transfers, mess, and other questions!

[08marchbean]

Hi :wave: I have a few concerns/questions I was hoping someone could help with!

Firstly, I had a previous 3rd degree tear, and in the event that I have another and had to go to hospital for repair, would this be strait away? Ambulance transfer? And would the baby come with me? Has anyone been in this situation and could talk me through exactly what happened?

And secondly the tidying. One of my OH's concerns is having to clean up! I realise it wont be carnage or anything But I will be hiring a pool so this will need emptied and things will need washed and wiped down i assume. Will this be our sole responsibility or will the midwifes lend a hand here? Emptying/sieving pool etc?

I am quite concerned as I have been told in the event of a transfer after delivery that the baby cannot come in the ambulance with me, this would be a big factor in putting me off if this is the case as there is no way I would want to leave OH and baby at home while i went off to be stitched or whatever. (I know his parents would manage to muscle in) and i want my skin to skin and breastfeed bubs.

Any insight would be awsome!!

 

[amerikiwi]

I'm in Australia, so it may be different in the UK, but my midwife (who got in trouble for going to my house as they weren't licensed for homebirths but DS came too quickly) fought to let baby transfer to hospital with me in the ambulance. At first the ambos were adamant that they would not, but my midwife said that I had a written request to have a physiological third stage and since my son was still attached to me, he travelled with me on my chest. She also had to bring up the fact that some babies were arriving cold from ambulance transfers without skin to skin.

I don't know if the ambos broke the rules, or if there's a bit of discretion, but it couldn't hurt to discuss the possibility and arguments for your midwife to advocate with.

 

[booflebump]

Re transfer - it's unlikely you will have a third degree tear again. There are things you can do to help prevent it, such as perineal massage, specific labour positions, giving birth in water, and breathing your baby out rather than pushing. If you were to tear to the same degree again, you would need to transfer in. This would probably be within the first hour or two after birth, would be in an ambulance, and baby would be able to come with you

Re the mess. You can get pumps that fill and then empty the pool for you, so the worst you would have to do is fish out any floating bits of muck before your husband pumped the pool out. Other than that, home birth isn't very messy at all - have some big plastic sheets down, incontinence pads in bed, and old sheets over your furniture, and then if there is a mess, they can just be wrapped up, popped in a black bag and thrown out. The midwives will do most of this clean up for you immediately post birth, and won't leave till you and baby are clean, settled and feeding.

xxx

 

[08marchbean]

ah thankyou so much!

boofle that has put my mind at ease greatly, thankyou for your reply!

 

[booflebump]

You're welcome. Your poor OH is more likely to be the one left behind to follow you in to hospital in the car as the midwife and baby will go with you in the ambulance xxx

 

[xarlenex]

I have no experience with the transfer situation, but as for the cleaning the midwifes will not help with the pool, but mines were very helpful with blood spillage and general tidying afterwards x

 

[ljo1984]

When I had my hb visit at 37 weeks mw said if I tore and mw was unable to repair at home I'd have to have an ambulance transfer in, baby would go with me and we'd be back home once sorted. My pool was up and full and had to transfer in as I had mec in waters, oh came home that night and pumped water out and deflated in no time, also had to strip and clean sofa after waters broke on it lol.

 

[MissCherry15]

to try and prevent tearing, give birth on all fours, push when your body says push and only stop when the babies head is out and they need to check cord isnt around neck.
xx also if there is some tearing ive been told the midwifes can stitch it at home x

 

[gryphongrl]

My midwife brings an apprentice midwife (in the US) and the apprentice will empty and remove the pool (with DH's help), and do the wash and the dishes! She has her patients make up something easy to eat (like chicken noodle soup) and freeze it, so not a lot of cooking has to be done during the time. She also requested we double-sheet the bed (Good sheets on the bottom, then a plastic liner, then old sheets on top). After the birth she'll toss the top layers into the wash and fresh sheets beneath. The supplies list is long and the funniest thing on it is the net for skimming the chunky bits out of the water before the tub is emptied. DH and I were in hysterics about going into the fish store to buy that net.

She's given me her stats on transfers and 14% transfer (mostly first time moms going in for pain medication!) but it's very rare, she said, that the situation requires an ambulance. She had to request one once last year, for the baby after the birth.

