Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Dec
13
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Thoughtful Thursday! “So You Want To ‘Oopsie’ A Waterbirth?”
“So, you want to ‘oopsie’ a waterbirth?” - L&D nurse to mother at a hospital where water births are not technically permitted.
There are 19 comments to this post.
This is why I’m glad I didn’t birth at a Nazi hospital. I had a water birth in the safety of my own home. I’d love to hear the bogus reasons behind hospitals forbidding it.
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Amie Reply:
December 14th, 2012 at 7:00 am (Quote)
I had a waterbirth in a hospital, on purpose, with the staff’s full support. They don’t all forbid it.
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Dreamy Reply:
December 14th, 2012 at 9:26 am (Quote)
Please don’t use the word “Nazi” in that context.
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the hospital where I gave birth to my first had tubs but you wern’t allowed to use them at all … some “safety issue” I think it may have actually been mentioned that they were not installed properly or something too (it was a new hospital freshly built… and of all things they did not even have the buttons to open doors for those in wheelchairs … it was special)
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Heather P Reply:
December 14th, 2012 at 6:50 am (Quote)
The hospital that I gave birth in in 2004 advertised nice beautiful jacuzzi tubs. They only had two, one for each wing. The one in my wing was “out of order”. From what I’ve heard, its still “out of order” eight years later.
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Jane Reply:
December 14th, 2012 at 9:31 am (Quote)
Wouldn’t it be nice to find out the person responsible for the false advertising experienced years of frustration trying to book hotels that actually had the amenities advertised. “Yeah, the brochure says we have king size beds, but there’s only one of those and it’s out for cleaning.” “Oh, yes, we have five roller coasters, but all five are shut down for repairs until 2015.” etc.
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My nurse I had at my daughter’s birth was trying her best to make me comfortable when I was In transition and had me try the bathtub. She asked that I not push if I felt the urge. NOT because she felt water births were dangerous or even against hospital policy (she wasn’t one for sticking to hospital policy anyway lol) she just felt there wasn’t enough room in the tub in case of an emergency. If they would have had round tubs she would have loved it. I doubt the OB on call would have been okay with it, but she was already pissed about having to follow my birth plan, so it wouldn’t have stopped me.
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I am interested to see the pink link on this. In my state (PA), water births are actually forbidden by state law. In my childbirth classes at the freestanding birth center where I planned to give birth (ended up transferring to a hospital), we went over the benefits of the in-suite jacuzzis they had and that birth was not permitted in them. I asked what would happen if a woman did not get out in time. I guess it has not happened yet (the tubs were relatively new when I was pregnant) but the center was really concerned about the legal ramifications if it happened and news leaked out. So women got out as soon as it looked like they had reached transition.
(That said, if water birth was legalized – and they have petitioned the legislature about it, they would definitely permit women to birth in them.)
So I’m curious about the OP’s situation.
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pittsburgh mama Reply:
December 13th, 2012 at 5:23 pm pittsburgh mama(Quote)
Oops, didn’t realize this was a Thoughtful Thursday! I guess if it’s just hospital policy (which is silly), that’s one thing – but if it’s a matter of law I would be antsy on trying to push them to do something that’s actually illegal. What would the ramifications for the employees be?
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TriskeleMom Reply:
December 13th, 2012 at 7:18 pm TriskeleMom(Quote)
From the way it’s worded, it sounds like it’s just hospital policy. And I’m guessing if the nurse can play it right, she could just say she didn’t know the mom was that close.
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Carolyn Reply:
December 14th, 2012 at 6:21 am Carolyn(Quote)
The hospital where I gave birth had tubs, but you were only allowed to stay in for 15 minutes at a time, there was an alarm that would go off until you got out of the tub. If you wanted to use the tub, you had to get out and lay on the bed for an VE every 15 minutes and you couldn’t get back in if you were 6 or more. I tried it once, but didn’t want to have to keep getting out for the exam. The nurse told me she didn’t know why everyone asked about tubs during registration when they are so impractical to use during labor…
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Missy Reply:
December 14th, 2012 at 7:41 am Missy(Quote)
That is one of the most ridiculous policies I’ve heard of! They’re soooooo afraid of an accidental water birth, they make it miserable for the mom to be in the tub at all.
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Bobbie Reply:
December 14th, 2012 at 9:11 am Bobbie(Quote)
So much for relaxing hydrotherapy for pain management. I wonder if they had a 15 minute limit on the showers too. I never used a tub for either of my births, but I know a lot of women find it very helpful, and an alarm going off very few minutes would get old fast.
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Carolyn Reply:
December 14th, 2012 at 11:59 am Carolyn(Quote)
They did not have an enforced time limit on the shower, but my nurse wasn’t comfortable with me standing in there for more than a few minutes at a time.
My point was that even if this hospital has a policy against water birth, they gave this nurse enough autonomy that the policy could be broken without too much repercussion which is a very good thing. Almost a Thoughtful Thursday for the hospital as well.
Great nurse, good hospital.
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Ashley Reply:
December 14th, 2012 at 7:35 am Ashley(Quote)
I would love for them to actually show you the law on this…. most likely it is a regulation, but not a law. I live in PA as well and know quite a few women who have had water births.
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Edevoli Reply:
January 3rd, 2013 at 12:41 pm Edevoli(Quote)
I was thinking this as well. I live in PA too and not only have I never heard of this, there are hospitals in PA that offer water births (supposedly anyway). I highly doubt it’s against the state law.
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