Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Nov
15
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“…Contractions Don’t Matter!”
“Go to Labor and Delivery if your water breaks, you can fill a pad with blood, you have the urge to push or you see crowning. Contractions don’t matter!”
There are 40 comments to this post.
The only way this makes sense is if the doctor believes unaugmented contractions don’t dilated the cervix and uncoached pushing doesn’t result in birth.
Doc is tired of going to the hospital to check a primip who is having BH ctx two weeks before her due date, and after 25 years of watching nurses scream 123 PUSH 456 PUSH 789 PUSH PUSH PUSH!!! at a woman hooked up to the pitocin IV, the doctor has forgotten that most women dilate and push just fine on their own.
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Um, yeah…I’d have had some beautiful home-births if I had listened to this advice (which, due to post-partum pre-eclampsia, woulc have been very dangerous for me). My water broke just before each baby crowned. With the last one, I got to the toilet just in time for my water to break, stood up afterwards and delivered the baby…right there…standing next to the toilet.
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xanthina Reply:
November 15th, 2011 at 11:49 am (Quote)
My water broke and my daughter dropped from -1 station to crowning.
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Robyn Reply:
November 16th, 2011 at 7:44 am (Quote)
Can you explain that one to me? I was under the impression that pre-eclampsia is a pregnancy condition that can only be “cured” by giving birth, so I don’t understand how you could develop it post-partum.
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Anna Reply:
November 16th, 2011 at 6:18 pm (Quote)
Your blood pressure doesn’t just go down after delivery, it takes a bit, you are still at risk of seizures. It’s not a good idea to not monitor the situation, and with most cases of pre-e, you get iv magnesium post partum to stop seizures.
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Robyn Reply:
November 17th, 2011 at 6:02 am (Quote)
I understand that BP doesn’t go down after the birth. However, hypertension isn’t the only symptom of pre-e. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/preeclampsia/DS00583/DSECTION=symptoms And pre-e doesn’t present post-partum. I did not not develop pre-e, but I did have some BP issues post-partum. My midwives kept taking my BP and trying different things to get it down. I only heard numbers once; 194/102.
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Anna Reply:
November 17th, 2011 at 1:09 pm (Quote)
I had HELLP with my first born, had no risk factors and developed it throughout labor. THey said there was a 5% risk of seizures and my numbers were much lower than your number there. I didn’t mind the Mg postpartum. My liver enzymes were sky high. POint is, this is a condition you cannot recognize nor treat at home, and it did require postpartum monitoring. Another symptim of HELLP are extremely low platelet counts, which I had, and hence I bled profusely. I needed 4 week follow up care to ensure my liver enzymes were normal and so forth.
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Thanks, whoever said this. I’ve been contracting for 6 weeks and what I want to hear is “Contractions mean nothing.” Which is, of course, bullshit and beside the point of the rest of the post, but dude.
I want to see the pink link to see where this came from! I’m used to Doctors telling you to come in waaaaaaay too early.
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Jane Reply:
November 15th, 2011 at 11:01 am (Quote)
Just a suggestion, but I had crazy-frequent BH contractions (often three minutes apart for hours on end) but in my 5th pregnancy, I discovered that taking a calcium supplement stopped the contractions cold. Apparently I was deficient and it was making my uterus irritable.
You might want to ask your care provider about calcium supplements or research it yourself. (I’m not talking mega-doses. I took one tablet a day, so I think that’s like 500mg?)
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Heather Reply:
November 15th, 2011 at 11:09 am (Quote)
This is my 5th pregnancy (3rd successful) and these aren’t just braxton-hicks (those are mixed in, but definitely not the majority). I’ll bet that my uterus IS irritable from all of this. I was taking a calcium supplement with my first and still had 4 weeks of prodromal labor, though. That was the horse pill I was taking, too (the 500)! I’m only taking 200mg, this time, but if it didn’t work before…
This is the first (pre)labor where I haven’t had day after day of every 2-3 minute contractions. I actually get breaks this time, but I’m way more sore than the other two, so when they’re not BH (I’d be okay if they were all BH!) I’m just getting more and more irritable.
Just that post-EDD worn out feeling, mostly.
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Heather Reply:
November 15th, 2011 at 11:10 am (Quote)
Although I did have one day of 11 hours of every 2-3 minutes… like 4 weeks ago! O_o Hence the frustration with the contractions at this point.
(previously, my record was 7 hours with my last one, with active labor following the next day and with my first, it was 5 hours a couple weeks before labor).
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Heather Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 2:36 pm (Quote)
Just found a ton of e-mails from the day I gave birth that I never got around to and saw this–wanted to say that all that prodromal labor did finally pay off–I had my baby just over 24 hours from your reply to me 
(all natural VBAC) And, add to that–I ended up with a PP infection a week later and when they drew my labs, it turned out that I had a calcium deficiency!
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JoAnna Reply:
November 16th, 2011 at 11:10 am (Quote)
I had a month of prodromal labor during my last pregnancy, and I found that a warm bath with epsom salts and a small glass of wine would help calm the contractions down.
On the up side, once real labor kicked it it was only 2.5 hours long. 
