MUSIC BIRTH STORIES: Shoulder Dystocia

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Shoulder Dystocia

My phone rang at 3:20 this morning, and I knew I needed to hurry. Baby #2 for my client was on his way, and her first birth went fairly quickly. I arrived at the hospital shortly before 4:00 am and found mom laboring beautifully. I couldn't even tell when she was having contractions, but she was already dilated 6 cm! I knew she would progress quickly, and after about 30 minutes I could tell when she was contracting only because she would breath a little louder! She was so relaxed and focused.

She began to have the urge to push around 5:10 am. The midwife checked her cervix and she was complete. The midwife decided to break the bag of waters, and the urge to push subsided for several contractions. By 5:30, mom was pushing, and pushing, and pushing. But baby boy was coming down the birth canal slowly, and after a few minutes it was clear to see that he had shoulder dystocia.

Situations like these can feel very stressful at the time. Though in reality, it only took about 15 minutes for this baby to be delivered, each minute feels long when you don't see the progress you expect. Mom had to work incredibly hard at the end to expel enough strength and energy to deliver her child. And once he was out just enough, we could see that he was also very wrapped in the umbilical cord. He was pretty shell shocked, and was quickly whisked to the baby nurses to help him with his crying and newborn reflexes.

Daddy went over to talk to his new son, and this little guy pinked right up and was opening his eyes. There was initial concern that there could be some nerve damage in his neck (from the shoulder dystocia during the delivery) since we wasn't moving his right arm at all. But after several minutes, both arms were moving and he looked great!