Nov 5

“You Cannot Get Out Of Bed…After Your Water Breaks Because The Cord Will Fall Out…”

“You cannot get out of bed or use the bathroom after your water breaks because the cord will fall out and your baby will die.” – OB to mother at 19 week prenatal.

58 people dislike these words.

There are 33 comments to this post.

steph had this to say, Nov 5, 2012 @ 2:01 pm (Quote)

So…..you’re saying I really had a home birth after my water broke there with #3?

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Ash had this to say, Nov 5, 2012 @ 2:05 pm (Quote)

Are they really that stupid? My water broke at home and I paced for 6 hours before heading to the hospital. I guess my healthy happy 9 month old is a zombie.

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Vanessat had this to say, Nov 5, 2012 @ 2:30 pm (Quote)

You know what makes me very sad and angry at the same time? There are so many people who blindly trust their doctors and don’t ever even think to question anything or do their own research. And if they are unfortunate enough to get an OB who makes idiotic statements like this they just go with it even though it makes no sense whatsoever. After all, if a doctor said it, it must be true. It doesn’t even dawn on them that so many of the doctor’s recommendations are not in the best interest of the patient, or even evidence based, some are even harmful, and are done solely in the interest of the medical staff.

A person who doesn’t question their doctor and hears this will go in total freak out mode if her water breaks at home, will rush to the hospital like her life depended on it whether she has contractions or not and once there will be a good little patient, lie down as instructed and get pumped full of drugs if the nurses say so. You know, so her baby doesn’t die.

So, so sad

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Sheva had this to say, Nov 5, 2012 @ 2:32 pm (Quote)

Don’t worry, I bring a magical unicorn with me. She stuffs it right back in. You’ll never even notice it.

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Kasondra Reply:
November 5th, 2012 at 2:55 pm Kasondra(Quote)

And then she’ll wrap me up in twinkle lights to keep it in.

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Joanna Reply:
November 5th, 2012 at 4:55 pm Joanna(Quote)

And sprinkle me with some fairy dust, just as an added precaution.

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Kristin Reply:
November 5th, 2012 at 6:36 pm Kristin(Quote)

Don’t forget the aromatherapy candles and soothing music to ensure the cord stays safely away from the baby’s neck.

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Missy had this to say, Nov 5, 2012 @ 2:34 pm (Quote)

So, doc, what do I do if my water breaks as my first sign of labor (as it has for 3 of my 4 births)? Call an ambulance and make them carry me out on a stretcher? Somehow I don’t think they’d send me an ambulance for that.

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Missy Reply:
November 5th, 2012 at 2:35 pm Missy(Quote)

Oh, I just figured it out! What this doctor meant to say was “After I break your water . . .”

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C.Pratt Reply:
November 5th, 2012 at 2:47 pm C.Pratt(Quote)

Odds of cord prolapse are higher when waters are ruptured artificially, especially when done to initiate labor.

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Missy Reply:
November 5th, 2012 at 3:41 pm Missy(Quote)

My cousin’s OB broke her water during an induction when she was 2 cm dilated. Cord prolapsed, emergency c-section. If only he had not broken her water. If only she had not let him. If only she had even known that it might not be a good idea! Sigh.

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Jane Reply:
November 5th, 2012 at 2:48 pm Jane(Quote)

No, it means the doctor has such reverence for the protective effect of the membranes that s/he *never* ruptures them artificially.

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Dreamy Reply:
November 5th, 2012 at 3:51 pm Dreamy(Quote)

Oops! Didn’t mean to repeat you!

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Jenn Reply:
November 5th, 2012 at 6:07 pm Jenn(Quote)

I’m a paramedic and trust me – woman are scared into doing just that. Last patient I had was having contractions every 10-15 min, called 911 because her water had broken.

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Dreamy Reply:
November 5th, 2012 at 8:01 pm Dreamy(Quote)

Oh, that’s awful.

