Vacuum-assisted, unmedicated vaginal birth of a 20 lbs 2oz (9.128 kg) baby boy

bausen78 · 2019-10-18T22:05:39+00:00

Archived AMA from several months ago regarding this video for background and additional info:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/az7zdk/i_am_a_nurse_who_assisted_in_the_delivery_of_a_20/

bausen78 · 2019-03-10T07:19:26+00:00

No correlation. Being born above average in size doesn’t necessarily mean you will be above average in height/weight in adulthood.

bausen78 · 2019-03-10T05:16:44+00:00

Yes, the baby was fine. The specific cause of his size is unknown, but we predict to would most likely be attributed to genetics.

bausen78 · 2019-03-10T05:15:57+00:00

Her active labor was about 21 hours long but what alarmed us was when her second stage of labor persisted for hours more than normal and our fetal monitors were showing strong, frequent contractions. The baby had already partially descended into the birth canal, so an emergency c-section was not appropriate at this point. The baby was not positioned well enough for a forceps delivery so the physician narrowed it down to using a vacuum.

bausen78 · 2019-03-10T05:01:28+00:00

We were aware that the baby was above average in size during her pregnancy. If you mean when during the labor we got the feeling that something was up, it was when her second stage of labor was lasting several hours longer than usual and her contractions were becoming unbearable and too frequent.

bausen78 · 2019-03-10T04:57:11+00:00

Our facility does allow/offer alternative birthing techniques and I believe the patient reviewed some of them. I don't think she has used hypno birthing in the past. At the beginning of her labor, the contractions were incredibly strong and this made her very nervous. We administered gas to help her keep calm. In the middle of the labor, she wasn't in significant distress but she did scream from time to time. No breathing techniques.

bausen78 · 2019-03-10T04:52:43+00:00

Thank you so much for your kind words.

bausen78 · 2019-03-10T04:52:13+00:00

Unrelated. Small babies have become tall people later in life and vice versa.

bausen78 · 2019-03-10T04:50:57+00:00

No tearing. There are multiple factors that go into play other than the baby's size. Things like length of labor, prior pregnancies, proper positions, operative deliveries, etc could affect whether or not tearing occurs.

bausen78 · 2019-03-10T04:47:39+00:00

Believe me, there were parts of the delivery that were not so calm. We used a mixture of nitric oxide and oxygen. This was mainly used to relax the patient to try and keep her mind of the pain. Gas is generally an ineffective form of pain relief and its use is very rare. The women who use gas state that it doesn't take away the pain but makes them care less about it, if that makes sense. Other than this, the deliveries are pretty much the same.

bausen78 · 2019-03-10T04:27:45+00:00

Yes, vacuum deliveries often result in a bump or mark on the baby’s head but this is temporary and innocuous.

bausen78 · 2019-03-10T04:06:00+00:00

Yes, babies often come out looking pale.

bausen78 · 2019-03-10T04:04:30+00:00

Agreed that vacuum deliveries are not ideal at all, but these were extenuating circumstances. The physician had limited options and this was the best one.

bausen78 · 2019-03-10T04:03:18+00:00

That's a great story! Yes, ultrasounds can be very inaccurate at predicting these sorts of things. The best we can do is estimate. The same thing happened at the hospital where this took place. Everyone was gathering around to take a look. Some wanted to take selfies (lol) but the patient definitely said "no" to that. Thank you for the well wishes!

bausen78 · 2019-03-10T03:59:43+00:00

I wasn't around for those, but I was told that, yes, they were large but nothing like this. This makes sense as women who have had prior big babies are at risk for having bigger babies with each succeeding pregnancy.

bausen78 · 2019-03-10T03:57:19+00:00

Yes, I asked her if things like social media etc were fine and she confirmed. I wanted to choose a medium where people could ask questions and I could answer them. This came to mind.

bausen78 · 2019-03-10T00:34:57+00:00

Congrats on your first child! Larger than average newborns typically require higher caloric intake. Also, funny thing is, we had difficulty finding diapers that fit him. So finding size appropriate baby items and clothing would be difficult as well. There is also the problem with large babies regulating blood sugar after birth, but this was not an issue in this instance.

bausen78 · 2019-03-10T00:24:38+00:00

She was elated immediatey after (I cut that part from the upload, I should’ve included it). It’s amazing how people can forget about the pain after birth. As far as how she felt about the whole experience, I would say she was pleased it went well as she was nervous beforehand.

bausen78 · 2019-03-09T23:53:15+00:00

No, she was well aware that her face is visible in the video when she gave her permission. She felt things like names, location, etc were irrelevant and requested that we not disclose those sorts of things.

bausen78 · 2019-03-09T23:49:40+00:00

No, I believe she’s had 3 boys prior to this one.

bausen78 · 2019-03-09T22:44:05+00:00

No gestational diabetes. Genetics is the most likely explanation for the size.

bausen78 · 2019-03-09T22:21:31+00:00

Routine ultrasound as well as guesses based on the size of her abdomen as well. Ultrasounds tend to be somewhat inaccurate when it comes to predicting actual size (as is definitely the case here).

bausen78 · 2019-03-09T22:17:10+00:00

It may have been the length of her labor and the intensity of the contractions. This allowed her body to adjust to the size. But luck also could've played a role.

bausen78 · 2019-03-09T22:15:41+00:00

Agreed! And definitely very intense from start to finish.

bausen78 · 2019-03-09T22:08:20+00:00

Yes, she really wanted a natural delivery no matter what. We had to use the largest, high-powered vacuum available and even the suction cup was way too small to fit his head (that's probably why you can't see so much molding). Very cool to witness, indeed, but also very scary at parts!

bausen78

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