Maternity, Labor and Delivery during the Great Depression

[maryslittlegarden]

If you were Queen, could you appoint me to some official position wherein I could enact all of your childbirth mandates and initiatives? I agree with everything you just said! (And the breastmilk bank thing that you mentioned in another thread.)

No problem.

I would also have mandatory naptime.

You mean for mothers, right? I would definitely get behind that movement.

No, for everyone. I'll make a sleep spray for toddlers. i think if the whole world had mandatory nap time we'd have less heretics and less war.

Verenaerin, I'm moving to your kingdom. 

[angelcookie]

Oh man, I wish there was breast milk bank! I can't imagine people being out/under for regular labor..... How sad!

I like midwife stuff but labor and delivery is sooooo painful. I had a funky epi last time and felt everything, on the left side rip- since I was a VBAC I thought I was rupturing, it was hard for me not to be tense from the pain but in the same token it was awesome to feel the baby move down to birth. In fact the epi for the previous birth wasn't working either and they were thinking about putting me under in the cs- they started cutting and said they would go slow! You know they strap you in too. I remember telling them I feel pain left of center- the dr eyed the anesthesiologist an he pushed something so fast in my iv..... Then it was better. I had the WORST after birth contractions after the CS- they were soooooo painful and they would start everyone I would nurse and so I'd be so tense. I hate CS! I am not even convinced I needed one- but her cord were wrapped like and x around her and then around her foot- maybe that's why the heart decels.
As another VBAC attempt this Dec, I still need a hospital. I am actually afraid to have another VBAC since I just had one in July
Pray for me and baby please thank you!

[Penelope]

angelcookie, some women see both OB-GYNs and midwives for their prenatal care. Perhaps this could be an option for you, too. That way, you can get to see both the holistic approach and the more medical approach.

Congratulations on expecting a new little one! I'll pray to St. Gerard for you!

[Kaesekopf]

Women and babies. ...  You all fall apart.

[Lydia Purpuraria]

Oh man, I wish there was breast milk bank! I can't imagine people being out/under for regular labor..... How sad!

I like midwife stuff but labor and delivery is sooooo painful. I had a funky epi last time and felt everything, on the left side rip- since I was a VBAC I thought I was rupturing, it was hard for me not to be tense from the pain but in the same token it was awesome to feel the baby move down to birth. In fact the epi for the previous birth wasn't working either and they were thinking about putting me under in the cs- they started cutting and said they would go slow! You know they strap you in too. I remember telling them I feel pain left of center- the dr eyed the anesthesiologist an he pushed something so fast in my iv..... Then it was better. I had the WORST after birth contractions after the CS- they were soooooo painful and they would start everyone I would nurse and so I'd be so tense. I hate CS! I am not even convinced I needed one- but her cord were wrapped like and x around her and then around her foot- maybe that's why the heart decels.
As another VBAC attempt this Dec, I still need a hospital. I am actually afraid to have another VBAC since I just had one in July
Pray for me and baby please thank you!

Congratulations, angelcookie! 

Try not to worry too much about the next VBAC.  The risks for uterine rupture decrease with every successful VBAC - and you've got one down so the odds are in your favor!!  I had a very similar experience as you with my first VBAC and worrying that I was rupturing because the epidural was only working on the side I was lying on. Once I found out that I wasn't rupturing, just needed to lie flat to even out the meds, then I would throw up.  So that was pretty fun , but in the end a beautiful baby boy! I've had 3 more VBAC's after this and the deliveries have been much better than the first one and I pray that yours will be as well!

A good friend of mine had a successful VBAC 14 months after a Cesarean.  I wanted to tell you that in case some of your worry lies in the deliveries being close together...hopefully your doctor(s) are being supportive and not adding to any worry.

I will be praying for all of you pregnant ladies...

[OCLittleFlower]

If you were Queen, could you appoint me to some official position wherein I could enact all of your childbirth mandates and initiatives? I agree with everything you just said! (And the breastmilk bank thing that you mentioned in another thread.)

No problem.

I would also have mandatory naptime.

You mean for mothers, right? I would definitely get behind that movement.

