Strollerderby : labor and delivery

They Say: Just Get the Epidural Already

JeanneSager — Fri, 29 May 2009 18:01:00 GMT

Oh no they didn't!

A bunch of Swedish medical researchers have come out with a study that calls BS on the natural birth community. Basically, they say, get the epidural.

Full disclosure here - after hours of saying, "no, no, I can do this," I got the epidural. But before you call this one a victory for those of us who love us some painkillers, I don't see what was so scientific and exacting about this study.

They took one thousand moms-to-be and split them in half. One set went though classes on natural birth, learning breathing exercises and other natural methods to get them through the pain of labor. The other half got the "drugs are good" talk from their instructors. But once they got to the hospital, the numbers of women who said "get me drugs" was about even out of the two groups.

The scientists say this means the drugs work better.

I agree. For SOME people. Because if you ask any mom who made it through natural childbirth drug-free by choice, she didn't NEED the drugs. Ask a mom who chose the epidural (hello, over here, raising my hand)? She's going to tell you she DID NEED the drugs.

Can you tell either one she's wrong about her own body? Didn't think so.

Because it's totally subjective folks. We all have different pain thresholds. My brother broke his arm when we were kids and all he said was "ow," a few times. I broke my foot (well, he broke my foot), and I was whining about it for weeks. Walk into a pre-school, and you'll see the same thing. Two kids collide face first, and one bursts into tears. The other brushes herself off and runs off to play.

I'm also not ready to write off all breathing techniques for the reduction of/help with pain. Because as most pregnant women know, you don't get an epidural the moment your first contraction starts, and they don't last through the entire process (yes, folks, we do feel it when we're giving birth - they are not the wonder drug those who haven't had one think they are, or at least mine wasn't). Ever gotten a massage where the therapist told you to take long, deep breaths while they worked on a particularly tight knot? Or even just banged your knee particularly hard and had to breathe through it?

Unless this study is going to encourage health insurance companies not to play games over the rights of a woman to have an epidural (which, believe me, they will challenge - when the only anesthesiologist on call doesn't take your insurance, they don't have to pay the doctor, despite your NEED for that needle), what purpose does this serve?

Image: BBCNews

New Jersey Woman Tweeting While Giving Birth

Brett Singer — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:00:00 GMT

Melissa Skabich of Cedar Grove, New Jersey is 39 weeks pregnant. She is being induced today due to high blood pressure. You can read more about it on her blog. You can also follow the delivery process live via Twitter. So, what's for dinner? I was thinking hamburgers, but I guess we had that once already...

Wait, what?

Yes, Melissa will be tweeting. Not before. Not after. DURING. DELIVERY.

My initial reaction is summed up by this commenter at NJ.com: "Worry about giving birth to your child, not tweeting. You twit." I would have left out the "twit" part, but I understand the frustration.

On the other hand, what's the harm? If she's into it, that's cool, right?

Mostly it seems like an unnecessary distraction. Isn't being in labor difficult enough without being concerned about tweeting? I'm also wondering if her doctor will tell her to put the darn Blackberry away and focus on pushing. This is her third kid, so I guess she knows what she's doing.

What do you think? Would you tweet while giving birth? Or is this just plain silly?

You can follow Melissa on Twitter at twitter.com/mommyblogger76.

Source: NJ.com

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Home Birth: A Right or a Must?

JeanneSager — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 16:38:00 GMT

I wasn't surprised to read Melanie Reid's assumption that home birthing moms are all sandal-wearing hippie freaks (OK, I added that last part). It's the way a lot of people look at women who decided to deliver a baby at home. That's not to say I agreed with her.

But even with her narrow description of the type of woman who decides to give birth at home, Reid's piece in the Times of London this week hit upon some pretty shocking numbers: home birthing is on the rise after decades of decline, but so too are the numbers of people pushing to make home birth THE way to give birth.

And that, I have to admit, I'm not kosher with.

Because for all the wonderful things that home birth offers, and all the reasons I think it should be available to any mother who wants to try it, the one thing I have heard from most moms who have actually given birth at home is that what empowered them to do it was knowing the hospital was just a phone call - and an ambulance ride - away should they need it.

I'm not sure if Reid has met your average home birther, to be honest. She calls the countries where home birthing rates are low as the "sensible" ones, and calls hospitals"the only intelligent, progressive, logical place to give birth." Ask your average home birthing advocate, and she will actually tell you hospitals ARE progressive, intelligent, logical places to give birth - if you need them. The truly sensible home birthers decided to make the choice based on medical assessments, which you very well might call progressive - considering back in the day there was no doctor checking for fetal distress before a woman on the prairie gave birth in her house. If the hospital becomes necessary, the sensible homebirthers say OK, and get there . . . pronto.

