Comments on: No Intervention Necessary: Woman Has Surprise HBAC

By: Hattie O'Brien

Hattie O'Brien — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:32:03 +0000

I guess every birth needs a hero- at an unassisted birth the hero is the cord cutter! Have to make sure all disasters are averted by getting that cord cut quickly! Ugh! How have we done this for thousands of years anyway? I’m so glad all went well- so much for the repeat c/s!

By: Vicki Beauchamp

Vicki Beauchamp — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:59:01 +0000

When I was planning my UC, I was speaking to my mom (an RN for the last 2+ decades), and she was also focused on making sure we cut the cord, how we were going to do it and when we were going to do it. She believed that the baby doesn’t start breathing until the cord is cut. I was stunned. She has even been present at births in the hospital she works for (its a very small hospital so the nurses work a lot of different floors) and still believed the cord had to be cut before the placenta started to separate.

I did my best to educate her and gave her links to read rather than just having me tell her so I hope it sunk in and maybe she can help some moms with delayed clamping!

When we ended up calling 911 after my daughter was born, the EMTs/firefighters were talking about making sure the baby stayed below the placenta so the blood doesn’t go back into it! The lack of education is astounding.

Congrats to this family! How wonderful that she avoided having another c-section.

By: briome

briome — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:59:47 +0000

That is interesting that the 2 year old was more action minded then the 3 year old. I wonder if my 5 year old will be more helpful then my 2 1/2 year old?
Not too susprising!

By: Unnecesarean

Unnecesarean — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:14:12 +0000

The universal obsession with cord cutting is so ripe for some kind of anthropological/sociological analysis. It has to be something with the female passively producing children for the state or something with the Western ideal of infant independence and self-reliance. Or maybe it’s just total lack of knowledge of the mechanics of childbirth since birth has been institutionalized and inaccessible for several generations now. It probably goes along with the “But who will perform your birth for you?!!” mentality.

I’m sure this has already been analyzed. Should I whip out my Robbie Davis-Floyd collection?

By: Claire Winstone

Claire Winstone — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:07:29 +0000

Funny about that cutting the cord–my thinking would be that it’s the last thing I’d want to do–I view it as baby’s insurance policy to allow for a more gradual (if necessary) transition to physiological breathing. And why they always rush off to the hospital right afterwards really bothers me–instead of settling in for an hour of peak oxytocin/bonding/initiating breastfeeding all of a sudden it’s an emergency that requires medical oversight/intervention!!! Why?!! But anyway, congratulations to mother, baby and amazing little “big brother”, and especially on avoiding a fourth C-section with all its attendant risks!

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:17:30 +0000

It is so funny how they also always need to emphasize who cut the cord. I think people really believe you NEED to cut the cord quickly, although I don’t know if anyone could tell you why.

By: Naomi Kilbreth

Naomi Kilbreth — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:52:46 +0000

Awesome story! Thanks for sharing!

By: Kathy

Kathy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:47:09 +0000

Oh, this is so cool! And in my neck of the woods, too!

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:43:27 +0000

Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by Unnecesarean: Woman has surprise home birth after three cesareans – http://bit.ly/4A66bC...

By: Amy Romano

Amy Romano — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:13:07 +0000

Awesome story! And I have to point out my usual pet peeve. What’s with the fuss about cutting the umbilical cord? I swear every accidental home birth story always goes to great lengths to describe how, when, and by whom the cord is cut, as if a baby isn’t really safely born until it’s free from the placenta??? At least this one didn’t involve a dirty shoelace, like at least 2 others I’ve come across lately.

OK, off my soap box now. Congratulations to the family!!!