No, for everyone. I'll make a sleep spray for toddlers. i think if the whole world had mandatory nap time we'd have less heretics and less war.

Verenaerin, I'm moving to your kingdom.

I'd start a rebellion.     I can never manage to nap without feeling groggy, hungover, and rather queasy. Yes, I've always been this way. Yes, I am a freak of nature.  I think if I ruled the world, I'd put money into making sleep obsolete -- I've always resented the "wasted" time. 

---

On topic, though, my grandma was born via C/S in the mid-30s -- it was a major emergency, though, and at one point her father was asked by the doctor to choose who to save.  He screamed and yelled and told the doc to save both -- which he did.  So, it does seem like these things were available, though I don't know if they were readily available to everyone, especially people who lived far from town.  Our family lived in a town, but not a large one.

[verenaerin]

Oh man, I wish there was breast milk bank! I can't imagine people being out/under for regular labor..... How sad!

I like midwife stuff but labor and delivery is sooooo painful. I had a funky epi last time and felt everything, on the left side rip- since I was a VBAC I thought I was rupturing, it was hard for me not to be tense from the pain but in the same token it was awesome to feel the baby move down to birth. In fact the epi for the previous birth wasn't working either and they were thinking about putting me under in the cs- they started cutting and said they would go slow! You know they strap you in too. I remember telling them I feel pain left of center- the dr eyed the anesthesiologist an he pushed something so fast in my iv..... Then it was better. I had the WORST after birth contractions after the CS- they were soooooo painful and they would start everyone I would nurse and so I'd be so tense. I hate CS! I am not even convinced I needed one- but her cord were wrapped like and x around her and then around her foot- maybe that's why the heart decels.
As another VBAC attempt this Dec, I still need a hospital. I am actually afraid to have another VBAC since I just had one in July
Pray for me and baby please thank you!

I had a C/S with #3. #4 was a VBAC, and my next one coming will be as well. As much as I am in favor of midwives and birth centers, I do not fall under those parameters of "healthy, normal pregnancy". Mine are very high risk. Also, I've been induced 3/4 at about 36 weeks. Typically that is when my body decides that it's done and, as KK says, I start to fall apart. I do get an epi, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. I've also had lots of complications during and after birth as well. But in the end, I am still here and my kids are healthy and wild.

Hospitals are appropriate for certain situations. I am glad you got the help you needed with your CS baby. Uterine ruptures are so rare, especially with the horizontal incisions they make now as opposed to the past vertical ones. And since you already had one VBAC, obviously it shows that your uterus stretches well and heals as well.

Breast milk banks are awesome. They do have a few, but they are very far apart. NICU babies would greatly benefit from this as well as mothers who can't BF for whatever reason. Mothers who donated would be paid well.

-----

OCLF- No nap, no citizenship. You could start your own zombie, no sleep world if you want in your own kingdom. I would never invade because I don't care about expanding my kingdom, that might be a male thing. We could have interkingdom celebrations for various feast days- after nap time.

[verenaerin]

My mom had my sister in 1952 under general anesthesia. She still talks about it today, how she woke up 6 hours later and couldn't believe she had a child. I on the other hand went through my last delivery unmedicated with a precipitous labor (3 cms to delivery in under 2 hours). I have a whole new appreciation now for women of the past that I never had before. I kept thinking, How did women do this so many times in the past and then become perfectly fine with doing it again? They're amazing! I couldn't do it again! Now, 2 months after my daughter was born, I think, It wasn't that bad (yes, it was, lol) I'm ready to do it again some day, God willing.

Eta, my mom was born at home during the depression. But I don't think that was any type of change in the area we lived in.

It's crazy how we forget. When I had #2, the whole thing was awful. My mother was so traumatized, she refuses to come to anymore of my deliveries or my sister's. I decided I was never having anymore children after that- so much for that.  It's a good way God designed us that way, or we'd all stop after 1.

[Lydia Purpuraria]

If you were Queen, could you appoint me to some official position wherein I could enact all of your childbirth mandates and initiatives? I agree with everything you just said! (And the breastmilk bank thing that you mentioned in another thread.)