As our own home birthing Strollerderby writer Madeline Holler pointed out in her Babble essay on the topic, when she asked her midwife all the what ifs, the dangerous ones pointed to a trip to the hospital - no matter what:

What if the cord slips out before the baby? (We go straight to the hospital.) Bleeding? (Hospital.) Premature labor? (Hospital.)

But, as Reid explains, there's a difference between helping women to realize their dreams of a homebirth and actively advocating we all head in that direction. Wales actually put out a target of having at least ten percent of women give birth at home (this was in 2002, and their target year was 2007 - they're two years past and nowhere near it).

Why?

Because for all its advantages (and there are plenty - read Madeline's essay, she's been there, done that, and can explain them much better than a hospital birther like me), the hospital birth remains its back up because it has something a home can't have: the means to deal with complications. Midwives have modern medical training and are fantastic for your average birth, but outside of a hospital setting, if something DOES go wrong, where do they send you? You got it.

Which means pushing women to have a homebirth, rather than simply accommodating those who want to give it a go, does indeed put us back toward the dark ages. It means putting more women at risk, more babies at risk. The reason a select few women give birth at home in countries like the U.K. and the U.S. is not only because, as Reid claims "We're squeamish. We are hardwired to go to hospital and have our babies there. It's what we do. It's in our modern DNA."

It's because that's a better option for a lot of women. Not all. But a lot. Women like me who had to have pitocin adminstered because my daughter just WOULD NOT come out. Or women like my friend whose son had been improperly measured by her midwife and came out with shoulder distortion because he was just too darn big for her tiny frame. It's better for women with pre-existing conditions, babies with elevated heart rates.

Pushing for the opposite, pushing women to return to their homes, to take away their access to the modern advances of technology heightens the risks for women, gives insurance companies the excuse NOT to cover services and demeans the needs many women experience during labor and delivery. So some women can do just fine in a birthing pool at home. So some women make it through balancing on a ball in their bedroom. Not all of us can.

Very simply: it's one thing to chose a home birth. It's another to get the most out of home birth.

Image: TrueBirth

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And Deliver Us by Google

JeanneSager — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:34:00 GMT

For all you people who scoff at the power of Google University, I present the story of Jordan and Natalie Peck and their newborn baby girl

The Pecks live in Hendrum, Minnesota, right in the center of the bad flooding that's been making the news lately. So when the heavily pregnant Natalie went into labor, Jordan knew there was no way he could drive her to the hospital - and there was no way their midwife was getting to them.

So he did what any American who wants to know something did - he powered up Google and read up online on how to deliver a baby.

And then he did. The Pecks welcomed a healthy little girl named Margaret into their lives - and into their home - which they soon left because of the rising water. They are now staying with friends, unsure when they can move back into their home. But Jordan joked that he knows what it's like to be the guy told to just follow the instructions.

"This was one of those cases where I was going to follow the instructions to the T," he said. If you're one of those people who doesn't mind brushing up on knowledge (no need for waders - you can still be ready for the floods!) check out eHow - they've got it all . . . down to the T.

Image: KSTP TV

Babies Switched In NYC Hospital

JeanneSager — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 16:52:00 GMT

Let me just say that part of this story is absolutely awful - that a maternity ward's security practices could fail so miserably that two newborn babies are mixed up for several hours is criminal.

HOWEVER, every time I hear a re-telling of the story of Shatiesha Brown's baby being given to the wrong mom in the New York City hospital's maternity ward, I am more mystified by her misplaced anger.

Brown told a NYC news station that she was outraged that her little girl, Aniya Victoria, was breastfed by another woman at Brookside Hospital.

OK, so what? I'd be flipping a lid over the fact that my newborn child was given to someone else to begin with. That she was breastfed by that woman. . . eh. . . as long as the woman had no communicable diseases, who cares?

The thing is, Shatiesha Brown was told by her doctors that her dangerously high blood pressure had to be monitored. For twenty-four hours, they said, she would have to be separated from her newborn. It's during that period when hospital staff apparently took little Aniya Victoria to the room of another new mom, whose last name was also Brown and whose first initial was also S. The other new mom breastfed the baby and posed for pictures before the mistake was discovered.

Now Shatiesha is claiming that her daughter suffered nipple confusion and that the hospital ruined all her plans to breastfeed the little girl with the mistake. "The bond that you have when you breastfeed your child, that's everything," she told ABC 7.

