Lucky me

Another great birth~The other day, my G4P3003 patient who was 41+2 weeks and destined to be turned over to the big hospital for induction (THE VERY NEXT DAY) went into labor with a couple doses of castor oil. I had just temporarily fixed up the birth room with different bedding, and rearranging furniture, adding plants... and it looked great. Well, maybe "better" would be a more accurate description.

My patient came in at 7 cm and two hours later a chubby, round faced baby girl was born. My patient was accompanied by her husband and their three older children. They big kids came and went while mom was in labor--which is the great thing about being at the maternity home--as they were free to come and go, and no one else was in-house. For the birth, the biggest sister, age 17, was also in the room. I told her to pull up her sleeves and wash her hands so she could help receive her new baby sibling. There was a tight nuchal cord, which meant I had to somersault the baby out and so I couldn't give her as much hands on that I intended. But it was so sweet to see those sisters connected by touch for those brief moments.

The placenta was about 1 1/2 placentas (unusually large) with a velamentous insertion of the umbilical cord. It was rather unique. What an amazing organ the placenta is. Too many practitioners give the placenta a cursory glance--but careful observation can reveal important clues to the baby's full story. For example: closet cigarette smokers can be found out by their nicotine-stained placentas!

Last summer, as I went to brush aside a blood clot attached to a placenta I was starting to examine, I found the identical twin sister of the baby I had just helped welcome via a waterbirth. Twin pregnancies that don't go to term usually manifest as a miscarriage or the twin reabsorbs early in the gestation. However, this tenacious little one stayed for the pregnancy, unbeknownst to the mother and everyone else, until I gently explained my discovery.

She was the size of a ping-pong ball and still very early developed with eye, arm and leg buds. She was attached to the placenta by her own thready umbilical cord. The mom was a bit surprised and took it all in stride at the time. She was so happy to have her beautiful daughter, after two handsome sons. However, like what happens so often with the grief process, she contacted me several months later--wanting to talk and know more about her twin daughter's story.

American students~ so pleased that we have certain commitments from two extraordinary candidates. We had several inquiries from great candidates but we took two who were available at the time most needed and who came from Universities who were willing to work with us in the New Zealand way. One student will stay with us for three months, and the other is coming for a little more than a month. We have plenty of babies due and mothers to care for, so this is a great thing. In exchange, the students get to be a part of normal birth, in a low-key setting.