No problem.

I would also have mandatory naptime.

You mean for mothers, right? I would definitely get behind that movement.

No, for everyone. I'll make a sleep spray for toddlers. i think if the whole world had mandatory nap time we'd have less heretics and less war.

Verenaerin, I'm moving to your kingdom.

I can never manage to nap without feeling groggy, hungover, and rather queasy. Yes, I've always been this way. Yes, I am a freak of nature. 

I don't know about the queasy part, but if I nap too long I feel worse than I did before the nap.  But, if I can even just lay my head back on the couch for 10-15 minutes without being bothered -- I'm good as gold.    Mandatory naptime sounds wonderful!!!

[Hannelore]

I've never been able to manage the whole "nap" thing. My naps just turn into bona fide sleep. 

[Lydia Purpuraria]

My mom had my sister in 1952 under general anesthesia. She still talks about it today, how she woke up 6 hours later and couldn't believe she had a child. I on the other hand went through my last delivery unmedicated with a precipitous labor (3 cms to delivery in under 2 hours). I have a whole new appreciation now for women of the past that I never had before. I kept thinking, How did women do this so many times in the past and then become perfectly fine with doing it again? They're amazing! I couldn't do it again! Now, 2 months after my daughter was born, I think, It wasn't that bad (yes, it was, lol) I'm ready to do it again some day, God willing.

Eta, my mom was born at home during the depression. But I don't think that was any type of change in the area we lived in.

It's crazy how we forget. When I had #2, the whole thing was awful. My mother was so traumatized, she refuses to come to anymore of my deliveries or my sister's. I decided I was never having anymore children after that- so much for that.  It's a good way God designed us that way, or we'd all stop after 1.

It's very appropriate that we are having this discussion today (and yesterday) considering the Gospel today is about this... A woman, when she is in labor, hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but when she hath brought forth the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world...  I love synchronicity!! 

[verenaerin]

I've never been able to manage the whole "nap" thing. My naps just turn into bona fide sleep. 

I do admit that verenaerin naps are ideally 3-4 hours. My husband does power naps, for about 20 minutes. I don't even see the point.

[Penelope]

I've never been able to manage the whole "nap" thing. My naps just turn into bona fide sleep. 

I do admit that verenaerin naps are ideally 3-4 hours. My husband does power naps, for about 20 minutes. I don't even see the point.

I'm like you. A nap should be about half a night's sleep.

It's very appropriate that we are having this discussion today (and yesterday) considering the Gospel today is about this... A woman, when she is in labor, hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but when she hath brought forth the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world...  I love synchronicity!! 

I had a really hard time focusing at Mass today because I was so uncomfortable (oh, third trimester, so glad you've finally arrived... I guess). When the priest read the Gospel in English preceding the sermon, though, my ears picked up at this line. I thought, "Okay, that's true, all the discomfort and the coming pain is going to be worth it." I'm excited for this little guy to make his debut!

[verenaerin]

I've never been able to manage the whole "nap" thing. My naps just turn into bona fide sleep. 

I do admit that verenaerin naps are ideally 3-4 hours. My husband does power naps, for about 20 minutes. I don't even see the point.

I'm like you. A nap should be about half a night's sleep.

It's very appropriate that we are having this discussion today (and yesterday) considering the Gospel today is about this... A woman, when she is in labor, hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but when she hath brought forth the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world...  I love synchronicity!! 

I had a really hard time focusing at Mass today because I was so uncomfortable (oh, third trimester, so glad you've finally arrived... I guess). When the priest read the Gospel in English preceding the sermon, though, my ears picked up at this line. I thought, "Okay, that's true, all the discomfort and the coming pain is going to be worth it." I'm excited for this little guy to make his debut!

Me too!

[Chestertonian]

MY son still naps even though he turns 4 next month..  We will nap together in my bed and lately he wakes up before me, I'm still in a drugged sleepy haze and he colored on my arms and legs with markers.  My mom in the next room thought he was sleeping the entire time and when I woke up I didn't even realize my legs and arms were covered in drawings