Except that's not how nipple confusion works. Moving from breast to breast isn't an issue - if it was, babies would have trouble moving from the right side to the left on a mom who has different shaped or sized nipples (which is actually most of the population). Nipple confusion comes into play when a newborn baby feeds from an artificial nipple - which Aniya Victoria would have done ANYWAY if mom and baby were to be separated for twenty-four hours. Even then, babies can still make the switch, albeit with some difficulty, and many women report successful breastfeeding of a year or more after their baby received an artificial nipple during the very early days of life.

The mother I feel for is the one who breastfed Aniya Victoria . . . while her own baby lay in the nursery, missing out on the colostrum that's chock full of nutrients and antibodies.

Shatiesha is suing, of course (doesn't everyone?). I agree she has grounds to demand the hospital be held accountable for the mix-up itself, but I'm smelling a cock and bull story here.

Would you be more upset over the mix-up or the fact that your child fed at someone else's breast?

Image: ABC

Forget the Hospital Gown: Give Birth in Couture

JeanneSager — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:32:00 GMT

The last thing I was thinking about as I pushed my daughter into this world was what I was wearing. And here I thought I was totally normal.

For moms who want to look fab even while contracting, there's hope - a new company has introduced a slinky, sleeveless dress just for giving birth.

Says the company literature, "You’re a fashionista in every other aspect of your life, why not when you are bringing new life into the world too?"

What's wrong with this idea? Let me count the disgustingness that is the delivery room bed after you're done giving birth . . . the water breaking, the blood, the poop (dirty little secret there - a LOT of women push out of both ends during the birthing process). Unless you're giving birth at a fancy new birthing center, I'm going to hazard a guess they don't have laundry service. So when you're done dropping all those birthing fluids all over your new gown, you can . . . take it home to wash!

What's wrong with the plain old hospital gown? It's perfectly, functionally ugly. So? Here's a tip - the delivery room is not a catwalk, and the people we care enough to have in there for the birth of our children could give two hoots what we're wearing at that moment. They're there for Mom . . . and to get a glimpse of that little miracle. And if they're picking on the way the green gown contrasts with your pale skin, honey, I give you permission to tell them to get the f--- out of here, NOOOOOOW.

Of course, if you're still craving couture, and you don't want to spend $98 when there's a baby on the way and the economy is in the toilet, you can always win one over at MomLogic this week.

Just let us know how those slinky straps stayed up on your shoulders while you were grabbing your knees and screaming for someone to get this thing out of you.

Image: MomLogic

Baby Born in Penn Station During Rush Hour

Brett Singer — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:30:00 GMT

Rush hour in New York is so dull. Pushing, shoving, playing the old "how many people can we fit into this subway car" game. A couple of days ago, commuters heard something new:

"Forget the ambulance ... I'm going to have the baby right here."

Well then. You go right ahead, Miss. As Susan Wagner at ParentDish wrote, "And you thought your commute was rough this morning."

Marie Boothe went into labor at Penn Station in New York City on Wednesday (she was on her way to the hospital with her husband), and successfully delivered a baby boy with the help of three members of the NYPD counter-terrorism patrol team, as well as an Amtrak police officer. Adhering to cries of, "'Name him Penn, after Penn Station!" from the crowd, Marie named her seven-pound bundle of joy Caesar Penn Boothe.

I wonder if counter-terrorism officers, or Amtrak police, receive training in labor and delivery. Somehow I doubt it, but maybe.

Mother and baby are doing well, proving that yes, you can give birth just about anywhere. Doesn't mean you have to, but if it happens, hey, go with it.

Anyone give birth someplace a little different?

Image/Source: CNN via ParentDish via Babble

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Doctors Call for Autopsies to Understand Stillbirth

JeanneSager — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:19:00 GMT

Thousands of pregnancies end every year in stillbirth - a baby dead in the womb sometime after the twenty-week mark or dead sometime during the birthing process.

It's heartbreaking for parents, but perhaps even harder for parents to take is the mystery. Of more than twenty-five thousand stillbirths each year, a full third are for unexplainable causes.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is calling for doctors to perform more autopsies on stillborn babies to unravel the mystery of stillbirth.

The goal is to reduce future stillbirths - or determine whether they can be prevented. The March of Dimes estimates stillbirth rates have dipped fifty percent in the last twenty years alone thanks to better technologies and healthcare practitioners' vigilance. They now know who has an increased risk of stillbirth - women thirty-five and older, women who suffer malnutrition and/or inadequate prenatal care, pregnant women who smoke and drink. They also have a host of causes for the two-thirds of stillbirths that are explainable - everything from placental defects to bacterial infection.

With the autopsies, they hope to rid the world of the other third. The question is how parents will take the suggestion from their doctor. Stillbirth is a traumatizing experience for parents, and the last thing a lot of parents want to do is turn their baby over to a scientist to cut, poke and prod.

Will parents be able to look past that and see the greater good? To see that they can make a difference for other parents in the long run?

