How serious is a drop in fetal heart rate during labor?

[Anonymous]

late deceleration will concern the nurse during labor

[Anonymous]

How serious the fetal heart rate during labor

[Anonymous]

Congratulations, OP! I'm glad you felt prepared enough to be comfortable with your doctor's decision.

[Anonymous]

I know that my baby's heart rate would occasional decel, although I don't know to what rate.

I just ended up laying primarily on my left side during labor. I had been put on an internal fetal monitor early in my labor since the stupid external monitor wouldn't stay put very well. They had me on oxygen as well every so often. As long as I stayed on my left side, things seemed to be okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know this is not what you asked -- but I saw you said your insurance won't cover midwives or birth centers -- and if that's what you would prefer, have you, like, triple checked? Insurance companies often tell you they don't cover midwives because midwives don't necessarily show up in the same slots OBs do in their database and the phone reps aren't used to finding midwives. I had better luck calling midwife practices, getting their provider numbers, and then calling my insurance and asking re the specific provider numbers. Most insurance companies DO cover hospital-based midwives, because they're dramatically cheaper than OBs. Many, but fewer, cover midwives at birth centers; only a few cover homebirth midwives.


this is true...I went to the midwives in rockville/n bethesda at midwifery care associates and when I called insurance found that they were under the doctors that they share a practice with simmonds and simmonds... check out their website and give them a call. http://www.midwiferycareassociates.com/
I had my daughter's heart rate drop during contractions and a c-section was never an option...that was the one thing that we all wanted to avoid.

[Anonymous]

My OB team at VHC work shifts -- meaning you get the doctor who is working vice the doctor who is your primary provider -- so there's little chance of the OB suggesting you have a c-section, just so she can go home.

Fetal heart rates drop for a variety of reasons -- almost always during contractions, but they usually "rest" in between. In some cases, baby's heart rate doesn't recover after the contraction, which is why a doctor may want to do a c-section. Ask your OB to explain the reasons she would normally prescribe a c-section.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for link on mothering.com. That's was really interesting to read. I know that I'm in no way qualified to decide whether or not I may need a c/s or not, but I like reading up on the science behind it. Just makes me feel better prepared.

All the PPs are totally right that you need to find a provider you trust. I'm not there yet with Foxhall. While I've liked the doctors I've seen so far, it's kinda hard when you have no idea which doctor will actually be delivering the baby.

Oh good grief. Mothering.com is NOT objective in the least. The "science" is "selective," at best.

[Anonymous]

With my second, my son's heart rate dropped fairly significantly, but I changed positions to my left side which helped. Also dropped quite a bit during pushing. Turns out that the cord was wrapped 3 times around his neck. I did NOT have a c-section and my OB never recommended one. This is such a hard call b/c I do believe that FTP and decrease in heart rate are sometimes over used by OBs to justify a c-section, but I'm not sure I would question the advice of my OB. One thing is my OBs have always known that I have a strong preference for a vaginal delivery and will have a c-section at their recommendation, but that it is really not my ideal. Agree that you just need to trust your OB with this one.

[Anonymous]

Another reason they would want to do a c-section is if baby's heart rate stayed dangerously low, but your labor made no progress toward delivery (i.e. you were only 3 cm dilated and baby hadn't dropped). In my case, baby's heart rate was low and he didn't seem to recover well after each contraction. We monitored the heart rate, with the idea that if it stayed low (I had no made any progress whatsoever) we would do a c-section. Luckily, I transitioned pretty quickly, so I delivered vaginally.

