OK it?s 1am and the phone rings. ?Hi Alan its XXX the contractions are about 10 minutes apart and are getting quite painful?. After a short discussion we decide it?s time for me to make my way to her home. Now this birth was a little more challenging than some for a number of reasons. Not only was this her first baby but she lived in the rainforest, the other side of the river and the ferry stops at midnight. Oh and the baby is breech.
I phone the ferry and tell them that I need to get over the river for a birth and I will be at the ferry in about 30 minutes. After being told by the woman on the phone that she will get her husband out of bed she also said that this pregnant woman should have made arrangements a few days ago. I mentioned that there are very few women who know when they are going to go into labour.
I arrive at the ferry and there it is with all the lights on. Over the river we go and after another 30 or so minutes I arrive at the house. All is going well with mum moving between the birth pool and the lounge room. At 7am mum asks me to do an internal to see what is happening. Now I don?t normally do internals but mum really wanted to know how far dilated she was and I thought it would be a good idea to find out if it was a frank or footling breech. So a quick check tells me that she is 8cm and after feeling the scrotum I know that the baby is frank breech.
At 7:30am I notice that mum is doing some involuntary pushing so I ask her if she needs to push and she says that she is trying not to but she can?t help it. I tell her it?s OK to push whenever she feels the need to.
It?s now 7:40am, mum is on her knees in the lounge being partially supported by her husband she has just had another contraction. I listen to the baby?s heart rate and find it to be only 60. It returns to normal after about 20 seconds but this to me was a warning sign. I tell mum and dad about the heart rate and that it could be a sign of cord compression and that I would like to listen to the heart more often, they agree.
7:45am Heart rate again falls down to 60 after a contraction but takes longer to recover. I start mum on oxygen to help increase the baby?s oxygen supply.
7:48 baby?s bum is born
7:50 baby is now out as far as it?s chest. I feel the cord and it is not pulsing.
7:56 cord still not pulsing. I tell mum that this baby needs to be born now.
8:04 baby born not breathing floppy and unresponsive and a very poor colour. I try to annoy the baby by rubbing it roughly with a towel. Still no response, still not breathing. Next I start to slap the bottom of its foot. Still no response. It is now time to start resuscitation, as I reach for the oxygen the baby lets out a loud cry we are now breathing and doing all the things that a newborn should do.
8:35 baby starts to breastfeed.
I kept a close eye on this baby over the next few days, there were no more problems.
This happened a few weeks ago. Baby is doing well and showing no signs of any problems.