Image: American Pregnancy Association

Balloon Helps Pregnant Woman "Practice"

JeanneSager — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:24:00 GMT

File this one under WTF?

Jezebel reported yesterday on a new invention filed with the U.S. Patent Office that allows a woman to practice giving birth . . . with a balloon.

Did any of these people actually go through natural childbirth first? Quick tip - a solid mass of baby is NOTHING like a squishy air-filled balloon. Trust me.

I haven't tried this thing - and really, I'd have no need now. But here's the deal, thanks to Inventor Spot: "The way it sort of works is that the balloon is partly located inside the vagina of the pregnant woman. When inflated, the balloon causes the orifice of the birth canal to dilate in a manner similar to that caused by the emerging head of a baby."

I understand women are really curious before birth about how this whole thing is going to go down. Especially in the latest weeks of pregnancy, we agonize over whether it's going to hurt, whether we're going to know what to do, whether there's anyway we can actually do it wrong. But after having been there and done that, I can't imagine how a "balloon birth" would clear up much of the confusion. If anything, I'd be more freaked out during labor when it was NOTHING LIKE what I'd practiced. Because, you know, there's that hard baby head, the contractions, the baby SHOULDERS . . . not to mention thirteen hours of labor that tired out my entire body before the pushing.

Does this seem silly to you or would you have liked a little trial run?

Image: Inventor Spot

Via Jezebel

Grey's Anatomy Tackles Mother Vs. Baby Issue

JeanneSager — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:29:00 GMT

You might have been tuning in to the final airing of the Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice special for an update on Little Grey and McSteamy, but I had to know what happened to the pregnant chick - would they lose her, or the baby?

In case you're not a fan (or just haven't settled in with your Tivo to play catch up), neurosurgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd has spent three episodes operating over and over on a pregnant woman's brain while his ex-wife has stood by to keep tabs on her child in utero.

Last night, it all came to a boiling point (as did other issues on the show - but I'll leave those revelations to your Tivo), and patient Jen's husband is clear - if it comes down to my baby or my wife, pick my wife. Bring back my wife.

It reminded me of my husband - who made it clear during my pregnancy that if anything were to go wrong during delivery (not that there was any risk of that), he said he didn't care what happened. As long as I walked out of there with him. Fortunately, it never came to that. Our daughter, the light of his life, was delivered after an average thirteen hours of labor and natural childbirth with no complications. She was perfect. I was serviceably healthy (really, does any woman look perfect after childbirth? Wan, yes, perfect. . . I think not).

Pregnancy isn't nearly as risky as it was back in ye olden days, but there are always risks - especially when you throw in a C-section, which is, after all, major surgery. Did you and your partner ever have this discussion during pregnancy? Dads, did you worry about her safety going into the delivery room?

Image: ABC

New for Mom: Spa Treatments on the Maternity Ward

JeanneSager — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 20:55:00 GMT

This might make even the die hard home-birthers opt for a hospital delivery. A new service is making the rounds of maternity wards in the Twin Cities to "mother" new moms with massages and spa treatments.

Launched last year by a mother of three and former TV producer, Go Home Gorgeous is an attempt to give new mothers a jump on recovery from delivery. And did me mention they do massages?

Business owner Rachel Swardson Wenham says after her giving birth to her third child, she was exhausted (sound familiar) and couldn't summon the energy to look forward to going home with a newborn to two toddlers.

"I looked at my swollen legs, my dry skin and was startled by how old my bulbous veins made my hands look. I looked terrible and felt awful. Additionally, nothing about my environment was very healing in a comforting sense. I craved hydration, soothing music, aroma, and someone to tell me it would be okay. I didn't want to just leave the hospital, I wanted to go home gorgeous."

They probably can't do much for the swollen legs. And the stretchmarks are here to stay. But who wouldn't want a little pampering after thirteen hours of contracting followed by forty-five solid minutes of pushing? The pain of childbirth isn't equal for everyone, but it leaves no one looking or feeling their best. We all share that same wan look in the first picture of mom and baby.And with an increased push to keep babies in the mother's room at all times to promote better breastfeeding, it's all exhaustion from there on out.

The way Wenham sees it, it doesn't have to be that way. Let Dad take care of the baby for a forty-five minute message. Get a facial while the pediatrician is taking a look-see at the newborn. And you never have to leave the hospital.

Services run from $45 to $139 (pretty standard spa prices - and that's when you're going to them rather than them coming to you). So would you take them up on it?

Image/Source: MSNBC

Family of Man: Birth Photos Shows Everyone But Mom

JeanneSager — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 17:30:00 GMT

It's one of the most celebrated photos of a child being born - the baby's body is stretched out with the umbilical cord stretched across his glistening body, the black and white making his scrunched up screaming face that much more vibrant.