 

[Dimbo]

This was pretty much my first birth you are describing. I was in the pool until the last few moments, and the mw cleaned it with a sieve as we were going along. She then made sure it was clean for DH to pump into the sink afterwards. We had the pump so it was literally hook it up and turn it on, and then just check every now and then to make sure it was working.

I gave birth in the arm chair and they had covered with their large sheet thingies that you get in hospital that soak up everything (incontinence sheets?), so once I was in the bathroom getting the placenta out, they cleared away all of the sheets they had brought, as well as their rubber gloves etc and put them in the bin (which they then took, I assume to get rid of at the hospital) They also threw all of the towels and everything that had got wet from the pool or dirty into the washing machine. I assume DH turned this on, but would have been stocked with powder etc ready.

The bathroom ended up with a very bloody toilet as that's where I was when the placenta came out, and they examined it on the bathroom floor (in a bowl) while I went and got dressed ready to be transferred. When hubby looked at the bathroom before going to the hospital, it was spotless.

The only thing left for hubby to do when he got home from the hospital later that day was empty the last few bucket loads from the pool that the pump didn't manage and deflate it. Oh, and possibly the washing up of tea cups and stuff.

As for the transfer, I had LO at 1.30am. It took about 40 minutes if I remember correctly, for the third stage. They then examined me and said I needed to be stitched up by someone at the hospital (3a tear) so they called the ambulance and said that we were getting ourselves ready and to come on over. We got dressed, I laid on my bed with LO and she had a feed while mws took everything back to their cars. The ambulance turned up at about 3.30 -4am I think, and as I'm on the 3rd floor, I had to get in their metal chair thingy and be bumped down the stairs (So so glad it was the middle of the night, I am sure I would have caused quite a stir if it had been rush hour and people were going to/from work and there was me being wheeled out in the ambulance )

I was strapped to the bed in the ambulance, LO was placed in my arms, and one of the ambulance crew sat in the chair next to me, and finished her notes and we chatted. The ride to the hospital was BUMPY! I would hate to go in am ambulance with a broke bone of something! The hospital is about 10 minutes away, and DH and the midwife drove in their own cards. I had some time in the labour ward feeding LO, I was examined and then taken to surgery while DH held the baby for an hour or two.

Some additional information, the midwives made quite clear from the start that if I started a homebirth, where the midwife was already here and I needed to transfer, an ambulance would be called and they would take me down the stairs. Its protocol. Seems a bit silly if I was say 7cm and not progressing, and therefore walking down the stairs and to the ambulance would probably be beneficial, but it's in their guidelines.

As for tearing again after a 3rd degree, this is obviously something I am considering a lot. Boofle has given some great information. Google has been great for finding real life examples of second and subsequent births which don't tear as badly/not at all. My aim is to birth in the pool this time, using gravity by leaning forward over the edge (how I was actually most comfortable last time) and preparing myself as best I can before hand, including perennial massage.

I'm sorry this is a bit of an essay, but as I said, your scenario is exactly what happened to me. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them. (Although I am sure my essay was probably enough info )

 

[evewidow]

I had a transfer as they thought i had a prolapse . I went in the ambulance with baby on my chest (or possibly hubby held her its a bit of a blur now ut she came with me anyway) hubby came in the ambulance and the midwives followed in their car. I got checked out stitched up and sent back home an hour later. When i got back there was no evidence of having given birth at all ( though i didnt have a pool ) My mom was at home with my other kids but she said all she did was turn on the washer , the midwives had took away everything else.

 

[anita665]

With my last birth the midwife helped to clean up. She was really good and helped change the bed sheets and everything. The home birth wasn't planned so there was quite a mess.

As for the transfer, I've gone to hospital via ambulance before when my son was just two weeks old. They put him in his car seat. They really don't like to seperate mum and baby so will do all they can to keep you close. I also had my inlaws pushing to keep my son at home but they weren't having any of it which is lucky because I was in no position to be putting up a fight.

 

[Adela Quested]

I'm in NL so this may not be relevant to you but just in case ...

My friend gave birth at home (common here) and unfortunately had serious tearing which required hospital treatment. Her baby was also having problems and sadly, as the rule is that they can only take one patient per ambulance, they had to go in separate ambulances. They were reunited right away in hospital though. The two of them stayed in hospital for a week as her baby required antibiotics (mine did too, so I had the same experience) but other than the ambulance ride they were together the whole time.

If her baby had not also been a 'patient' then they would have travelled together in the same ambulance, they do not separate mum & baby here unless it's absolutely necessary.