Archive for the 'LABOR & DELIVERY' Category

If you are experiencing extreme emotional stress during labor, you may be suffering from emotional dystocia.

When you experience extreme stress during your delivery, the catecholamines in your body tend to rise to higher level.

This excessive level of catecholamines will reduce the circulation of the placenta and uterus, which can lead to ineffective contractions.

If these ineffective contractions become consistent during labor, your doctor may recommend an induction which necessarily raises your chances of C-section.

To avoid the chances of C-section, try to identify the signs of emotional dystocia and prevent them as early as possible.

Signs of emotional dystocia

1. If you are showing any signs of fear and anxiety during labor, it could very well be a symptom of emotional dystocia.
2. A mother who is fearful during delivery or uses common words like scared, panic, and losing control may also be experiencing emotional dystocia.
3. If a pregnant woman behaves out of control during contractions and starts doing things like screaming, throwing things, not responding to questions or suggestions, it is pretty certain that she is under extreme emotional stress.

Are you pregnant? Have you thought about your delivery options? With cesarean rates reaching over 30%, it is essential for you to know how to reduce the risk of cesarean section during labor as health experts believe many are unnecessary.

Even instrumental vaginal delivery is very complicated and results in health problems for both mother and child.

In most of these complicated delivery cases, the main reason to opt for either cesarean or instrumental vaginal delivery is the baby’s improper position in the mother’s womb.

To reduce risks of these complicated delivery options, you should be aware of the importance of baby’s position in your womb.

What is the best position of baby for birth?

The best and most suitable position for your baby during delivery is head down, with the back of the baby’s head slightly tilted towards the front of your stomach or tummy.

In this particular position, your baby snugly fits into the curve of your pelvis and it will be easy for your baby to move gently during labor.

During labor, when your baby gets to the bottom of your pelvis, s/he can slightly turn their head. This helps the widest part of your baby’s head to fit into the widest part of your pelvis.

For many years, Lamaze method has been related to a particular type of breathing during the labor process.

This method is developed by Dr. Ferdinand Lamaze. Around 1950s, most of the American women had begun using this technique.

From then, the Lamaze method has developed from birthing method to birthing philosophy.

Basic principles behind Lamaze philosophy include:

• Birth is natural, normal and healthy.
• Birthing experience profoundly affects women and also their families.
• Every woman has the rights for giving birth free from usual medical interventions.
• The confidence level and the ability of giving birth in every woman is either improved or diminished by the practitioner and birth place.
• Inner wisdom of every woman guides through birth.
• Birthing process can take place safely at homes and birthing centers.

According to the above principles, one can understand that the Lamaze classes are not just about breathing; instead they help you to feel confident in your natural ability of giving birth.

The practitioners of Lamaze method help to learn all about birthing process. The practitioners believe that through this awareness, you can better able to make informed choices about your baby’s birth so that you will become an active member of the labor process.

Used for centuries, birthing chairs are low in height, and provide back support by facilitating sitting in the squatting position.

This model helps you to move your pelvis freely so that you can maneuver yourself into a more comfortable position easily.

Scientifically, squatting is the best position for easy and safe delivery.

While a conventional labor table requires you to apply extra force, the birthing chair helps to use the force of gravity and helps control labor pains.

Birthing chairs today are much more sophisticated than in the past and many can be turned into delivery tables to give you a stronger sense of empowerment, while others are equipped with straps to help you maneuver you into the correct position for delivery.

Some are three-legged stools with an elevated slanting back and circular seat with a big hole in the middle. The lower part of the chair can be removed or folded, and enables you to sit, recline or lie down. Mirrors, lights, or basins can also be added to balance the chair.

Babies move into the delivery position a few weeks before the birth. Usually the head of your baby is closer to the birth canal.

If this is not the case, your baby’s feet and/or buttocks will be in the delivery position. This position, known as breech presentation, happens in one out of 25 full-term pregnancies.

Generally, there are no symptoms to detect that the baby is in breech position, though some women feel the baby’s position by their kicks.

Most women, however, are unable to determine in which position their baby is in at any given moment.

Determining baby’s position:

Your doctor can outline the baby’s position by feeling it through the abdominal wall. Another clue to determine your baby’s position is the position where the baby’s heartbeat is heard well. However, the ultrasound examination is the best way to determine the baby’s position accurately.

Reasons for breech birth:

While there are no known genetic causes for breech presentation, certain conditions can increase the chances of presenting a baby in breech position:

• If the fetus is smaller than average size and is not cradled tightly in the uterus, then the baby moves more freely into breech position.