Yet, nowhere in the picture, is the little boy's mother. Not even Joan Miller's legs are seen in the most famous photo of her life - the moment she gave birth to son David.

The defining shot in Wayne Miller's Family of Man exhibition of 1955 has gained new attention of late thanks to the publication of a book, Wayne F. Miller: Photographs 1942-1958, published late last year, and an article next month's Smithsonian Magazine. Shot on September 19, 1946 (the baby in the picture is now sixty-two), it's no surprise Mrs. Miller was hidden from view. It's surprising that she allowed her husband to be in the room at all, not to mention with a camera in hand. Although most fathers have cameras and sometimes videocameras at the ready for today's labor and delivery (and we expect photos of our friends' newborn, fresh from the womb, to be sent to our phones immediately . . . if not sooner), ours were the first dads to be allowed - or ask to be - into the delivery rooms as common practice.

Making this photo - which was chosen to be sent into space aboard the two Voyager spacecraft - all the more special is the man seen holding newborn David Miller by the leg. It's his grandfather - Wayne Miller's father, and Joan's father-in-law. I can't imagine allowing my father-in-law to be my OB/GYN (eeek), but then, to know the person helping bring your child into the world has almost as much concern for his wellbeing as you do . . . that could do wonders in putting a new mother at ease!

For a shutterbug like me, the piece was an interesting read; but for a Mom, it was even better. Check it out - and see more photos - here.

Images: Wayne Miller, via Smithsonian Magazine

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So He Delivered His Own Kid, Should We Give Him a Quarter?

JeanneSager — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:59:00 GMT

I'm sorry, but I haven't been able to summon the appropriate amount of admiration for all these guys who've delivered their own kids of late. First there was the guy who delivered his first baby in the bathtub of their Boston-area apartment. Then another guy did pretty much the same thing - this time in the family bathroom in Arizona, Oh, and let's not forget the Scottish father who did the deed in his own van.

Yay for them. Woohooo. Now how about a little dose of reality? Because these guys didn't just deliver a baby. They caught one.

Yes, they sat on the phone with a 911 operator (or in the case of the Scottish couple, a 999 operator), and they did all the right things. They were already better partners than some by being on hand for the birth of their children. BUT they didn't just deliver a baby. If anything, all three got lucky that they weren't required to step in for the sort of emergency medical intervention that makes most of us want a certified OB/GYN or midwife on hand when it's time to bring a child into this world. Because short of those interventions - be it a Cesarean or simply placing an oxygen mask over our faces and reaching in to help guide the baby's path down the birth canal - even the medical staff isn't doing much during the delivery itself.

And if I sound like a woman who passed a watermelon-sized human through a very small hole (while her very supportive husband got to stand there holding her hand), I confess - guilty as charged. (And no, I will never, ever, ever let him live that one down. It's too much fun). The OB gets the big bucks for it, but we moms get the real reward - and fortunately, so will all of these "hero" dads. And they'll be real heros if they stick around to reap the rewards for the next 30, 40 years . . .

Image: SILive

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What Bristol Palin Can Expect, After Baby Algebra

JeanneSager — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:56:00 GMT

Even a knee-jerk liberal mom like me can feel bad for Bristol Palin. Not because she’s facing the end of childhood before she’s even allowed to vote (or drink for that matter – how will she get through parenthood?). And not because her mom has thrown her to the ~~wolves~~ media by signing on to a national campaign for vice president during her teenage pregnancy. That's just the icing.

Here's the cake: By the time the nation’s possible Second Grandkid comes screaming into the world, Mrs. Levi Johnston (nee Palin) will be looking for sympathy for saggy boobs and stretch marks. And where's she going to find it? Grandma-to-be has the type of 44-year-old body that can hide a seven-month pregnancy, and we don't mean the type where you eye the belly and go "hmmm, do I risk getting smacked if I ask her when she's due?"

Even the moms deeply entrenched in Republican rhetoric are building voodoo dolls with a Sarah Palin head. Trust me. No mom has a body like that and makes friends on the playground. She’s the mom you shake hands with after you change a diaper – before you wash your hands. And I’m just another mommy. I’m not her hormonal teenage daughter.
Sorry Bristol, the books might say “nine months on and nine months off,” but you might want to hire a personal trainer before you pose for the next set of family portraits. That’s if you can find time for those "normal" mom moments.

Because she's going to come home from the hospital after an exhausting labor and delivery, and all she will want to do is sink down in the tub for a hot bath while that hunky hockey hubby takes care of the baby for 5 blessed minutes.
But wait, what's that knocking?

