Friday, January 4, 2013

A story from a UWMC Doula


When I arrived, mom was dilated to 5cm, coping well, resting between contractions, and using breathing exercises. Her contractions remained between 4 and 7 minutes apart for several hours, without any cervical change. Mom spent some time in the tub, and then she was started on a low dose of Pitocin. We decided to try to get mom up and moving around, and did one lap of the L&D floor, with mom pausing for contractions with support from dad and me. Mom vocalized during contractions, drawing a few doctors and nurses into the hall to see what was going on.
We returned to the room and used the birth ball. Pitocin was steadily increased, and mom’s contractions were closer together and stronger. Mom was having a challenging time coping with the pain by this point, and was using her first language as she contracted. I encouraged her to make guttural noises, rather than high-pitched noises, and also recommended that she relax her mouth and let her lips flap as she exhaled. She was able to relax her mouth and continued to use this technique through her contractions. Her husband told us that she was saying, “I can’t”, but we encouraged her that she was doing an amazing job, and coping well.
All of a sudden, mom appeared to be pushing. As she had been checked less than 30min before and was only at 5cm, we were surprised. The nurse began calling the attending and resident and I encouraged the mom to resist the urge to push by using shallow breathing techniques. As soon as the doctor arrived, mom gave one solid push, and baby A was born!
This was an exciting birth—it was slow to start but then went so fast!! It was interesting to support a mom with English as her second language. It helped me to realize how important my presence and touch is, not just verbal communication.