Emergency Childbirth

I had the opportunity to attend the Emergency Preparedness Expo several weekends ago. I have condensed my notes, and typed them up. I will be posting information here for you to read and learn about in the coming weeks. This week I will be sharing the information I received from a midwife about how to help an expectant mother deliver her child during an emergency. As sisters this information is critical for each of us to know, so that we can help ourselves and each other when life happens during difficult circumstances.

Emergency Child Birth

• Stress and environmental changes effect a pregnant woman
• Attitude is most important – Calm the expectant mother
• There are fewer complications without the use of drugs – give her assurance
• Who would be good for a birth team?
• Vital signs/ nursing
• People with calm demeanor
• Towel dry baby off and do skin to skin with mother – be sure to towel off the head first to keep baby warm
• To keep a baby from bleeding out:
• You will need 2 clamps or cotton tie offs (needs to be sterile)
• Clamp umbilical cord an inch apart and cut in between with sterile scissors or scalpel
• Leave at least 2 inches of umbilical cord on baby in case he/she needs an IV
• Keep tools nearby
• Keep a 3oz. Bulb syringe (boil 15-20 min. to sterilize) along with scalpel, and clamps
• Use bowls to keep tools in with chuck sheets in between layers of tools to keep things sterile, bowls keep tools from falling to the ground and becoming dirty
• If giving birth in the home Dad or person delivering can just wash hands, everyone else should have hands washed and wear gloves.
• When the water breaks, if there is color - it means the baby had a bowel movement, as soon as the babys head shows use the bulb syringe to first:
• stick bulb into side of the mouth
• then use it in the nose
• this keeps the baby from getting pneumonia
• Do Not Yank on the Cord – it may not be long enough to put the baby on moms chest right away.
• Hemorrhage – birth is not over until the placenta is out and the mother is doing well – a gush of blood means the placenta has detatched
• Encourage mother to push, if she is bleeding heavily, work at getting the placenta out
• use massage
• get her in an upright position sitting on the corner of two chairs, put hand on pubic bone and use a back and forth movement back towards the butt between the legs
• If she continues to bleed heavily get her out of the upright position, from the outside hold the uterus down and in and hold a towel to the bottom to try and stop the bleeding
• after 30-45 minutes the body should kick in and hold the uterus down
• Shepard's purse stops bleeding – use ½ dropper of tincture in 1inch of juice
• can use cayenne and water to douche (painful but can save her life) but you MUST clamp down on the uterus while using he douche.
• Placenta should be out within 10-15 minutes after giving birth, longer than 2 hours is a concern – work hard in the beginning to get the placenta out, be aggressive.
• Slipper elm or angelica root can help get the placenta along with physical (holding the uterus)
• if baby is breach:
• Put mom on the edge of bed her butt hanging off
• have people hold her legs up
• DON'T touch the baby until you see he is full extended and you see the nape of the neck.
• You can then hold the weight of the baby and help deliver head after letting it hang for a moment.