“Up and at ‘em, the early bird catches the moose. I was back to work in three days while your father took care of the baby, let's go babe."

So let's all take a moment to feel bad for Bristol Palin. . . . Oh, man, that knee is jerking again.

Image: Celebrity-Gossip

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Just What You Want To Hear When You're In Labor

Amy S.F. Lutz — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:27:00 GMT

After three days of labor at East London's Newham University Hospital, Samantha Shepherd was told her son Luke was in distress and that she would need a C-section. While she was discussing the situation with her doctor, agency practioner Nigel Baglin - who had been summoned to provide anesthesia support - stormed into the room and announced, "F**king hell, why can't women in this hospital give birth naturally?"

Baglin - who quit his job at the hospital the next day, after he discovered a formal complaint had been filed - doesn't deny he made the extremely inappropriate, unprofessional comment, but claims he did not mean for Shepherd to take it personally. Rather, Baglin says he was "aghast" at the large number of C-sections performed at the hospital.

Not surprisingly, Shepherd did take it personally, and now the Health Professionals Committee is holding a hearing to determine whether Baglin will still be allowed to practice. Currently, he's working at a different hospital - hopefully, one where he's restricted to the coma ward, or some other unit where sensitivity is not required.

Quick Where's the Fire, er, Baby?

JeanneSager — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:50:00 GMT

My local fire department is always happy to see me at their pancake breakfasts. But if I came in mid-contraction and leaking amniotic fluid, something tells me the boys would get while the getting’s good.

Not only did El Cajon, Calif. firemen Robert Laatsch stick around, but the rookie delivered his first baby right in the backseat of her aunt’s car.

Alicia Mondragon-Avila, ready to pop with her second child, was afraid she wouldn’t make it to the hospital in time. Her sister, Rosemary, caught sight of a drawing of a baby on a building and spun the wheel toward the fire station on East Lexington Avenue. She was just in time to catch Laatsch, a firemen who just completed his first year on the squad. He caught Mondragon’s niece, a healthy baby girl.

The city put up the drawings of babies on its stations for desperate parents who are looking for a place to drop their child under California’s Safely Surrendered Baby Law, passed in 2001. California parents have up to 72 hours to abandon their babies at state-designated “safe surrender” places without facing penalties.

The surprising brush with babies hasn’t changed the department’s plans for October’s Fire Prevention Week. On the agenda? A kid’s day – parents invited too - even pregnant ones.

Source: Union Tribune

Image: El Cajon Fire Department

Woman Gives Birth In Bathroom After Hospital Sends Her Home Twice

Amy S.F. Lutz — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:27:00 GMT

It was my greatest fear as my first pregnancy drew to a close: going to the hospital too early, and being sent home. What could be more demoralizing, or more anticlimactic? So as my husband begged me to let him drive me to the hospital, I kept calling my midwife, who told me she could tell from my breathing, from the tone of my voice, that I still had more laboring to do at home - until that final call, at about 4:00 in the morning, when she told me it was time.

Canadian Tracy Alphonse, 21, thought it was time - twice. She went to St. Mary's Hospital Center in Montreal on Friday night, but was sent home. On Saturday, her water broke, so she was taken by ambulance back to St. Mary's - and was sent home a second time. Alphonse told reporters, "Even after my water broke, I was sent away and told I was wasting their time and if I came back by ambulance, I would have to pay for the transportation."

Nice. Very professional and sympathetic to a woman in labor.

Mere hours after returning home, Alphonse - with the help of her boyfriend - gave birth in her bathroom to a healthy 6 lb., 3 oz. baby girl.

Hospital officials report that the case is "under review." Good. I've never heard of a pregnant woman being told to go home once her water has broken, and I can't believe that's consistent with hospital policy.

Because Pregnant Women Can't Make Mix Tapes

Adrienne Martini — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:30:00 GMT

Disclaimer: I love the March of Dimes. The March of Dimes does great work and is a force for good. This, however, is a silly idea.

So did you know that listening to music while in labor can help make you feel less uncomfortable? Or, as one certified nurse midwife puts it, "“There’s a lot of pain and discomfort that can come before the joy of birth. You should latch onto anything that would provide you some comfort.”

My latch was on an epidural -- but for those women who are stronger than I, music is a recommended alternative to heavy drugs. Fortunately, for the moms-to-be who can't figure out how to burn a CD, you can buy one that is designed to "help women relax during labor" and "to provide music to enjoy with their babies as they grow."

"Soothing music" is recommended for laboring women, so the disc is heavy with Celine Dion and Billy Joel. Personally, these tunes would just make me more anxious and irritable -- but your mileage may vary.

I can't gripe too much since proceeds are going to charity but, still, does this strike anyone else as kind of unnecessary and designed by people whose only exposure to laboring moms has been through their TV?

