My first son, Dylan, was born precipitously, meaning fast. From the time my water broke until he was out was about two hours. No epidural. No doctor in the room. My husband caught him with one hand while filming the brief delivery using his other hand. It was intense and unexpected, to say the least.
With this experience under my belt, I thought, "I can totally deliver at home if I need to. We’re experts." I always loved the idea of delivering at home. Personal, comfortable, and intravenous-free. My husband thought otherwise. He thought I was crazy to put myself in a situation where there wasn’t a doc available if I needed one. That is my pragmatic husband.
So on round two, I delivered Ryan in hospital. This time my obstetrician was present, broke my water, and I delivered pretty uneventfully two hours later. But there was a problem—Ryan was stunned from coming out so fast and wasn’t breathing properly. Much to my chagrin, he was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, hooked up to IVs and a CPAP machine, helping him breath. This was not my plan. I take care of kids in the NICU in my professional life, my child wasn’t supposed to be there. Luckily, Ryan did just perfectly and I got to take him home on day 3.
Now with baby boy number three coming in December, my husband and I discussed yet again delivering at home. He thinks I’m crazy. After all, Ryan did truly need medical attention and could have become ill at home. I argue that the hospital is a mere 10 min drive away.
After much discussion, my husband’s discomfort with the idea of delivering at home has weighed heavily on my mind, and we plan to deliver in hospital. But knowing that I have quick labours and push for mere minutes, if my water breaks at home, I may get my wish after all and deliver in the comfort of my home. In fact, for Ryan and for this baby I had/have a pack of supplies that I will carry with me as a just-in-case.
What’s the deal with home versus hospital births?
I think every parent wants the best delivery experience they can find, and this varies woman to woman and family to family. Every woman should be allowed to chose where she delivers, with the caveat that women with complicated pregnancies or expected complicated deliveries should consider the health and safety of themselves and baby, and consider a hospital delivery.
What is good about hospital deliveries?
Hospital deliveries are usually controlled. The environment is relatively sterile. Should mom require medications or fluids, they are readily available. If baby needs fetal monitoring or medical attention, like with Ryan, it is at the ready. If mom wants pain medications, such as an epidural or medication like Pitocin to make the contractions strong and regular, these are available.
What is bad about hospital deliveries?
Most women in labour are confined to a bed. Food and liquid intake is limited in case you need a Caesarean Section or anaesthesia. Some women experience delayed care in hospital due to other demands at that time with other women in labour or post partum. This was true in my case, as no doctor was present for the delivery of my first. Though the availability of Pitocin is great for some women, others argue that births are not being allowed to happen naturally, and the process is unnecessarily being sped up for the benefit of the hospital and doctor only. Often the number of people taking part in the delivery is limited to one or two, which some women don’t appreciate.
What is good about home births?
Home births allow mom and family to deliver in the comfort of their home. Many have water births or deliver in unconventional positions. Moms often walk around, do not get intravenous access, and have access to food and drink. As many people can be involved and present in the delivery as desired. Many women say the home delivery is a quiet and private experience. The focus is more often on keeping mom comfortable and less on the "medicine" of delivery. Time constraints are lessened with less expectation of when the delivery will be over.
What is bad about home births?
Most would argue that a home birth is a great scenario unless something goes wrong. Baby could get stuck or labour fail to progress. Baby can become unstable and require emergency delivery. Mom may bleed excessively and require treatment. Intravenous fluids, medicines, or surgery may be required. These are some of the many unexpected potentialities of delivery. If this happens at home, without experienced surgeons, outcomes can be bad.
The reality is that most deliveries go well, without much of a hitch. But it is a crapshoot. My son needed emergency care. This certainly wasn’t expected. Many emergency situations are dealt with appropriately in 10-15 minutes when mom and baby can get to the hospital from home. This is how most births were when our grandparents and previous generations had babies.
Do you want a home or hospital birth? What have your experiences been?
The ultimate checklist for everything you need to get before baby arrives and everything moms-to-be need to bring to the hospital.
With school starting, I suspect we will be seeing more cases of lice cropping up at schools around the city. September is "lice month," much to parents chagrin. Parents will begin to receive notifications saying a child was diagnosed with lice in the school or classroom, and they should have their child checked out. That’s when panic kicks in—parents get that "icky" feeling that something awful may be creeping in their home, and often bring their child immediately to the doc to be checked out.
Lice are tiny insects that live on the skin and feed on blood (yuck!). Once on the surface of the skin, they cause itching due to irritation from their saliva. Lice lay their eggs on the surface of the hair—these are called nits.