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Nica had this to say, Nov 5, 2012 @ 2:52 pm (Quote)

Yeah, same here. Water broke as the first sign of labor with my first child. Didn’t go to the hospital for another seven hours after that… I also have a zombie child…

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Lizzie K Reply:
November 5th, 2012 at 6:15 pm Lizzie K(Quote)

My water broke as the first sign of labor for three of mine. With my other, (#3) I woke up with contractions and my water broke while I was sitting on the floor in my living room, playing solitaire on my laptop ant talking to my sister on the phone, waiting for DH to get home so he could take me to the hospital. I guess I have four zombie babies. Yay, I finally get to join the zombie baby club. lol

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Dreamy had this to say, Nov 5, 2012 @ 3:50 pm (Quote)

Well, yeah, maybe if YOU break it before the head is engaged!*

*And okay, there’s an extremely slim chance it could happen naturally, but it’s not like staying in bed would do much if the cord is already prolapsed, nor would the cord be likely to prolapse just from getting vertical.

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Christie had this to say, Nov 5, 2012 @ 6:42 pm (Quote)

ok doc thats fine, if my waters break then il just stay right where i am until after the placenta is out ok! im sure the media would have a field day with “baby born in Bank when mother refused to leave on doctors orders”

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Kristin had this to say, Nov 5, 2012 @ 8:38 pm (Quote)

19 weeks? Jumping ahead of ourselves Doc? She hopefully won’t even BE in labor for around 21 more weeks. That’s plenty of time to use unfounded scare tactics to try and get your way for HER labor and delivery.

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Goldilocks Reply:
November 5th, 2012 at 9:47 pm Goldilocks(Quote)

Why such the emphasis on her labor and delivery? I would think if anyone has right to ownership it would be the person being delivered, the baby. Maybe it’s like hospital language, just a funny way of saying it, but I have heard this a thousand times.

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Dreamy Reply:
November 5th, 2012 at 9:54 pm Dreamy(Quote)

Is it not HER labor, though, if it’s HER BABY’S delivery? Where is the woman in all of this?

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Jane Reply:
November 6th, 2012 at 9:22 am Jane(Quote)

Then the baby whose labor it is has the right to informed caregiving decisions by all involved, which means the best evidence-based care for the woman delivering him or her. And confining a woman to bed with no medication indication is not in the baby’s best interests and therefore harms the baby’s labor.

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Carrie Reply:
November 6th, 2012 at 9:54 am Carrie(Quote)

You’re right, it is the Baby’s delivery, but it is definitely the MOM’s LABOR. The baby is not the one contracting and pushing, those are the MOM’s muscles doing the work, therefore she is the one laboring.

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Carrie Reply:
November 6th, 2012 at 9:57 am Carrie(Quote)

I hit enter too soon.

Since Mom is the one laboring, she should be allowed to do so in the most effective and comfortable way for her, not forced to lay in a bed just to satisfy the doctor. Unless, of course, there’s a medical indication that would require her to be laying down, but usually that wouldn’t be as apparent at only 19 weeks.

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E had this to say, Nov 6, 2012 @ 12:08 am (Quote)

Oh, really? Is that why my doctor encouraged me to get up and walk around after she broke my water? *facepalm*

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Details had this to say, Nov 6, 2012 @ 5:41 am (Quote)

Thanks for the early warning! I’m outta here! 19 weeks indeed!

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first time mommy had this to say, Nov 6, 2012 @ 9:19 am (Quote)

My water broke all by itself when I was sitting on the couch watching Friends and playing Frontierville on Facebook. (DON’T JUDGE ME LOL the game was fun for awhile) So by this OB’s statement/logic, I shouldn’t have left the couch? LOL good to know! My couch was a lot more comfy than the hospital bed =P

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Lizzie K Reply:
November 6th, 2012 at 10:26 am Lizzie K(Quote)

Going by that logic, I should have delivered (in order) in the hall of my first apartment, right in front of my bathroom door, in my living room, and in my next-door neighbor’s driveway, right next to DH’s truck. (we have four vehicles over here and he only has one, so he lets us park the truck in his drive)

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Nikki had this to say, Nov 6, 2012 @ 10:39 pm (Quote)

Well, then my doula client had a zombie baby yesterday morning. Her water broke spontaneously 12 hours before she went to the hospital and pushed her baby out less than an hour after arriving…

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Tee had this to say, Nov 7, 2012 @ 8:23 pm (Quote)

Just thinking out loud here… Since so many women’s waters break at home, it might be a good idea for someone to invent a bed that has wings. After all, she needs to be laying down the whole time. How can we expert her to follow this rule if she has to be upright in the car?

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