AVOID THESE IN CHILDBIRTH FOR A HEALTHY MOM AND BABY
might be hard to believe but there are
still procedures being done these days that are outdated they're no longer supported by
research and they're not even recommended by the american college of ob gyns now it's important to
know these procedures and these policies so that when you go into labor and are ready to give birth
you know all of your options know what to expect and can make the best choices for you and your
baby now if we haven't met in real life my name is alice turner I'm a birth doula and a certified
childbirth educator with an engineering degree and on my channel i make videos where we break
down topics about childbirth to help you prepare and help you have a positive birth experience
today we're going to talk about six procedures and i'm gonna go through them in order of least
common to most common and we're gonna dive into what's being done and what research suggests so
that you have all the information and you'll be ready to go when the big day starts least common
and probably most uncomfortable is the enema so enemas used to be standard you'd get into
your hospital room get situated and your nurse would give you an enema so this is no
longer standard practice it's definitely not supported by research but there are
some hospitals that still offer an enema so i want you to know that if you refuse enema
you are going with current research and skipping something that you probably don't want anyway
number two is being confined to the bed for both labor and for pushing and birth so it used
to be very common practice to encourage women to stay in bed in labor so they can be
monitored so that they can be managed and this was even carried through all the way until pushing
and birth where many women were giving birth laying flat on their backs so this practice is not
currently supported by research research actually tells us that movement in labor is very helpful
helps the baby move through the pelvis helps labor along and progress and that giving birth on your
back is not really the best position for birth so more information about movement and labor
can be found below so that hospital bed is not somewhere that you have to be trapped in labor
and it's actually encouraged to get out of the bed and consider alternatives to laying flat on
your back for pushing as well number three is routine episiotomies so an episiotomy is where
they cut the tissue in your vaginal opening to make it bigger and this thankfully is no longer
standard practice so a lot of research came out not too many years ago that said that it's
healthier for your tissues and would be a a decrease to injury in your tissue if you allow
your body to tear naturally so episiotomies should really only be done in case of fetal distress now
what's crazy about this and again remember i said we i started with least common to most common and
episiotomy is right in the middle of this list there are areas of the country and doctors
that are still performing routine episiotomies so where i practiced in Atlanta i knew of a couple
doctors that had episiotomy rates that were still in the 90 range so i really want you to know about
your options with this procedure and also be aware of signing any consent forms that state that
you are consenting in advance to an episiotomy so as of this year 2020 i know there are hospitals
out there that are still having their patients sign consent forms for an episiotomy when they
check into the hospital so i don't recommend that because research and the american college
of ob gyns do not support routine episiotomies number four is the practice of putting babies in
a baby warmer right after birth so it used to be very common that as soon as a baby was born they
were brought over to a baby warmer in the room and there they would be assessed
medically find out if they're okay wiped off and then they would be brought
back to mom so evidence is really clear there has been a lot of research stating that
babies do the best when they are skin to skin uh more links down below to a video just on skin
to skin so check that out after your baby is born one hour skin to skin is really the best and
the healthiest for the baby but it's included in this video because i still hear about
people having to fight for skin skin time and what true skin to skin time is a baby that
is not swaddled up like a baby burrito but their naked skin against your naked skin number
five is the practice of immediate cord clamping and cutting so up until just a few years ago the
practice was very standard that as a baby was born whoever was catching the baby the doctor or the
midwife would clamp the baby's cord and then cut it immediately after birth but research tells us
that babies should really do better with a delay in the cord cutting and clamping so the part
that's a little confusing is how long of a delay the american college of ob gyns at the time
of this video are recommending between 30 seconds and 60 seconds of a delay now the world health
organization has a different take on this and they're saying around one minute to three minutes
of a delay but regardless the practice has changed and research really supports the benefit
of delaying that cord cutting but as i said we are getting close to the most frequent
practice and this is still a practice that is done fairly regularly so you now have the information
to advocate for yourself and get that delayed cord clamping that research really suggests the last
practice is bathing babies right after birth so this practice still happens fairly regularly where
babies are given their first bath in the hospital and usually within the first hours of birth but
research states that babies do best when the bath is delayed at a minimum of 24 hours
so if where you're giving birth does not follow that delay of 24 hours make sure that
you advocate for yourself and request that the bath be delayed at least 24 hours and many people
just wait and bathe their baby when they get home so that is definitely an option
as well and follows best research so i know you want to be prepared for the big day
i have put together a playlist of what i think is your next must watch and help you prepare so check
it out right here and i'll see you guys next time bye you