Lice are gray in colour and 2 to 4 mm long. They are hard to see on the hair and scalp. Nits are a lighter gray and stick to the hair shaft. They are difficult to remove from the hair, unlike dandruff.
Lice spreads by hair contact. Children that share their brushes, hats, or pillows are at risk of getting infested. Lice are unable to jump or fly, and require direct contact to cause infection.
Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish lice or dandruff. You may need a physician or other health care professional to help. When in doubt, see someone!
Treatment for lice regularly involves using medications applied to the lice in the hair and scalp. I recommend washing brushes, hats, bedding, clothes, and toys in hot soapy water, or placing these items in a tight plastic bag for two weeks. What kills lice? Insecticides, like Nix, have to be applied twice, 7 to 10 days apart. We don't recommend using these products in children less than two years of age. Non-insecticides, like Resultz, also need to be used twice, 7-10 days apart. However, I do not recommend using these products in children less than 4 years.
If the medications do not work, you may need to repeat the treatment—the nits and lice may not have been completely removed or the lice may be resistant to your treatment. Your child may have been re-infested, as well. Services that provide manual removal of lice and nits may be helpful. Many parents try to apply oils, vinegar, even mayonnaise to "kill" the lice. Unfortunately, these remedies have not been proven to be useful.
Lice actually prefer clean hair, so your child shouldn’t be embarrassed. It is not a sign of being dirty!
Keeping kids out of school has not been shown to minimize the risk of lice infestation. So GO TO SCHOOL! Both the Canadian pediatric Society and American Academy of Pediatrics agree that lice infestation is NOT a reason to miss school.
Don’t worry, even if your child gets lice, it is usually easy to treat and control, and your child will be in good company.
Let the Germs Begin! Nothing jolts the immune system awake quite like having a kid in daycare.
Read more about the inevitable back to school colds and viruses.
I went home and cried while staring at our baby’s ultrasound pictures for hours, trying to figure out what to do. Should I get an amnio or not? Could I wait it out and hope for the best? Could I live with the consequences of not knowing and having a baby with a potential genetic abnormality? Would we continue with the pregnancy if we knew the baby did have a genetic abnormality? How would this affect our then one-year-old son, Dylan?
I was terrified of the idea—the thought of a long needle invading my baby’s amniotic sac, the risk of infection, poking the baby, and, worst of all, the 1/1000 risk of miscarriage. For me, I didn’t want to live the rest of the pregnancy being fearful, worrying about the worst-case scenario. If our child did have a genetic abnormality, would he be well or unwell at birth? Was there another genetic abnormality that was masquerading as a positive Down’s screen that could be deadly? I needed to mentally prepare myself for all the possibilities.
Knowledge is power, most of the time. In my case, as a pediatrician and emergency room doctor, I see many patients with Down’s and other genetic abnormalities each year, both healthy and sick. Some live amazing, fulfilling, healthy lives. Some have devastating heart and blood problems. There is no predicting.
At the end of the day, I am not good with surprises and am a control freak. We needed to know what we were dealing with. There was no way we couldn’t find out. So, four days later, after going to genetic counselling, I had my first amniocentesis.
For me, it was horribly uncomfortable. I found the procedure painful, with lots of cramping afterwards. After delivering my first son with no epidural, I thought it would be a breeze. Not so in my case. I was not expecting that degree of discomfort. I was a complete worrywart for the next 36 hours while we waited for the results. And thankfully, we found out Ryan was healthy with no genetic abnormalities. He is now a healthy and ridiculously happy two-year-old.
I told myself I would never have an amnio again—it was too uncomfortable, physically and emotionally. But last week we were back in the same situation. Now a 1/200 risk of Down’s for this baby. And we did it all over again, much to my chagrin, with a different set of cramping and nausea following the procedure this time. My OB is right, no two pregnancies are the same.
Thankfully, we found out that this baby too does not have Down’s or other genetic abnormality. We still have to wait until the final genetics testing is back to fully relax, but this is a step. It’s a very stressful experience and I wish no one had to go through it. I am thankful we have the technology and knowledge to enable such testing, and happy that I was given the opportunity to find out the results. But I certainly don’t wish this experience on anyone. For my husband and I, we needed to know to plan ahead. For others, such as my parents and several of my friends, there was never a need to find out. At the end of the day, the choice is yours—there is no right or wrong answer, only your personal wishes.
Have you or your partner had an amnio? Or chosen to avoid one? I would love to hear your experience!
Calling all pregnant moms: here's how to respond when your young child asks how a baby got in your tummy.
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