Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Dec
7
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“…It Has To Be Broken Eventually Or The Baby Won’t Come Out!”
“Well, the thing is, whether your body breaks it or we do, it has to be broken eventually or else the baby won’t come out!” -OB to mother in labor who asked why her water needed to be broken artificially.
There are 26 comments to this post.
But you haven’t answered the question, which is not “Why must the water be broken” but “why must the water be broken *artificially.*”
In order to swallow your breakfast bagel, it needs to be chewed, but that doesn’t mean I should put it in a blender and then inject it down your throat with a syringe. Right?
Answer the question. Otherwise I’m going to think your answer is, “Because I’ve always done it that way” or “Because it gives me something to do.”
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My 10lb 6oz dd was born before the midwife could make it and her water didn’t break until after her head was out! She now has a super special birth story. I wish L&D staff had to sit and listen to birth stories told by natural birthing moms in order to understand what birth really is.
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This one is mine. I was the nurse in this situation. At the hospital I used to work at, the residents were encouraged to be very aggressive about breaking water bags to “speed labor.” The thing is, I KNOW this doc has seen some babies born en caul, but she assumed this mom didn’t know that and just said this platitude to get her to agree to breaking her bag. I gave her a really hard time about it outside of the room! Mom decided against it, and her water did break spontaneously a couple hours later, when her body was ready for it to break!
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Corita Reply:
December 7th, 2011 at 3:55 pm (Quote)
I am so glad to read that you gave her a hard time. Not to judge other nurses who submit here, because I know how hard it can be to speak up in a given situation and I am surely not perfect in that regard, but I do have to say how hard it is for me to read when nurses post what they witnessed without challenging it or reporting it to someone else.
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Jennifer Reply:
December 7th, 2011 at 3:58 pm (Quote)
It can be very hard to challenge the status quo; there is a fine line between quietly making a difference for what patients you can and pissing off enough people to get in trouble. But there are usually a couple of us on every L&D unit who are just trying to make changes a little bit at a time.
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Keely Brand Reply:
December 7th, 2011 at 10:05 pm (Quote)
I just want to say thank you. I had one nurse at my birth who witnessed me screaming “NO” to the doc about several things he did without my permission and with my expressed refusal and she later when doc was out of the room is the only reason why I did not just fall apart. And after my son was born with a subdural hematoma on his brain from the vacuum he never even told he used, she said she would make sure that my refusal was stated and that he did it anyway was in my charts in case I wanted to pursue it legally, which I am.
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Jane Reply:
December 7th, 2011 at 5:21 pm (Quote)
Thank you for standing up for your patient.
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Christina Reply:
December 8th, 2011 at 12:07 am (Quote)
At first I was annoyed that a doctor could be so ignorant to not know that a baby can be born with the sac intact, but it’s even worse, the doctor does know and is just lying to manipulate a patient. Ugh! Thank you for standing up to this gem of doc.
I really don’t understand why some doctors push AROM so much. I had to refuse about 10 times during my first birth, when my baby was malpositioned. What would breaking my water have done other than getting her wedged further? At least with the fluid she had a better chance of turning to a better position (though she never did the little stinker). …The lack of logic just hurts my brain.
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Sheva Reply:
December 8th, 2011 at 5:37 am (Quote)
I’d just like to add my thank you to the list.
Thank you for being there for your patients, and making as much of a difference as you can.
I understand the need to sometimes stay below the radar, so as not to get into trouble (for which I can understand the need, sometimes) and being an overt accomplice to the doc’s horrible behavior. I’ve seen nurses hold women down for procedures that they were actively refusing, so the doc could ‘do his thing’. To me, that is NEVER excusable.
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xanthina Reply:
December 8th, 2011 at 8:41 am (Quote)
I also want to say thank you 
I was so happy that my labor staff didn’t try to push AROM on me(I would have refused). I think babies born in the caul are special and lucky, and wouldn’t have minded that. As it was, my water broke at 10cm, and my daughter went from -1 station to crowning, and I was holding her 15 minutes later. I HIGHLY doubt that would have happened if I’d had an AROM earlier on in labor.
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Nora Rae had this to say,
Dec 7, 2011 @ 6:58 pm (Quote)
Though I am extremely thankful for AROM after putting me out of my misery, being stuck at 9cm for over 7 hours all while my body was trying and failing to push because my waters were still intact. Baby girl was born a few pushes later<3
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The best one I ever saw was when my patient was pushing, bag still intact, and the doctor decided to AROM her. Thankfully he was standing directly in front of her. He was kind of a jerk, as far as doctors go – very condescending. Needless to say he got a bath of sorts….stood up, excused himself, and went to change. I had to stop myself from cracking up – he so deserved that!
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Add Your Comment.
My baby came out just fine without it ever breaking!
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