Last night as I was waiting in the ER with my dad (minor surgical complication; he's fine), I observed the strangest thing - three women entered and were directed to the OB admission area. The strange part - none appeared to be in active labor. One in particular (only 37 weeks) sat for at least 10 minutes nearby without even a peep or a squirm. The other two (both 38 weeks) talked with nurses easily, filled out admission paperwork, and climbed into wheelchairs.
The thought in my head - Why are they here yet?!
In pregnancy, among the labor and delivery horror stories, I also often heard about the women who went in too early - "Oh don't worry, I got sent home 'x' times before they kept me."
Did no one bother to tell them that they can (and should) stay at home as long as possible?
I tell women (even those planning an epidural) that in normal labor, you should look for 4-1-1 before heading in. This helps reduce the interventions you may "need" and gets you to the hospital at the point when labor is more likely to keep going rather than stall. Getting to the hospital earlier may even get you there at a point when you can't yet have an epidural (depending on your hospital and anesthesiologist).
With 4-1-1, contractions are about 4 minutes apart, last about 1 minute each, and have been doing so for about 1 hour.
Disclaimer #1: Follow 4-1-1 unless you have another reason to go to the hospital ASAP - bleeding, foul smell with vaginal leaking, feeling something through the cervix/vagina, if you feel that labor is going too quickly, or if you are not yet 38 weeks. I'm not a doctor and don't pretend to be one :)
Disclaimer #2: Don't go to the hospital at all if you can help it! Find a good midwife and birthing center or a good homebirth midwife if you're low-risk in pregnancy. It's not just a "fad"; it's good medicine.
Excellent point. So much fear is put into most women that it's no wonder that many schedule an induction or C-section to avoid their perception of "the unknown."
ReplyDeleteIt always concerns me as to why it seems many (OB/midwives/public) don't view this fear as a problem. I'm afraid that things are only going to get worse before they finally get better. Hoping and praying against that though!
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