Earlier this week, Beka Economopoulos, an organizer with the Occupy Wall Street movement, got a big surprise when her planned hospital birth became an unplanned taxi cab birth in a matter of minutes. According to the couple’s statements in the video, shot by her videographer husband and fellow Occupy Organizer Jason Jones, Beka began having contractions only 35 minutes before the baby’s head emerged. They were only a block away from their apartment when the cab driver pulled over so Jason could catch his baby. In the video, Beka tells her mother on the phone, “I didn’t even push! It just came out!”
Unplanned Out-of-Hospital birth is nothing new in the world; just see this video of a mom catching her own baby while her husband races down the freeway toward the birth center! One of my classmates had her baby in a Mercedes on Lake Shore Drive three years ago (and guess what they named the baby? Yep! Mercedes!)
But what I loved so much about the “Occupy Baby” video is that this mom is seen schooling the paramedic on how she wants to do skin-to-skin right away, and she’s breastfeeding before they even reach the hospital. Smart mama! She’s perfectly calm and collected, and ready to get down to the business of instinctual mothering. What a great story they’ll have to tell. Later mom and dad joke, “It was easier this way!”
But this also leads me to another thought: People constantly ask Planned Home Birth moms how they’ll feel if they don’t get the homebirth they want. They want to know what the mom’s backup plan is, and they caution her against the real possibility of a transfer to the hospital.
Yet, rarely do I ever hear people asking moms how they’ll feel if they don’t get the Hospital birth they’re planning. And there is absolutely no guarantee that a mother will get her desired hospital birth. Precipitous (fast) birth happens all the time, especially in subsequent babies, and even in first-time moms. Some babies are just in a big hurry to get out, and not all labors are agonizingly long. I have personally had two clients deliver so fast they BARELY made it to the hospital, and if they had waited even a few minutes longer, it’s likely their husband would have been catching their babies as well.
For this reason, I think ALL parents should be educating themselves on what to do in case of an out-of-hospital birth. For moms already planning a homebirth, they should prepare for what to do in case their desired birth attendant doesn’t make it on time. This is quite common.
For hospital or birth center births, parents should plan for what to do in case labor moves quickly during transport, and how to help mom and the baby in the event that the baby is born in the field without experienced help. There’s no reason to panic, but there are certainly steps that should and should not be taken.
EMERGENCY CHILDBIRTH*
What To Do
- Let nature be your best helper. Childbirth is a very natural act.
- At first signs of labor assign the best qualified person to remain with mother.
- Be calm; reassure mother.
- Place mother and attendant in the most protected place in the shelter.
- Keep children and others away.
- Have hands as clean as possible.
- Keep hands away from birth canal.
- See that baby breathes well.
- Place baby face down across mother’s abdomen.
- Keep baby warm.
- Wrap afterbirth with baby.
- Keep baby with mother constantly.
- Make mother as comfortable as possible.
- Identify baby.
What Not To Do
- DO NOT hurry.
- DO NOT pull on baby, let baby be born naturally.
- DO NOT pull on cord, let the placenta (afterbirth) come naturally.
- DO NOT cut and tie the cord until baby AND afterbirth have been delivered.
- DO NOT give medication.
DO NOT HURRY–LET NATURE TAKE HER COURSE.
*Taken from The Project Gutenberg EBook of Emergency Childbirth, by U. S. Department of Defence and U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (free for use.)
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Did you have an unplanned birth outside the hospital, or without your midwife? Were you prepared for it? How did you handle it?
My second and third labors were both precipitous. I gave birth at my parents' house with my second baby, getting there about 30 minutes before baby came out; the midwife arrived about 10-15 minutes before the baby, right as I started to push. My third birth was even faster, 1 hr 15 minutes. I didn't even realize I was in labor for the first 30 minutes. We were just about to leave for the birth center, when I started pushing, and Pop, Splash, There's a Baby!! For me, the third birth, where I caught my own baby, was probably my favorite. It was so empowering and relaxed. When I told my husband I was pushing, he got a little squeaky, "Should I call the EMTs?" "NO!! I'll just catch her myself!" was my growling response. And I did. I was very calm and collected about the whole thing. After I had the baby, I started bossing my husband around to call the midwife (and re-direct her to our house), get me a towel (so I could keep her warm on my chest), and lay down some towels so I could get to the couch. The midwife was getting him the same instructions that he didn't even bother to mention to me until after, because I knew just what to do. It was a surprise, but it was ultimately a very peaceful experience.
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