Midwives should help mothers avoid three common misunderstandings and allow mothers to express pain, but they should remind mothers not to hoarse to avoid wasting energy.
Most women who have experienced natural childbirth will describe the pain of childbirth as \”life is worse than death\”, especially in the second stage of labor after the child is delivered. Some women are left without family members, and loneliness and fear exacerbate the pain of childbirth. Although the mother who was encouraged by her family is in better condition, due to the lack of education for midwives in domestic hospitals, it is not uncommon for her husband to be too excited to help, or even to faint on the spot. to confusion.
In recent years, my country has begun to introduce the internationally popular \”doula delivery\” service. Professional doulas are required to provide ongoing emotional support and a variety of supports to make the body feel more comfortable, but cannot interfere with medical decisions. What can a doula do? If the hospital does not provide doula services, what steps can the caregiver take to make the birth smoother? Recently, reporters interviewed mothers, doulas and related experts.
Maternal experience:
A doula helped me successfully complete a \”natural birth\”
First stage of labor:
Doula helps massage relieve pain
Recently, the well-known parent-child cartoonist Cong Yueyue tried out the one-on-one \”doula delivery\” service at the Guangzhou Women and Children\’s Medical Center. The first batch of doulas trained in mainland China by the International Childbirth Education Association accompanied her during the birth in the name of accompanying her family.
When Chu Yueyue gave birth to her first child in the hospital, her husband and grandmother were with her. But when she was in unbearable pain, they couldn\’t help except she shed tears of heartache or asked \”does it hurt?\” Busy. This time she gave birth to her second child, hoping to have a natural delivery with the help of a professional doula to reduce the pain.
Before giving birth, doula He Chunlei met Zou Yueyue and suggested that she use a birthing ball to practice some birthing postures before giving birth. On the day of delivery, the doula accompanied Qiu Yueyue into the delivery room.
The first stage of labor came, the contractions gradually intensified, and the labor pains made Yueyue very uncomfortable. At this time, the doula helped her massage her abdomen to relieve muscle pain. To ease Congee Yueyue\’s nervousness, the doula memorized the frequency and duration of her contractions and reminded her to use short words to visualize when the contractions began, such as imagining that she was climbing a peak. When she reached the peak, she also climbed to the top to see the most magnificent scenery…
Second stage of labor:
Teach pregnant women to breathe and exert force correctly
The cervix is fully dilated. After entering the second stage of labor, expectant mothers will have a strong urge to defecate. Her instinct was to force the baby out of the birth canal. However, improper force may affect labor.
When the exhausted Congee Yueyue kept asking, \”Can I push harder now?\” the doula immediately found a midwife for her. After receiving a positive answer, Congee Yueyue immediately followed suit. When exerting force, it is easy to disrupt the mother\’s breathing rhythm, which is not conducive to continued exertion. Whenever I lose my breathWhen the rhythm is up, the doula will sound a beep. 20 minutes later, the baby was born successfully.
Postpartum:
Let the baby find the mother\’s nipple independently
With the consent of the midwife, the doula assists the mother in the most important first skin-to-skin contact after delivery. Less than 45 minutes after birth, the baby lying on the mother\’s chest accurately found the mother\’s nipple by instinct.
Doula advice:
Three major misunderstandings to avoid when accompanying mothers
It is understood that there are two types of doula services: professional doulas and midwives, and some hospitals in Guangzhou use the latter. \”The \’doula\’ service provided by midwives is based on medical services.\” Rao Yanzhen, head nurse of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Zhongshan Hospital, said that midwives usually start \”doula\” services after the mother\’s cervix dilates to three centimeters. Observe the labor process and guide the mother to adjust her breathing. Due to the busy work schedule of midwives, it is difficult for mothers to provide \”one-on-one\” service during long periods of labor.
\”Doulas can assist mothers to give birth naturally, but they cannot interfere with the medical decisions of medical staff.\” Midwife He Chunlei said that according to the regulations of the International Childbirth Education Association, in addition to meeting and talking to expectant mothers before delivery, doulas mainly provide information during the delivery process. Four types of services: First, provide emotional support to the mother and stay with her throughout the process so that she feels safe. The second is to help mothers use pain relief measures. When the mother loses her breathing rhythm due to pain, help her regain her breathing rhythm and divert her attention. She introduced some pain relief tips: during the first stage of labor, lying down is not the best position, but you should change positions frequently; pregnant women often have low back pain, they can massage, use a bag made of rice or beans, heat it in a microwave or use To warm the baby, apply heat to the mother\’s back, or use an ice pack to cool it. The third is to help mothers understand the advantages and disadvantages of various delivery methods. The fourth is to advocate mothers’ choices and help mothers communicate with medical staff.
Accompanying personnel should help mothers avoid three common misunderstandings during childbirth:
1. Bite your companion when pain comes. Some husbands who desire to love their wives will agree that their wives can bite themselves to distract themselves from the pain. This may relieve the pain temporarily, but it will cause the mother to hold her breath, disrupt her breathing rhythm, and affect her continued movement.
2. When the mother screams, the person accompanying her must be calm and avoid being irritable or impatient with words.
3. Allow the mother to cry bitterly. Do not tell her \”hold it, don\’t cry.\” Remind her not to make her voice hoarse, so as not to disrupt her breathing rhythm and waste energy. When the pain is unbearable, give massage, cold or hot compresses, or use a countdown method to divert the mother\’s attention from the pain.
Expert Reviews
Hou Hongying, director of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Zhongshan Third Hospital, said that the advantage of a doula during delivery is that it can relieve the mother\’s nervousness, ease the pain amplified by fear, and guide the mother to exert force correctly to promote pregnancy.Smooth delivery. According to authoritative literature research from the Cochrane Database, labor support provided by non-clinical personnel such as doulas can reduce the cesarean section rate by 26%, reduce the vaginal surgery rate by 41%, and reduce the use of drug analgesia in vaginal surgery rates. It decreased by 28%, and the rate of maternal dissatisfaction decreased by 33%.
Hu Qiping, breastfeeding consultant of the International La Leche League, said that if there is no doula to accompany the childbirth, whether it is the husband, mother, or \”best friend\” who has given birth, they should take classes in advance to learn some practical skills for childbirth, such as how to help the mother maintain breathing. Rhythm, timely massage, appropriate encouragement to the mother, etc., instead of just shouting empty slogans to the mother: \”Patience, don\’t scream\”.