Before, During, and After Pregnancy For Parents... Labor & Delivery 4 Things to Remember When You’re in Labor December 30, 2014March 12, 2016 Adventures of a Labor Nurse 8435 Views 27 Comments core, delivery, labor, nurse, nursing, OB, obstetrics, pregancy, pregnant Everyone loves a baby, but your baby needs to be skin-to-skin with you immediately after delivery. …or your partner, if you are unavailable. Just remember that everyone else will get their chance to hold your baby. Tell them to hold the baby when you need to sleep! Skin-to-skin contact is especially important for breastfeeding, but it’s good for all babies, regardless of your feeding choice. Skin-to-skin contact should be immediate and uninterrupted. You’re pregnant, not paralyzed…get up and move. You were walking around right before you came to the hospital, so don’t think you need to ask permission to change positions. The IV pole doesn’t glue you to the bed. Unless there’s a medical reason why you need to stay planted in the bed, walk around. Rock in a rocking chair. Use a birthing ball. Whatever you do, don’t just lay flat on your back in a bed. Talk to your baby, talk to your body, and pray! Tell your baby they’re being evicted (but in the nicest voice possible), tell your body to relax and to release the baby, and pray for a quick and easy delivery 😃 I’m telling you, this works! Don’t close the “door”. If you lie in the bed, don’t close your legs! As a nurse, if you are about to deliver and we’re still waiting for the provider to show up, the first thing we’re going to do is close your legs : ) So don’t forget… The door has to be open for the baby to come out. A labor nurse’s version of the “Fire Hydrant” 😃I don’t use a stirrup, I use a couple of pillows folded in half and stuffed between your legs, and I’ve seen people use a half-deflated birthing ball…But if you’re stuck at 9cm, this little trick for 10-20 minutes will rotate a baby right out ❤ Until my next delivery ❤Be a part of a delivery and share with friends:PrintTumblrFacebookTwitterLinkedInPinterestRedditLike this:Like Loading... Related
AmandaDecember 30, 2014 at 4:18 pmPermalink Great reminders! Does your facility have peanut balls? They are peanut shaped birthing balls for patients lying down. Works great for epidural patients! Reply
adventuresofalabornursePost authorDecember 30, 2014 at 4:21 pmPermalink No but they sound awesome! ! Reply
Tracy Turner HiebertDecember 30, 2014 at 5:06 pmPermalink They are AMAZING!! We’ve also used the bedside table with a pillow on top… We call this position the “chicken-wing”… Lol. ? Reply
NikiDecember 30, 2014 at 6:42 pmPermalink They are awesome! Especially for epiduralized patients, love them :) Reply
Jackie Shillingford (@jac1ford)December 31, 2014 at 1:02 amPermalink I saw these on a recent trip to Cairns hospital here in Queensland – they said they didn’t use them much – I think I need to encourage them more on my next visit to the Maternity unit there. Reply
AnonymousJanuary 7, 2015 at 4:21 pmPermalink We do!! We just got them n we love them!! The peanut ball works great!!!! Reply
Meagan GardnerJanuary 7, 2015 at 4:22 pmPermalink We do!!! We just got them n we love them!!!! They work great! (Lots of strange looks from our patients though haha) Reply
kathryn1962December 30, 2014 at 4:29 pmPermalink It is awesome that so many places are adapting this position to help rotate babies. I have been an L&D nurse for 30 years and I used to do this and other things like get them on hands and knees with my Moms when all my co workers thought I was nuts. Now there are actual names for this. LOL Those same nurses called it the Pretzel. Where I am now it is called the Texas Twist. Now I see y’all call it the Fire Hydrant. YAY for helping Moms get that baby out! Reply
AbbyDecember 30, 2014 at 4:51 pmPermalink we call it the Texas twist too! And we’re in Arkansas lol. In Dallas at a OB RNC course they called it the “Swimmer’s Pose.” Yes everyone look into peanut balls! We’ve had such luck with them that we ordered a whole bunch of them in different sizes! Reply
JanetteDecember 30, 2014 at 4:36 pmPermalink We use and love the peanut ball to turn babies! Love the name the “fire hydrant” with the sturrips- will share that at work! Really appreciate and love your blog…… Reply
AmandaDecember 30, 2014 at 4:48 pmPermalink We have even done this position with the side table with pillows on it…works wonders! Reply
unmanicuredmamaDecember 30, 2014 at 5:20 pmPermalink Reblogged this on un.manicured.mama and commented: I love this blog. Reply
Liz SDecember 30, 2014 at 5:51 pmPermalink Ditto on the peanut ball!!!!! Andrea Lythgoe wrote an article for the Lamaze journal about it. They are great. We use them all the time. We bought ours from Childbirth Graphics but Amazon has them too. Reply
adventuresofalabornursePost authorDecember 30, 2014 at 6:02 pmPermalink I’ll Google the article and Link it! Reply
fivepetersensDecember 30, 2014 at 6:47 pmPermalink Hi, I am one of the bereavement coordinators in the Heartstrings Perinatal Bereavement office at Northside Hospital in Atlanta. We would love to include your blog post about when L&D is not happy and there is nothing to celebrate…it is the one that touches on perinatal loss. Of course, we would give you and your blog the credit and send you a copy. Please let me know! Our website is http://www.northsidepnl.com, in case you want to check us out. Thanks! Melissa Petersen Sent from my iPhone > Reply
Cindy YonkmanDecember 30, 2014 at 9:11 pmPermalink Dang girl, you are one prolific writer-AND each artice is QUALITY! Thanks for making it so easy to share my love of L&D with my co-workers, family and friends! Reply
Misha WellerDecember 31, 2014 at 3:15 pmPermalink Can someone please tell me what the Texas Twist is? I’m in Austin and I’ve never heard of it. Lol Sounds amazing ! Reply
AmyDecember 31, 2014 at 10:10 pmPermalink We use the bedside table with pillows and call it a Texas roll! Works wonders!! Reply
KathrynJanuary 11, 2015 at 11:07 pmPermalink We call it “chicken wing”. I use it all the time. Our docs automatically request that we”sit them up” (high Fowler’s, feet dropped, sitting/throne position) when they are AL. I nod and say “ok” then immediately turn mom to “chicken wing” toward the side with the lip. Within 20 mins, the lip is gone, the baby is rotated and descended, and we can push. ? Reply
KimberlyJanuary 29, 2015 at 12:16 amPermalink Reblogged this on Knoxvilledoula's Blog and commented: And you can use a peanut ball on #4 Reply
Virginia CiofflettiApril 1, 2017 at 8:46 pmPermalink Um….L & D for 21+ yrs (but ’72-’93)….are you joking about closing legs in your example of MD not being there yet?! Please tell me yes! Reply
VictoriaNovember 3, 2017 at 9:00 pmPermalink https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=0h0m6s&v=B7mFvB9-HsU Reply
