Fit To Be Tied.

The next birth happened a day or so later.

The young mother-to-be was alone but apparently unconcerned by this fact. Not all of the labours have companions.

So as she laboured, I taught the students how to evaluate her contractions and take her history. She was 20 years old and expecting her first child.

She readily admitted to taking traditional herbs to prepare her body for birth... and even to start her labour.

Since her contractions were strong and frequent, the nurse decided to do a vaginal exam at 10 am. The nurse was VERY aggressive during this exam, manually dilating her cervix despite the patient's vocal protestations.

Afterward the nurse informed us she was 90% effaced but only 6 cm dilated. But after such forceful manipulation of the cervix, I did not think it true for long.

Sure enough, an hour later her water broke and she immediately got pushy.

In fact, there was no stopping her. So we called for the nurse. 

The young mother was already fully dilated and wanting to push. The nurse tried to get her to focus and push effectively but she would have none of it.

All she wanted to do was scream. 

One scream was so piercing and so long, it could have shattered glass.

After some negotiation, we convinced her that screaming like that was not actually helping. In her defense, she did really try to push. But each time she did, she would close her legs and withdraw.

It was going no where. 

The nurse was not pleased and she argued with her.

She then tried to push again but ended up kicking the nurse and swatting her hands away.

The nurse was even less pleased with this behavior. 

After more negotiating, the young mother confessed that she needed help controlling herself and requested that two of the male medical students hold her down while she pushed.

Yes. She wanted them to forcibly hold her down so she would not hit or kick the nurse.

So they did.

Mind you, they seemed more than a bit surprised by this. I don't think either one of them woke that morning thinking that they'd have to tackle a pregnant woman while she pushed her baby out. But you know... some days are surprising like that.

I soon found myself out of my depths and stepped away from the melee to watch at the foot of the bed. The remaining two students shuffled a step closer to me with each new scream. One (who plans on being an obstetrician) was wide-eyed and mesmerized by the beauty of it all. The other (who is unlikely to choose obstetrics as a specialty) kept hiding her eyes and furtively glancing my way for assurances that the woman was not in fact dying.

Meanwhile the young mother continued to scream and abuse the staff while pushing. The nurse, more than likely frustrated with the abuse, decided to perform aggressive perineal stretching. The baby was born quickly but caused a significant 2nd degree tear in the process.

The placenta was pulled from her body within minutes of the birth with strong cord traction. It was so strong in fact, that the cord snapped, squirting blood all over the foot of the bed.

The nurse decided to suture the tear before presenting the baby to the mother. The young mother screamed and fought the sutures just about as much as she did the birth, despite being anesthetized.

When the nurse finished up the stitches, she reached down for the baby's ankles, lifted her high in the air and presented her genitals for the mother to see.

The young mother whispered, 'a girl' to herself and smiled.

Then the baby was taken off to be wrapped and weighed.