It’s too late for my son, but the end of the campaign for ‘normal birth’ is welcome

UKGuardian online ^ | 8/14/17 | James Titcombe

[originalbuckeye]

The decision by the Royal College of Midwives to withdraw its decade-long campaign for “normal birth” has come much too late for my own son, Joshua, who sadly died nine days after being born, but is a welcome step. The approach for too long influenced a style of care in maternity wards that put lives at risk.

These were the words spoken by Cumbria coroner Ian Smith, as he began summing up the inquest into the death of Joshua, on 6 June 2011: “With advances in medical science and techniques, childbirth has become safer and safer, to the point where we now expect children to be delivered safely. Now, I will have to say in truth, the process is a highly dangerous event, and you could make a glib remark that the most dangerous day of anybody’s life is their first day of life.”

Joshua had died two and a half years earlier because of poor care in the 24 hours after his birth at Furness general hospital in Cumbria. Signs that he was suffering from a serious infection that should have resulted in speedy medical referral were not acted on by the midwives looking after him. Instead, Joshua’s first contact with a doctor came some 24 hours later when his mother found him collapsed in his cot and called for help. By this time, however, it was too late.

Despite being transferred to two different neonatal intensive care units and putting up a fight to be proud of, Joshua died eight days later. His left lung was more damaged from the infection than the consultants looking after him had realised. He died from profuse internal bleeding.

[originalbuckeye]

Another NHS horror story. Too many midwives in Britain will not call an attending Obstetrician in, when trouble occurs. Too many midwives push natural childbirth when intervention is required to assure a safe birth and a healthy child. Midwives are common in Britain and I assume they will become more common here, if we go to single-payer. I am glad my Family Medicine Doc called in an Obstetrician when my birth experience took a bad turn. The nurse in recovery told me that I was a prime example of why giving birth in a hospital is a good thing. She told me that my son and I could have both died without emergency care. He was trussed up in his umbilical cord and wouldn't have ever been able to arrive naturally. Some of my friends had tried to convince me to do a 'home birth'. Having worked in hospitals my whole career, I knew I would be giving birth in a hospital with (hopefully) competent people around, who could help if trouble occurred. Thank the Lord for our good medical care in this country.

[kaila]

Childbirth is not about the mother. It is the baby that mothers should be concerned about. Mothers want this wonderful home birth experience, only thinking about their needs. It is selfish. Think about the baby first, and the safest place to deliver is in the hospital if you need an emergency c section.
Obstetricians do not like it when a woman starts a home birth and runs to the ER when things go badly. Now, they have a train wreck on their doorstep that they have to fix, and are liable for the bad outcome.

[Tax-chick]

Why the rant about home birth in response to the death, in a hospital, of a child who was born in a hospital and remained in the hospital until he died?

[originalbuckeye]

Agree. We are so blessed that our son didn’t suffer from his couple of minutes of oxygen depravation. The C-section came quickly when his heart slowed down and then stopped. Praise God for quick and competent medical personnel. He wouldn’t have made it if we hadn’t been already in the hospital.

[higgmeister]

I wonder what sort of filthy conditions allowed a newborn to get an infection?

When my Dad was in the Navy during WWII his ship was in port next a British ship. He and his buddies went aboard to look it over and they were shocked to find that it was filthy. When one of our sailors commented about it a Brit sailor replied, "We're a fighting Navy not a clean Navy."

I'm glad to be ten generations removed from that and will fight to stay that way.

[Abathar]

My daughter just graduated 4 year college as a RN, she has been working in a NICU unit for several months at her first job, and loves it. Her "mentor" has told her a few horror stories of natural birth kids being brought in too late to help.

She has had one little girl that didn't make it since she started, born premature in a home birth to a woman addicted to both meth and heroin. The woman would come in stoned off her gourd talking to herself, my daughter was informed that no matter HOW bad the parents were unless they got violent under no circumstances were the police ever to be called. She said once they got past the doors with a kid it was completely a safe zone. Even the police agree that it's far better that parents know that under almost any reason you were safe in that ward if you brought a kid in or were visiting your child there.

[silverleaf]

Babies in distress before delivery can inhale meconium ( basically their own stool excreted into amniotic fluid) and develop serious internal infection

[PGR88]

Its just another way for the corrupt nanny-state to save money

[higgmeister]

So it was just the midwife not paying attention to detail.

[NorthstarMom]

I also had friends who were pushing the home birth experience, even when I found I had a complete previa. Had I gone into even early labor we both would have most likely bled to death.

Like a nurse in NICU told me, home birth is wonderful when things go well. But when things go wrong during a delivery, they get very bad, very quickly.

I’ve delivered six babies at the same hospital. The care and and attentiveness differed each time. The first and third times weren’t the best, but unlike my MIL and others I know, it didn’t make me decide to never go back. I will always be very grateful that I had a good hospital with knowledgeable staff to help get my precious babies off to a good start.

[Teotwawki]

When my daughter was born, in a hospital, we had the whole natural birth plan. My wife didn't want to have an epidural. But when the time came my wife had a serious infection that was stressing the baby. She was unconscious and the monitors were all in the danger zone. The nurse said we should consider a C-section and I said fine, do it, I reached that conclusion already an hour ago. But, she kept going on about how she understood that wasn't part of our birth plan. I said plans change so go with the C-section. And again, she continues talking about the birth plan while the monitors are all way past any comfort level so I stepped up closer to her, towering over and glaring down on her and firmly stated that “we're going with the C-section, now you need to stop talking and start moving.” Fortunately, at that point she did, otherwise I was about to lose it.

[silverleaf]

It can happen in any delivery where the baby is gasping and not yet delivered

Midwifery runs risk that advanced methods of swift delivery ( ie c-section) arent available -

My Son ( and I ) almost died despite presence of full medical team but luckily his lung infection was cured - a home birth would have been a double mortality

[silverleaf]

Hospitals have agendas
Unfortunately so so some of the staff

[colorcountry]

Agenda.

[Nifster]

Bad training and ego

Always a deadly combination in medicine

[imardmd1]

bmk

[higgmeister]

Our daughter was born overseas in the Azores. The hospital had to turn on the lights and open the maternity ward just for us. Our daughter had complications and received personal attention. They called the OB/GYN out of the base theater a couple of blocks away. And the Pediatrician stayed for days working with our daughter. It was amazing to watch Dr. Key putting an IV in her scalp with tears in his eyes. A few days later there were two other mothers on the ward.

[silverleaf]

You were fortunate
My son was born at Tripler Army hospital in Hawaii and they damn near killed both of us with incomptence
Thank God an Air Force osteopath just happened to be called in that morning
He told me weeks later on a follow up visit ( to check my lungs for the pneumonia thay failed to catch) that mine was the most profound case of preeclampsia he had ever saved
I do believe my son suffered life long effects of the experience
Subtle but ultimately deadly

[originalbuckeye]

Read the whole article.

[Tax-chick]

There is nothing in the article about home birth.