why do I have to have medical intervention to deliver the placenta?

[libbylou]

I'm in BC and just talking about this with my midwife
It is standard practice BUT I can decline to have it (which I have)
They will have the shot ready anyway and it the placenta is taking too long to come out or if there is a concerning amount of bleeding then they will give it to me (which I have consented to)

 

[jasminejo24]

if i were you id tell your midwife/doctor you dont want it and laminate a sign that says "i do not concent to pitocin to deliver my placenta" and stick it on the wall behind your bed that way its plain for all to see and it should scare them into not doing it. check your hospital policy

 

[Lizzie K]

Just like everyone else said, you don't have to consent. Make sure they know you don't consent to pitocin for delivery of the placenta and if your OH is going to be there, make sure he knows too and will advocate for you. Also anyone else who might be in the delivery room with you. I have already told my husband that his whole purpose of being in the delivery room with me is to keep me calm and to keep the Drs from doing something I don't consent to.

 

[JenluvsDot]

I work at a midwifery center, and our midwives NEVER make a patient take meds to deliver the placenta. EVER! That is a load of bs. It is your body, and you can refuse. I will say that after the placenta is out, you should think about having in encapsulated. It drastically decreases postpartum depression, and has a lot of other benefits to mom. I was like ewwww when I first heard about it, but then I did some research and spoke to our midwives, and it seems like something worth doing. Good luck!!!

 

[Vicyi]

I had the injection with my DD although i do not remember either HAVING the injection OR consenting to it. I only know i had it as my Mum told me. With my DS i had it in my birth notes that i wanted it but MW said as everything went so smoothly with the labour i didn't need it. Sure enough it came on its own and everything was fine x

 

[TheyCallMeMom]

With my first two children I had hospital births and it was given in my IV without them even mentioning it. I think that's how it is with most doctors. It was never even discussed with me at any point with either pregnancy or birth.
With this baby we are planning a home birth with midwives. I have been given the option of waiting for the placenta to deliver naturally or getting the shot to help it along. At this point because I experienced a little more bleeding than normal with my second child I am leaning towards getting the shot just to make sure that everything stays going smoothly and to prevent a hospital transfer after the birth.

 

[monkeypooh]

Great info ladies, thank you so much. Answers a lot of my questions.

 

[Kess]

I'm in BC and just talking about this with my midwife
It is standard practice BUT I can decline to have it (which I have)
They will have the shot ready anyway and it the placenta is taking too long to come out or if there is a concerning amount of bleeding then they will give it to me (which I have consented to)

Just something to consider - make them get your consent at the time before they give the injection, or have a specific amount of time or bleeding that triggers your pre-given consent. The problem with "too long" or "too much bleeding" is they are so totally subjective, a HCP could give the injection after five minutes and say that was "too long" in their opinion, for example. They could give the injection for whatever reason they want, and then if challenged they could say retrospectively that they felt there was too much bleeding. If you're opting to do something different to normal practice, you can't safely leave the decision up to the judgement of the HCP who normally do something different to what you want.

 

[flipflopfan]

They might try to scare you into taking the shot, but most of the time the placenta will come out quickly and easily if you let gravity do its job. Get in a seated or standing position soon after giving birth and it'll probably come right out. If it still hasn't come out after allowing gravity to do its thing for an hour then I would consent to the shot, but that's just my opinion. I would make sure I put whatever I'm comfortable with in writing to my midwife prior to birth so she understands what I've consented to--that way she's much more likely to accept what I've chosen instead of using different tactics to get me to do it differently in the moment.

 

[Lozdi]

I've never had that shot, and I have given birth twice. I like in the UK and was pleasantly surprised at the birth of my first when the midwife looking after me gave me a warm jasmine compress to help the placenta come away! It worked too!

Second birth was very fast and the placenta came out the same way as baby did- swiftly and with no need for anything!

I'm looking to have a home water birth with this one, and leaning towards a lotus birth and if anything, I would use a Jasmine compress again for the placenta.

I am open to the idea of the shot if I am bleeding too badly, as I am on low dose asprin and although I will stop that a few weeks before EDD, I would rather have a shot ready just incase I bleed too much!

 

[mandwrx]

Here we are asked what we prefer and it is added to the birth plan and notes that you would like to deliver placenta naturally.

To be honest I think it is a time saver for them, give you the jab, placenta comes quickly, they can finish up and move you on, clean up the room for the next lady!

 

[Pixxie]

I would tell them clearly and laminate a sign for the bed! If you don't want it then you don't have to have it, if they give it you anyway that's assault!