The odds of a woman dying from the anesthesia she may be given during childbirth have fallen to about one in a million, according to a study described at the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

The new finding “should be very reassuring for women,” Dr. Joy L. Hawkins, professor of anesthesiology at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, who led the study, told.

“Anesthetic deaths are a very rare cause of maternal mortality in the United States, but even one death is important and should be prevented,” she said.

An analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s ongoing Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance project for 1997 through 2002 suggest that anesthetic deaths hover around 1.1 maternal deaths per million live births, Hawkins told the conference.

Over the 6-year study period, a total of 49 pregnancy-related deaths due to anesthesia were reported. Thirty-one were associated with live births or still births and 16 were associated with abortion; one was an ectopic pregnancy and one had missing information.

Eighty percent of the anesthesia-related deaths during childbirth were associated with cesarean delivery.

As your estimated delivery date approaches, Braxton Hicks contractions occur more intensely and more frequently.

However, unlike true labor, false labor does not lead to significant or progressive dilation of the cervix and the contractions are not stronger, frequent and longer.

Here’s how to differentiate between true and false labor:

Signs of false labor:

• The contractions are irregular and unpredictable. For example, experiencing the contractions in intervals of 10, six, two, and eight minutes, etc.
• There is no progression over the time.
• You will feel contractions as a generalized abdominal tightening.
• There is no vaginal discharge.
• There is no rupturing of membranes.
• The change in position or cavity can cause contractions to slow down or stop.

Differentiating true labor from false labor:

Frequency of occurrence of each contraction: Make a record of each contraction by using a watch and make a note of when each contraction begins. If you are in true labor, you will experience the contractions in regular intervals and they develop closer together. If it is false labor, then contractions are irregular.

Not only do antibiotics not help pregnant women experiencing premature labor without ruptured membranes and no sign of infection, they may increase the risk of cerebral palsy in some children.

Two new studies followed children whose mothers had taken antibiotics at the end of their pregnancies. The children were followed up to the age of 7.

“This is a good study, because it’s a large number of patients, and it shows that the use of antibiotics do not help and are possibly harmful for preterm labor in the absence of rupture of the membrane (broken water),” said Dr. Jennifer Wu, an obstetrician/gynecologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

“There are other medications, but they really are not so effective in prolonging gestation for more than 48 hours,” Wu added. “We still do not have a great solution for preterm delivery.”

Which is not to say that all pregnant women should shun antibiotics.

“We need to reassure pregnant women that, if they have signs of infection and antibiotics are clearly indicated, then they should feel no reluctance to accept antibiotics,” said Dr. Alan Fleischman, medical director of the March of Dimes.

Want to know more about the stages of labor? There are three stages in the childbirth process. They are based on changes in the uterus and cervix as labor processes. Often, the process of labor has been thought as a mystery.

Every woman’s labor is unique and is different from others. Even for the same woman, it differs from one pregnancy to another.

When everything goes smoothly, the three stages of labor are unfolded into three distinct parts.

Stage 1:

1st stage of the labor process begins with the opening of the cervix i.e. dilation and thinning out, which means effacement in order to allow your baby to move through your birth canal.

This is the longest stage in the entire labor process. This stage is actually divided into three phases such as early labor, active labor and transition.

Early labor: During this phase, the dilation of cervix takes place from 0 cm to 3 cm. In early labor, you will experience mild to moderate strong contractions. Each contraction lasts for 30-60 sec and occurs at an interval of 5-20 min.

A new study has found that mothers who delivered vaginally compared to cesarean section delivery (CSD) were significantly more responsive to the cry of their own baby, identified through MRI brain scans two to four weeks after delivery.

The results of the study suggest that vaginal delivery (VD) mothers are more sensitive to own baby-cry in the regions of the brain that are believed to regulate emotions, motivation and habitual behaviours.

CSD is a surgical procedure, in which delivery occurs via incisions in the abdominal and uterine wall. It is considered necessary under some conditions to protect the health or survival of infant or mother, but it is controversially linked with postpartum depression.

In the US the occurrence of CSD has increased steeply from 4.5% of all deliveries in 1965 to a recent high in 2006 of 29.1%.

The critical capacity of adults to develop the thoughts and behaviors needed for parents to care successfully for their newborn infants is supported by specific brain circuits and a range of hormones.

The experience of childbirth by VD compared with CSD uniquely involves the pulsatile release of oxytocin from the posterior pituitary, uterine contractions and vagino-cervical stimulation. Oxytocin is a key mediator of maternal behavior in animals.