment, and were more likely to deliver their own children prematurely. The more premature the infant was the more likely they were to suffer long term effects into adulthood.
Modern technology has made it possible for babies born as early as 22 weeks to be saved. However, as research is beginning to show the complications continue long after that premature baby has grown up.
Talk to your doctor about your risk for premature delivery and what you can do to help your pregnancy go full term. If you had a premature baby talk to your child’s pediatrician about what you can do to ensure your child has the best outlook in life.
What would happen if you were involved in a motor vehicle accident with your child in the car and were unable to tell emergency personnel who your child was? Or what if your child was in the car with another adult, like a grandparent or babysitter, and involved in a motor vehicle accident, how would emergency personnel be able to identify your child? It is a scary thing to think about and probably not something anyone of us really do think about. I know I didn't really think about it before today.
If the adult in the vehicle with a small child is unable to communicate with emergency personnel there needs to be some way for the EMTs to identify your child. The best way to ensure people will know who your child is and who to call in the case of an emergency is to put that information on their carseat. By putting a sticker with your child's name, date of birth, address, your name/spouse's name, all contact numbers for you/your spouse, as well as an emergency contact emergency workers will be able to quickly identify your child, contact the necessary parties and begin treating your child quickly.
No one likes to think about terrible things happening but sometimes they do. The best thing you can do for your child is be prepared. Putting your child's identity on their carseat can save their life.
You can obtain specially designed stickers from the Department of Transportation by calling 1-800-552-8522. Emergency workers know to look for these stickers on child safety seats.
Episiotomy, it is the word that every pregnant woman dreads, and tends to avoid talking about. An episiotomy is an incision made in the perineum during delivery. The incision is made by your doctor to help speed delivery and to avoid tearing. Some doctors perform episiotomies routinely on all patients while others try to avoid them. It is very important to talk to your doctor about their use of episiotomies, especially if you have a particular preference one way or the other.
Research has begun to show that women who tear spontaneously during delivery tend to recovery in the same or less time as those who have episiotomies. The general practice for many years was for all women to have an episiotomy, however, the trend has changed (thank goodness!) and they are beginning to be performed less frequently.
Some of the reasons you may find that you need an episiotomy include:
- The baby’s heart rate slows and the doctor wants to speed up the delivery for the welfare of the baby.
- You are carrying a large baby and the doctor doesn’t anticipate that extra room will be needed.
- If the tissue in your perineum begins to bleed and it appears that you may tear in multiple places.
- You have a doctor that performs episiotomies routinely.
The best thing to do if you wish to avoid an episiotomy is to make sure your doctor does not perform them routinely. Talk to your doctor about your preferences and make sure you chart indicates you wish to avoid an episiotomy if you can. Remember, however, that it may be impossible to avoid an episiotomy. If one is deemed medically necessary it is probably better to go with it than to risk multiple or severe tearing.
Talk to your doctor about the risks of an episiotomy or vaginal tearing. Be sure you know what limitations you may have after the delivery, what recovery may be like for you, and when your doctor will want to see you post delivery to examine the incision.
Each time I sit down to write about my baby I am amazed how quickly time has gone by. It seems like I was just writing about my postpartum experiences and now here I am writing about my 4 month old.
We have suffered through the second round of vaccinations and got a glowing report at our 4 month follow visit with the pediatrician. Again, she wasn’t too bothered by the needles. She cried a lot right after she got them, but by the time we got home she was feeling better and ready for a little nap.
Life has settled into a pretty good routine. We have a pretty good schedule. She eats at about 7pm and then is down for the night by 8pm. She sleeps through the night sometimes now, other nights she gets up only once to eat. We have had some trouble getting her to stay asleep at first. Sometimes she wakes up 2-3 times within the first couple of hours of being in bed. She isn’t hungry or anything and usually falls right back to sleep. In the last few days she has started being able to put herself to sleep if I put her down when she is really drowsy, so maybe the frequent waking will stop as she learns to sooth herself back to sleep when she wakes up.
It is amazing how much she has changed and how much she is learning. She squeals now, which is really cute. She always has a lot to talk about, most of the time she is awake she is chatting away. Her giggles are still the most adorable thing I have ever heard. For play time she loves to jump in her doorway jumper and play on her activity mat.
The next big step for us will be introducing solid foods. Probably in the next month or so. That should be fun.