 

[mrs.amillian]

I would love to tell you that they can't make you do anything. However, my DS1 was born in hospital, and they literally forced the pitocin on me. I was sitting there holding my newborn son and a make nurse comes around with the pitocin. I asked him what it was, and when he told me, I said "No. I don't want it." "It's hospital policy" "I don't need it, don't give it to me" "But I have to..." He then put it in my IV drip.

I have since learned that hospitals are not subject to phrases such as: "No" and "Don't"

If you want someone to listen to you in the hospital, you have to memorize the phrase "I Do not give my consent to _______ ." This phrase is legally binding and if they do whatever you told them not to, they are legally liable.

That is abuse, you can and should report that nuse, that is disgusting behaviour, you shouldn't need a specific phrase, you made your wishes incrediably clear.
Report him and I'm really sorry that happened to you

 

[alette]

I didn't get Pitocin until after the placenta was delivered. It came out just a few minutes after the baby did, and once it was out my doctor nodded to the nurse and she started the pitocin. They just told me it would help my uterus contract back down and slow the bleeding faster. I didn't notice any bad side effects or anything from it.. But then I did have an epidural so if it was giving me painful contractions or something I wouldn't have noticed anyhow.

They also weren't in a rush to get us out.. You get a 3 day hospital stay following a normal delivery of a healthy infant, and the room you deliver in is the room you get to recover in and stay in until you leave. We were pretty eager to leave the hospital though so we asked the doctor to discharge us a day early and he did.

 

[JessPape]

No doctor can FORCE you to have a drug you do not want, so they can not require it. Unless its medically needed you can say no.

 

[MikaylasMummy]

In aus you don't have to have ANYTHING you don't want.If they don't have informed consent before giving you any treatment(informed consent can just be a "I'm going to give u this needle now ok?" and you nod) and u complain they will be in big trouble.if you say no and really don't want it stick to your guns they can't make you.in saying that before you decide I suggest thoroughly researching the benefits and negatives of the injection as it may be something you really want to consider.retained placenta can be VERY dangerous and the pitocin is to help the placenta come out easily and therefor in one piece.it may be necessary for them to pull the placenta out if your body doesn't deliver itself and if the placenta is in pieces it's hard to ensure it's all out.I had retained placenta due to other reasons and I was extremely sick for weeks.sicker than iv ever been with temps and pain and had to go back and have a d&c to get it out.the infections could have caused scarring which can prevent or complicate future pregnancies.anyway back to the original qu.I'm studying it at uni ATM(nursing degree) and the Drs literally can't touch you if you have expresse you don't want to be touched.even if it's a matter of life an death.but I agree with the pps you will need to make them aware and have them write it down and even have a witness when u tell them before you birth because I doubt u will notice much during/straight after the birth

 

[ZoeZo]

Just something to consider - make them get your consent at the time before they give the injection, or have a specific amount of time or bleeding that triggers your pre-given consent. The problem with "too long" or "too much bleeding" is they are so totally subjective, a HCP could give the injection after five minutes and say that was "too long" in their opinion, for example. They could give the injection for whatever reason they want, and then if challenged they could say retrospectively that they felt there was too much bleeding. If you're opting to do something different to normal practice, you can't safely leave the decision up to the judgement of the HCP who normally do something different to what you want.

This is helpful, thanks. My MW has already hinted that I may need an injection due to a fibroid (and even canulated/have a drip - not at home they can't ). In my mind I've decided I will have drugs for PPH IF needed, there is no way of telling until after the birth if the fibroid will cause excess bleeding, I dunno how much I should worry about either.

Silly question with regards to bleeding, I've assumed you start to bleed immediately after the birth of the placenta? This is my first so I'm a bit clueless!

 

[MikaylasMummy]

Yes if you are going to hamerage it usually happens right after the birth of the placenta.usually it's due to the blood vessels feeding the placenta not being closed down as the uterus has tired too much to contract enough to do so.Hense the pitocin to give it a little help.but you can hamerage hours after birth.I'm not sure why it would be delayed

 

[ZoeZo]

Ah thank you, so when does the 'normal' post birth period/bleeding start? I'm really clueless!

 

[MikaylasMummy]

No worries hun that's why this site is so fab.the normal bleeding starts straight away as well it's kind of just ongoing from birth.the difference obviously is the amount of loss and it woud be evident if you were losing too much and if you have an instant heamerage the doctors will be there and know straight away.