[Anonymous]

It CAN be serious, but go with your intuition, get a 2nd opinion. Monitors can also pick up your own heartbeat, so be aware. I was on monitor for 10 days straight(day and night), 23/24 week fetus and my baby had some significant decels. BUT several times it picked up my heartbeat and when the nurses came rushing back in, I just placed the monitor an inch above where it was and everyone let out their breath. Secondly, So little studies have been done on young fetus's and I was their test guinea BABY"S CAN'T REGULATE THEIR HEARTBEATS, THEY VARY... not a good test guinea, b/c after arguing that many of the hospital's concerns were unwarranted (and the american health care system is screwed up in screwing people over for money), they let me go, assurring me that my baby would probably die. I immediately switched doctors, had 2nd and 3rd opinions done, and what do you know, I have a very healthy baby. Doctors now say he was an ultrasound model. Those decels can be scary, but go with your intuition... I felt that the original doctors were more concerned about getting money and being sued. But, when it comes to the health of a child, if a c-section is necessary, by all means have it done. Their will always be that "What If?" What if I hadn't done a c-section. But just know that in the end, you will have a healthy baby in your arms.

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine really wanted a home birth and was all set for it. it didn't go as planned and once in the hospital, she was still refusing suggestions for a csection till her baby was almost having seizures. She ended up with a csection and the baby was taken from her for about 24hrs. Why go there? For what? The sake of saying you had a natural birth? I really dont get the point. These people aren't out to get you. Sure, they might be overly cautious but please, trust your healthcare providers. They really aren't there to trick you. Also, I had a csection based on fetal distress and they had let me labour for longer than I even wanted. I was freaked out by the signs on the fhm.

[Anonymous]

people always like to use stories like this to prove that homebirth is bad and hospitals are good. maybe a different way of thinking about it is that a good system is one in which someone can plan a home birth but then transfer to the hospital if needed. there are moms who are extreme and want to be at home at all costs, but there are also those of us who birth at home and feel comfortable being attended there by a skilled provider who we trust to bring us to the hospital if needed. i think no matter where you give birth it's important to trust your provider -- i had a home birth and if my midwife would have said "we need to go to the hospital for a cesarean" i would have trusted completely that it was necessary.

so i agree with you that we should all trust our health care providers but that doesn't mean they are all trustworthy. that means that it's important to find someone you do trust, and to ask the right questions so you can make sure your wishes line up with the provider's practices. many of us do feel that there are providers out there who intervene unnecessarily so for women concerned about that, it's important to ask the right questions to understand how risk averse a doctor or midwife might be and whether it matches up with your own feelings. i don't think any providers are trying to trick anyone but they do vary hugely in philosophy and practice and so i think it's valuable that we all do our homework and not just assume that anyone who is a doctor or midwife has our best interests at heart, will intervene only when necessary, etc.

Anonymous wrote:A friend of mine really wanted a home birth and was all set for it. it didn't go as planned and once in the hospital, she was still refusing suggestions for a csection till her baby was almost having seizures. She ended up with a csection and the baby was taken from her for about 24hrs. Why go there? For what? The sake of saying you had a natural birth? I really dont get the point. These people aren't out to get you. Sure, they might be overly cautious but please, trust your healthcare providers. They really aren't there to trick you. Also, I had a csection based on fetal distress and they had let me labour for longer than I even wanted. I was freaked out by the signs on the fhm.

[Anonymous]

OB's have to be careful because if they don't do a C-section and the baby is born "unhealthy" then the OB has a malpractice suit against them. They do the best they can.

[Anonymous]

Why would you or the OB want to risk the birth of a stillborn or oxygen deprived baby? For the OB, the issue of malpractice is hanging over him/her. For you, a dead or damaged infant.

I'd give the physicians the reins to make the right decisions. As for the show you watched where there was a high frequency of CS, you understand it has been edited, right? So they can show the CS frequently or infrequently, based on the message they want to project.

[Anonymous]

"

Anonymous wrote:if you want to avoid fetal distress don't get induced with pitocin and don't get an epidural in the first place
also the attached monitors are not always accurate; get monitored with a fetal doppler

"
This is a really stupid statement. Sometimes you don't have a choice. I had to have pitocin because my water broke and 24 hours later i wasn't dilated at all. Sometimes you're 2 weeks overdue. Sometimes there are other reasons induction needs to happen. And telling women to avoid epidurals is a mixed statement at best. There's evidence that shows that epidurals can DECREASE the risk of c-section because the woman can relax and push better. Studies have gone both ways on this.