Jun 4

Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.

“Well, It Hasn’t Worked Till Now, So It’s Not Going To Work.”

“Well, it hasn’t worked till now, so it’s not going to work.” – Certified Nurse Midwife to mother at a home birth, who wanted to rock on hands and knees to get rid of anterior lip. Mother ended up rocking side to side on her back while midwife pushed the lip out of the way, resulting in severe bruising to the cervix.

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There are 17 comments to this post.

first time mommy had this to say, Jun 4, 2012 @ 10:48 am (Quote)

OUCH
I’m so sorry that happened to you
Could this CNM be charged with anything? Assault?

Noira had this to say, Jun 4, 2012 @ 10:54 am (Quote)

I had a lip of cervix moved out of the way and ended up with a cervical laceration. I had been on my hands and knees rocking my hips trying to get my posterior baby to move and I started bearing down, when the midwife checked she found the lip of cervix left. I’m not sure if the laceration was from me pushing before the lip was gone or from the midwife moving it. I know I felt SO much better after she released it, all my pain was gone and during that time period my daughter also turned. I do wonder what caused the laceration.

Lisa Reply:
June 4th, 2012 at 11:43 am Lisa(Quote)

My midwife also moved my cervical lip for my posterior baby. I didn’t have any lacerations. She did it during contractions though, so I don’t know if that helped.

Nerd-faced Girl had this to say, Jun 4, 2012 @ 12:59 pm (Quote)

“Severe bruising to the cervix”

This makes my cervix hurt just thinking about it! Ouch! I’m sorry, OP!

Jessica had this to say, Jun 4, 2012 @ 1:09 pm (Quote)

I’m confused as to why someone has to forcibly move the cervix out of the way anyway. Just let the mother labor.

Christina Reply:
June 4th, 2012 at 2:59 pm Christina(Quote)

Exactly. One thing my hospital CNM did right (despite being overly interventive in other ways) was telling me just to push with my urges despite having a bit of a lip. It obviously moved out the way just fine because my baby was born just minutes later. I had no idea what a big deal some care providers make out of it until after that birth and I always feel blessed that I wasn’t put through the torture of having my cervix manipulated during pushing. I know how to avoid this problem altogether though – simply refuse vaginal exams, and follow your body’s urges.

Angela Reply:
June 4th, 2012 at 3:48 pm Angela(Quote)

I think it can be helpful in some situations. I had a friend who was pushing off and on for 8 hours before finally giving birth. She had a really stubborn cervical lip that was not budging. Finally her midwife (with my friend’s permission) manually pushed it out of the way and her daughter was born not much later. I had the same midwife for my son, and the one VE I had showed that I too had a small lip. She said it felt soft and didn’t think it would be a problem, and it wasn’t.

Cattaca had this to say, Jun 4, 2012 @ 1:21 pm (Quote)

I was at 10 with an anterior lip. 1 hour on hands and knees took care of it. Some OBs just have NO PATIENCE.

first time mommy Reply:
June 4th, 2012 at 1:44 pm first time mommy(Quote)

This was a homebirth midwife, not an OB Maybe really was an OB disguised as one though?!

Eryn had this to say, Jun 4, 2012 @ 1:38 pm (Quote)

Food for thought…

http://midwifethinking.com/2011/01/22/the-anterior-cervical-lip-how-to-ruin-a-perfectly-good-birth/

Christina Reply:
June 4th, 2012 at 3:02 pm Christina(Quote)

I was going to post this link, you beat me to it!

Noira Reply:
June 5th, 2012 at 12:03 pm Noira(Quote)

Thank you for posting this, it makes a lot of sense.

road2vba2c had this to say, Jun 4, 2012 @ 2:11 pm (Quote)

I had a tiny bit of a lip moved with no damage. OP, all of the anecdotal stories in the world doesn’t make up for what happened to you. I’m so sorry this happened to you! If you choose to have another home birth, I hope you find a midwife that will let *you* choose how to help your baby get here! <3

Anon Reply:
June 7th, 2012 at 3:38 pm Anon(Quote)

Thanks, I appreciate your validation…
If I have another baby, it will be at home, but I’m seriously considering going unassisted ‘by mistake’. I may call a hospital-based midwife friend of mine to attend unofficially and off the record, so I have someone there, but she would only be there to assist if something went wrong. Otherwise I would do it myself.

Anon had this to say, Jun 7, 2012 @ 2:39 pm (Quote)

I’m a regular here, so I’m really embarrassed that even with all my knowledge I STILL wasn’t able to advocate for myself. This was one of two midwives in the home-birth practice I see, and I had the other one (who I prefer) for 3 of my babies. (Had a ‘lip’ with one of them, pushed with no damage, so I know it can be done.) This baby was also posterior which is another reason why I wanted to stay on hands and knees. She had me lie down to check me (old trick, how did I not see it?!) and then kept me there with her fingers inside, pushing on the lip so hard I couldn’t breathe, even when I told her to stop. I even tried to push her hand away. I finally gave up fighting (which was taken by eveyone to mean compliance ) and cried and rocked and screamed my baby out. I wish I could report her, but somehow I can’t find the guts, and I wouldn’t even know what to say…

Anon Reply:
June 7th, 2012 at 2:40 pm Anon(Quote)

Forgot to pink it. I’m the OP.

C.Pratt Reply:
June 13th, 2012 at 4:33 pm C.Pratt(Quote)

I’m sorry you feel embarassed that she ran you over. I wish you didn’t feel that way, you were in labor and vulnerable, you were not in any place to be fighting battles. It sounds to me like it had a very normal psychological affect on you too, that you are afraid to confront her now because she assaulted you. Please report her soon, and don’t bother talking to her ever again. She doesn’t deserve one bit of your respect, she does deserve to hear it from her governing body!

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