Strollerderby Playdate: At Your Cervix

Amy S.F. Lutz — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:01:00 GMT

Any mom with other mom friends has heard labor stories featuring nurses that were either too intrusive or too uninvolved, too cold or too hearty, too patronizing or too ignorant. But did you ever wonder what those OB nurses think of us???

I just spent some time with At Your Cervix, a blog written by a nurse in the labor and delivery unit at a large teaching hospital. And it certainly was interesting to see the birth process from a totally different perspective. The author speaks frankly about everything from incompetent doctors, the escalation of medical interventions that occurs in many births, and the gastric bypass surgery that helped her lose 160 pounds.

Check it out for a more passionate, more complex view into the delivery room than you'll ever see on ER or Grey's Anatomy.

Weekly Check-Up: Natural Birth Like the Dutch

Kelly Mills — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:29:00 GMT

There's an interesting report on the Dutch tradition of giving birth from the perspective of a Reuters reporter. Basically, the Dutch believe birth optimally happens at home (30 percent of births happen this way, compared to a tiny fraction in the U.S.,) no pain medication is necessary, and that labor pains are part of the way the mother bonds with the baby. (If so, I ought to be practically fused to my child.) The bottom line is that birth is not seen as a medicalized process. Oh, and get this: A maternity nurse takes care of the family at home for a week and does cooking, cleaning, and infant care. Sign me up for that part!

While I've never been a convert to the notion of natural birth as essential--at least, not since the epidural became my BFF--I will freely admit that the Dutch system makes the whole thing sound kinda nice. However, it does sound like some feel that pain relief should be more readily available to moms in labor. As it stands now, there's no guarentee an anesthesiologist will be available, since it isn't seen as necessary. However, even those who want more options for women say it would be a shame to lose the Dutch perspective and practices in labor and delivery. But this is nice from an ob-gyn professor: "Giving birth at home, a unique Dutch tradition, should not be a goal in itself. What really matters is a good result of the pregnancy for mother and child." You said it.

Breaking News: Guess What JLo Is Wearing For Her Delivery?

Kelly Mills — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:11:00 GMT

Oh, sometimes Christmas comes early at the Derby. Just when I was pondering the big questions of the day like, who will be our next president, and how can we deal with global warming, I got the answer to one burning issue that has been on my mind constantly since around October. In my inbox was a bright shiny press release, with the subject line "What J.Lo Will Wear To Deliver- confirmed" and the bold opening sentence (emphasis theirs), "We have info on what Jennifer Lopez is wearing in the delivery room when she delivers her twins." Oh, THANK GOD, I can finally sleep at night!

And what will the star outfit herself in while she's cursing her husband and throwing cups of ice chips at the nurses? Why, a (I shit you not) "designer hospital gown" from dearjohnnies. Actually, the PR folks seem to think she'll be wearing two: the "Ellie" blue one and the "Lucy" pink one. Like, halfway through her labor she'll be doing a costume change and returning for the second half of her dilation in something fresh for the big finale. No, the designers suggest you get one for the birthin' and one for the following day, at $65 a pop. Because as they say, "Having a baby is an extraordinary experience and moms deserve to wear something better than an ordinary hospital gown." Yeah, why settle for a regular person's hospital garb when you should have the very best? Oh, and (be still my beating heart) you can get them monogrammed!

All I can say is, Roberto Cavalli is going to be sooooo pissed. As you know, it's a very big deal to dress a star for her walk down the faded blue linoleum, and I just have to wonder if Ms. Lopez passed over Cavalli as punishment for outfitting her in this Grecian-Big Bird thing for her tour.

Oh, and I love this: "Designed with your comfort in mind, dearjohnnies can be worn during labor, in the days following your recovery and at home during the weeks to follow. Hospital staff will appreciate that you're still wearing a hospital gown. And you'll appreciate the soft fabric and loose fitting design as your body takes on the challenge of childbirth and then mends."

Right. Why, I'm sure when I'm at home mending I'll totally want to throw that placenta- and poop-covered hospital gown in the wash, and then don it while I come back from the challenge of childbirth. I mean, it's good enough for JLo.

Look, I've been up front about my feelings on delivery wear before, and how it's part of the commodification of the birth experience, and how freaking idiotic it is that women should worry about what they wear and how they look even while they are pushing a baby out of their hoo hoos or prepping for the c-section. But when you tack on the celebrity factor, well, all I can say is: Fuck. Me.

