Natural birth that didn't go to plan?

[madasa]

Sorry patch Sounds like a rough experience for both of you. Why did they induce you? (if you don't mind me asking)? Was LO or the placenta not doing OK or something? Or was it just a date-on-the-calendar-thing?

 

[patch2006uk]

It all went a bit weird tbh. I had a sweep at 10 days over and was already 2cm dilated. Midwife reckoned I wouldn't make it to the 11th but booked me in for induction at 14 days over just in case. On 10th, so 13 days over, I had some tightenings but no sign of labour. Went into hospital on 11th and was told I was 4cm dilated, could go to midwife led unit with pool room, all sorted. When I got to the room, I was told I was only 3cm and didn't have a labouring cervix. The midwives let me stay for an hour and gave us massage oils to try to help things go again.

Nothing worked, so I was taken to see a consultant because of being overdue. He basically sent us home saying he expected things would get going again in the night but to come back the next day if they hadn't to be monitored. Nothing happened overnight, so I went back on 12th. Was told that since i was dilated, they would just break my waters and it'd probably go naturally and pretty quickly from then. Then they monitored and LO's heartrate was not stable, so they put me on a drip to rehydrate. They were happy with that so broke my waters. Serious meconium world. Midwife actually gasped. Not good. Still no contractions.

After half an hour and more monitoring, was put on the syntocin. LO's heart either stopped or slowed to undetectable. Rushed for EMCS. Couldn't have skin to skin as LO was covered head to toe in poo and not breathing, didn't see or hold him for an hour and a half after his birth. Not quite the birthing pool, natural third stage, immediate skin to skin with minimal Pain relief I'd hoped for!

Not an experience I'd like to repeat really. My criticism is almost that if the doctors hadn't been so obsessed with me going naturally and had intervened sooner, I may have been able to have a normal, if not a natural, birth.

Sorry to hijack with my incredibly long tale of woe! On the plus side, I now have a happy and healthy breastfed 4 month old. The c-section made me so determined to breastfeed-i needed to prove my body could do something right!!

 

[madasa]

But if the placenta was still working ok, the baby gets everything they need from that until they start breathing.... Did they check that at all before they broke the water, or did they just keep pushing your body to labour? It does sound very strange.

 

[patch2006uk]

Isaac's heartrate was all over the place and he hadn't moved much for a few hours (they still left us waiting for 2 hours to see me though!) so I think they thought he was in a fair amount of distress. They did say when he was born that everything was workin fine and other than the mec. he was a normal full term, no signs of being overdue.

I am gonna request my hospital notes I think, if nothing else so I know whether there was an underlying problem or reason I wasn't labouring normally.

I can't help but think that I just needed a push in the right direction. I think if they'd broken my waters the day before (so the Tuesday), it would've gone naturally, given I was dilated and they reckon he pooed overnight on the Tuesday after I'd been sent home, so that wouldn't have been a factor.

With how heavily stained his waters were, if he'd have been born vaginally and taken a big breath, he'd have inhaled so much mec. it would have been horrid. He'd swallowed enough as it was, which affected his feeding. He had to be resuscitated and struggled to regulate his breathing.

I think I have to believe the caesarian was required, as he didn't seem to be coming out of his own accord, and the induction drip could have killed him! I criticise the hospital a little for stickin him on a heat mat though, as my OH was there and doing skin to skin while I was being cleaned out and stitched up, and surely that is more effective than some water filled mat?!

I felt like I gave my body a decent shot at labour-walking at least 2 miles everyday, spicy food, dtd, and plenty of time - I was 15 days over officially, 18 days over by my original dates. I know people go longer, but something didn't feel right by the end.

I'm thankful my son and I both lived to tell the tale, and since his birth we've had no further complications. I just would have preferred those few days to have gone so, so differently. I'm not sure how they could have, though.

 

[madasa]

But breaking the waters increased the risk of MAS, didn't it? Perhpas that is why they hesitated to do it?

Have you seen this article? https://midwifethinking.com/2010/10/09/the-curse-of-meconium-stained-liquor/

 

[patch2006uk]

I hadn't seen the article, thanks for that. The article makes a distinction between thick and thin mec. and I think ours was certainly thick. Isaac failed his newborn hearing screening because his ears were completely gunked up with thick poo (lovely). My waters weren't slightly tinged, they looked like an explosive diarrhoea attack! It was really quite lovely.

I know mec. on it's own isn't reason for a c-section, and i think it was a whole host of things that were odd. The mec. was just the most visible! My community midwife was shocked things went so wrong, she was really expecting me to have a reasonably straight forward time. She swept me at 41+2 and I was already 2cm dilated, so she thought I'd last another 24/48 hours tops!