I know this is probably going to sound weird, but when I was a L&D nurse, I really liked doing vaginal exams. There was something so cool about feeling the cervix with a little head (hopefully) pushing up against it…and I was very good at it. Gentle and accurate. But, I do know that no matter how gentle you are, they tend to be uncomfortable for birthing women which is why I was excited to read about this ‘method’ of determining the location of the fetal head without an exam.

The best part was that I had already been practicing it!!!!
Read the rest of this entry »

I have only delivered a few babies in my life, and all have been ‘by accident’.  Basically, the doctor failed to show up on time.  Obviously, with these children, there was no issue of malpresentation- they were COMING OUT- no matter what.  : )

However, one of things that keeps me up a night when I think about embarking on a career as a midwife (the person actually in charge of helping the baby come out-yikes) is what we called ‘asynclitic’ babies- those who’s heads are not in the preferred position to get born.  Their little heads are turned in such a way that it can make labor long, dilation difficult and can result in c-section if not resolved.  There are lots of ways to deal with minor malpresentations, and in this post, I am gathering up tips and tricks to educated myself, so every birth IN my dreams, comes out like the birth OF my dreams.

Read the rest of this entry »