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Hello Jan and other listers still on-line.
Jan's wonderful account of a big night out reminds me
of a similar night I experienced when I first started working in
WA with Mary Murphy. We had three women on the go on a stormy winter
night, one of whom presented an undiagnosed breech at 36 weeks! What
an initiation into home birth midwifery that was!! If you're out there
Mary you might like to tell that story. Love Lois
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, December 29, 2002 4:21
PM
Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] Christmas
Baby
On 26/12/02 6:18 PM, "Rosemary & Wayne
Weckert" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
Hello all
Merry Christmas. I
was lucky enough to be at the birth of a Christmas Day baby. The day started
out with the kids getting up at 5:30 am, presents being opened. Then we
stopped to have a yummy breakfast. The phone rings, everyone groans, it's a
dad whose baby was due 2nd January, 2nd baby. 1st had been late IOL long
posterior labour, epidural, episiotomy, heamatoma evacuated under GA 5hrs
later etc. etc. so she wasn't keen on going through it again. Anyway I
arrived at their house at 0745, all was well, she looked like she was well
established, complaining of pressure in the bowel, then came the urge
to push. So we all bundled into the car slowly for the ride to hospital,
getting there at 0830, beautiful baby boy 3510 born at 0910. By the time I
finished paperwork I was home at 11 am to get ready for lunch. Then I spent
the rest of the day with family and friends. It was most enjoyable. The new
family went home from hospital at 1600. I'v visited today and they're really
happy with how they went.
I've been really lucky this year, with 17
births, and all have come when I've been available. I read something once
about mums going into labour when they know the midwife will be available.
Has anyone ever had more than one mum labouring at a time?
Anyway
thought I'd share a central Australia story with you all.
Regards
Rosemary Weckert
Project Desert Rose Midwife
Alice
Springs
Hi Rosemary
Congratulations to you and the lucky
family who had the Australia Day baby. What a shame the little one was
not born in it�s own home right in the Red Centre of Australia. Would have
given the politicians and Dof H officials something to ponder on in terms of
aboriginal land rights!
Good luck with your women in the New Year. Yes,
it can happen that women sometimes can�t wait.
I had three women in labour
all in the one night a few years ago and feel it may happen to me again as my
expected �Christmas Baby� has still not arrived and there are two more waiting
for New Year�s honours. It�s like sitting on top of a volcano about to erupt
as I still have vivid memories about my three women birthing together a few
years ago.
My story of �more than one mum� began when I was driving to
KGV to meet a client who was three weeks overdue and had taken herself to KGV
to have prostin inserted by their KG labour ward staff on the understanding
that I would accompany her home and monitor her until she had the
baby.
That was OK .. It was early evening and I was expecting a
quick birth .... but while driving to the hospital to meet my
prostin induced client, I received another phone call letting me know another
client (due next week) was in STRONG labour and way on her way to the KGV
Birth Centre. She hadn�t let me know when labour started as she thought
she was just �niggling around� and now it had suddenly caught her out.
I was only five minutes from the Birth Centre too so both our cars
pulled into the parking lot at the same time. I assisted my client to the door
of the KGVBC between massive contractions and caught her baby as she stepped
over the door step.
�Good catch�, she said.
We walked to our
allotted room with the baby in her arms and the placenta came out as she
stepped through the next doorway.
I got busy checking out the baby and
the placenta after making the mother comfortable and before getting her some
refreshments sent a message to KGV labour ward upstairs that I was on the
premises and would be up there shortly.
My client (now contracting
strongly) had other ideas and told the labour ward staff she would come down
to the BC and wait for me to accompany her home.
She sat herself down
in the next room with her husband and support person, and decided that with
all the sounds coming from the parents and the new baby and me, it would be
prudent to tone her contractions down a bit and her �singing noises� became
less spontaneous.
I was glad she became quieter as I then had to take
another phone call from a primigravida client who was almost due (and
fortunately in the next suburb). She told me she had been labouring
since early evening and now needed me to attend her.