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mairi kerr had this to say,
Nov 15, 2011 @ 11:11 am (Quote)
I think the doctor is encouraging the mother to stay at home for as long as possible which would be more comfortable. With my first I went to the birth centre as soon as my contractions started only to be sent home again. I returned a few hours later and they let me stay I laboured ffor another twenty hours before I gave birth and I would have been far more comfortable at home. With my second I stayed at home when my contractions started and didn’t go until I was a lot more advanced and gave birth two hours after arriving which was far better. I think he means you dont have to rush to hospital as soon as your contractions start?
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jaed Reply:
November 15th, 2011 at 12:38 pm (Quote)
It’s a nice thought, but if he’s telling her not to go in until she’s feeling the pushing reflex (!) or the baby is crowning (!!), he’s probably not saying to stay at home as long as possible. That’s longer than possible, unless you live next door to the hospital and maybe not even then, given time for triage and admission.
(The submission doesn’t say who said this, though, so maybe it wasn’t an OB.)
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I have had 11 weeks of contractions in my last two pregnancies. My last one which was a VBAC my waters went 15 minutes before I delivered, I would have had a premature baby in the car park if I’d have waited. Funnily enough they were more interested in my contractions than my waters breaking!
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I had a neighbor tell me to just go in when my water breaks, that’s all that matters. Hmm, my son’s water broke during crowning. I’m glad I didn’t wait that long to get to the birth center.
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Mama Wrench Reply:
November 15th, 2011 at 3:27 pm (Quote)
Same here, my water didn’t break till I was 10cm, and as soon as it did my son’s HR dropped dramatically — and it was rush hour in a major city, we would never have made it to the hospital if we’d waited till then!
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the part that bugsme the most is “you can feel a pad with blood… contractions dont matter” part. if a friend of mine had listened to that part she and baby would have died. she had placenta previa… luckily.. she knew blood=bad and went in.. it comes across to me that the dr is saying you arent in labor till your water breaks.. kwim>>> I want to know why the dr said this.. very curious to see the pink link
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jaed Reply:
November 15th, 2011 at 6:08 pm (Quote)
Just curious, but I was under the impression an ultrasound would show placenta previa. Did your friend not know about/was not told she had this condition before the birth?
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tippyd Reply:
November 15th, 2011 at 7:35 pm (Quote)
the last ultrasound she had was at 20 weeks and at that ultrasound the placenta was at the top of the uterus. ultrasounds CAN find it IF the mom has multiple ultrasounds at the end of the pregnancy, BUT in healthy pregnancies that the mother doesnt have multiple u/s it can not present til labor.
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Robyn Reply:
November 16th, 2011 at 7:59 am (Quote)
That makes no sense to me. Could you clarify? The placenta is attached to the place where the egg implanted. The key word being “attached”. Most commonly, at the 20 week scan a woman will be diagnosed with previa because her placenta is lying low. However, as the uterus grows, it’s very common that the placenta gets brought up away from the cervix because that part of the uterine wall has moved away from the cervix. The placenta doesn’t move. Perfect visual is to make a dot on a balloon near the neck. When you blow up the balloon, that dot won’t be as close to the neck of the balloon. I don’t understand how your friend could have had previa if it had been determined that her placenta was at the top of her uterus.
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Mama Wrench Reply:
November 17th, 2011 at 5:57 am (Quote)
From what I understand, if the baby is transverse sometimes the uterus doesn’t expand “upwards” like a balloon, but more outwards like a sideways watermellon and that can cause a seemingly high-laying placenta at 20 weeks to seem to “move” lower later in pregnancy.
That’s my theory anyway, not sure how it works in real life… bodies are weird. And sometimes sonographers just get it wrong. He could have mistaken a thicker part of the uterus for the placenta because he wasn’t looking for it down low.
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Add Your Comment.
Um…once you can see crowning, you’d better stay the heck home and call 911!
I’d never have been in the hospital with any of my kids if this was the advice I was given — which arguably would have been for the best, but this isn’t Thoughtful Thursday.
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JoAnna Reply:
November 15th, 2011 at 10:24 am JoAnna(Quote)
Same here.
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Heather Reply:
November 15th, 2011 at 10:54 am Heather(Quote)
Or relax, get comfy, have your baby and call your pediatrician and schedule your newborn visit
(depending on how you and baby feel after catching the baby, of course!)
Yeah, for me, it’s wait until I just absolutely cannot stand it anymore (transition) as my water breaks on the early side and I contract for weeks before birth.
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Jane Reply:
November 15th, 2011 at 10:59 am Jane(Quote)
I’m assuming* the mom asked this question because she’s unprepared to deliver a baby unassisted at home. Otherwise, for a mom who’s done her research and can birth unassisted responsibly, you probably have a point.
(*I know what happens when one “assumes.”)
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Heather Reply:
November 15th, 2011 at 11:03 am Heather(Quote)
Yeah, I know, but I like to offer yet another option–so many moms just don’t even think of that as a possibility!
For me, if I hit that point, I’ll actually be calling my midwife to say, “Baby’s crowning. I’m not going to make it in!” and she’ll be coming to my house after, lol. And I’ll be dancing a very happy jig for getting a break, ’cause that’s never going to happen to me (I feel like I’ve already been in labor for 6 weeks at this point!)!
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Jade Reply:
November 16th, 2011 at 3:18 am Jade(Quote)
For me, waters breaking and baby crowning happen within about 2 minutes of eachother so if my water broke I would be preparing to catch a baby in under 5 minutes.
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