Man Gets Vasectomy, Tells Us About It

Kelly Mills — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 18:37:00 GMT

In Slate there was an essay on one guy's vasectomy. I could probably summarize it with, "Having a vasectomy is an awkward and scary experience." I get that. I mean, who wants one of their most beloved parts operated on? And the essayist, Michael Lewis, states he had the snip snip for his wife, who had already dealt with three pregnancies, labors, and deliveries, plus "changed most of the diapers, gotten up most of the mornings, and, on top of it all, given me the leisure to write many articles complaining about the inconveniences of fatherhood." Nice lady.

So dude, I want you to know that I totally sympathize with your discomfort at having your balls shaved by a nurse and your squeamishness over the cutting of the man-parts. But there is this tiny little voice in my head saying, "Uh, at least it wasn't childbirth." I don't want to get into some one-upping thing, but dealing with nine months of discomfort culminating in an event that often involves serious pain, some lasting body trauma, and involuntarily crapping in front of your doctor is no picnic. And I missed why the author thinks he's a "traitor to his sex." Huh? Shooting blanks doesn't translate to letting the boys down, any more than giving birth makes us ladies true women. But whatever, just be grateful you didn't have someone telling you just to breathe and try not to push yet.

Hospital Staff Too Busy To Deliver Baby

Amy S.F. Lutz — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 21:02:00 GMT

It's a common complaint: the OB only comes in at the end of labor to catch the baby, so why does s/he get all the glory?

But what about if the OB can't even do that much?

Erica Moreno-Munoz was laboring Monday night at the Del Sol Medical Center in El Paso, Texas, when she alerted a nurse that her baby was coming. Although the nurse could see the baby crowning, she claimed she couldn't help Moreno-Munoz by herself, and scampered off to find a doctor.

Fortunately, Moreno-Munoz's sister, Janeth Moreno, was able to catch the baby, who arrived before the doctor was found. Both mother and baby are doing fine.

I can't wait to hear how much the Medical Center bills Moreno-Munoz for delivering her own baby.

Christina Aguilera Has Baby--And Jennifer Block Preaches C-Sections

Kelly Mills — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 13:57:00 GMT

Yesterday was the date the mags and rags told us one Christina to the Aguilera had her baby, possibly by scheduled cesarean section. Jennifer Block wrote our fair lady an open letter on HuffPo before the blessed event, opening with the statement that it is every woman's choice how she does her birth. Buuuut c-sections are so much more dangerous for mom and baby, have a longer recovery time, and are more painful. She notes that if Xtina is going non-hoo hoo birth for cosmetic reasons, she should know about the belly skin overhang that is the aftermath of the "C". Block tells Xtina that since she has all the money and resources at her disposal, perhaps she could consider a home birth, an option not even available to most women. She stops short at mentioning the possibility a vaginal birth can make you orgasm. And now I'm actually feeling bad for Xtina.

See, I get why people don't want births to be so medicalized, and I do believe home births should be legal and I'm fully supportive of however anyone wants to get the little bundle to emerge. But damn, leaving aside the fact that we have no real idea what Xtina did, if she wanted or needed a c-section, then I say leave her the hell alone. I mean, if she had some medical reason for the "C" would anyone decent then launch into the litany of how much more dangerous it is than vaginal birth? Naw, the assumption is that she's doing to avoid birth pain (as reported) or for vanity or convenience. Well, so what? It's her life, her baby. Just because she's famous, doesn't mean she has to be earth mama for us all, resources at her disposal or not. I have to tell you that at times, some folks in the natural home birth camp bug the hell out of me with all the preaching. For some people birth is better at home, and for others, an epidural and a doc are a better fit, and for still others, a c-section is going to be the way to go, and even an imperative. I guess I think it doesn't matter as much how the babies come out, and more that everyone gets support and non-judge-y love.

Is That a Baby In Your Pants Or Are You Just Happy to See the Paramedics?

Kelly Mills — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 18:13:00 GMT

Sometimes you just have to love a "baby born in..." story. I mean, I've heard of babies being born in cars, in elevators, in fast food restaurant bathrooms, but I think this might be the first "Woman Gives Birth Inside Pants" headline I've ever seen. I'm sure many of us can report doing all kinds of things in our pants in our lifetimes, but I doubt many can say they dropped a baby. Does that mean the pants are true mom jeans? Maybe I was wrong about those birth clothes... Did I also mention she had twins?

So when Larryett Thomas went into labor, her mom called 911. But it was too late to get to the hospital, and when paramedics arrived, one baby was already coming out. Thomas had one leg of her pants on, which I guess qualifies as giving birth in your pants, especially since paramedics had to cut the pants off. They delivered the second baby by flashlight, because Thomas had no lamps. While I'm sure it was a little nerve-wracking for everyone, Thomas has done the whole birth thing before (she has five other children) so maybe that helped. She named the twins Curt and Curtis after their dad. Levis is a good name too.