A quick call to
my backup midwife (Hilary) bought much valued assistance. She came to the
birth centre and borrowed an oxygen cylinder from their stock and went off to
support and monitor the primigravida who lived in the next suburb, Redfern.
Hilary�s helping me was at great cost to her social life, as she had to
get her husband out of bed to drive her to the Birth Centre and then to
Redfern (her car was in for repairs)
With Hilary organised, my newly
delivered client stating she would be OK to go home with her husband, I
promised to come to to house to see her sometime in the daylight hours and she
happily departed.
When I returned from seeing the happy couple off,
my prostin induced woman was very quiet and composed and said she had
stopped contracting, so with her husband and support person (who had been the
birth team for both of her other two children) started to make our way home to
her place at Denistone North. We hoped the car trip would probably start up
the contractions again. However, they didn�t return, they remained dormant but
this woman was so happy to have her original birth support team all together
in the house again!
It was now about 4am and as Hilary reported that
�everything was going smoothly at Redfern� I decided I would sleep on the
floor beside my client while she had a rest. Her best friend decided to go
home and have a sleep and I said I would call her if labour started up again.
The two children started to stir when they heard us come home and the
kookaburras started singing so her husband decided he would take the them to
their grand- mothers place for the day to give his wife a chance to establish
labour in peace. She proceeded to freshen up with a shower and get into bed
for a rest so I make her and myself a cup of tea and ushered her husband and
children out the door.
We were both sipping tea and talking about the
events of the night. My client confided in me she had deliberately stopped her
contractions at the Birth Centre because she knew I could not totally focus on
her while I was attending to another new baby.
As she paused and
took her next sip of tea I saw her eyes roll backwards in her head and asked
if she had just experienced another contraction.
She acknowledged that
she had, and added �... and I think the baby�s here �.
Sure enough
when I looked under the doona the baby�s head was out! The body followed soon
after as did the placenta. So I changed the bed and tucked them both in
and said �now you can have your well-earned rest�.
When the doorbell
rang shortly afterwards I went to let her husband back into the house... He
said ... �This is good, it is so quiet, we could both do with a long sleep!�
Agreeing with him I accompanied him upstairs to a lovely quiet scene of
mother side lying and baby attached and feeding. He nearly fell
backwards down the steps with shock and disbelief.
The saddest thing
was that he had not been part of such a beautiful birth, nor had my client�s
best friend, Carolyn who had been with her through thick and thin ... first
birth, second birth, but not this one!
However the whole team did get
their sleep (baby included). This was totally necessary as this was baby
number three and the first child was not due to have her third birthday for
another two weeks.
This was plenty of supportive help needed in that
household!
Once mother, father and baby were settled at Denistone North
I took my departure and headed back to town where Hilary was still supporting
my primigravida client, a young Maori girl.
It was now almost morning tea
time and my client was in strong labour when I arrived. She was comfortable on
all fours but I only had energy to cheer her on and make cups of tea for
everyone after the birth. Hilary certainly deserved that catch as she
had been working so hard with this young woman all night and I was totally
glad of her presence as I was so tired I could not have carried on without
risk of making mistakes.
Hilary and I were both were treated to a lot
of Maori legends, customs and celebration food over the next few days as this
new mother had a strong Maori support system nearby.
I was on a high
all the next week visiting three new babies distributed over the east, west
and central Sydney area and I�ll never forget the events of that 24 hour
period, three babies arriving close together and a deepening of my
appreciation of my selfless colleague who gave up her much valued family time
to be with one of my women.
PS
I talked to Maggie Banks last year
who told me that she had been with this Maori woman when she had her second
baby. She had told her the story of the two Sydney midwives who had helped her
with her first baby.
PPS
Hope someone else has got some reflections
about �more than one labouring mum� to add to the list and entertain us
with their reflections over the New Year period.
Hope you all have a
happy and fulfilling year ahead and may happy Mums and babies
abound.
Jan Robinson
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