Icing on the cake

I got an email from Dr. Polo Shirt. It was too beautiful not to share. Why don’t we have more Dr. Polo Shirts? He gets it.

“I had a really neat delivery this AM of a really sweet couple. Mom’s 3rd baby and was laboring on her side. (I have delivered all of her babies.) When it came time to push, she stayed on her side. Baby was OP [occiput posterior–facing toward the ceiling], so it took some work for her to push it out. Dad was sitting on a chair next to bed on the side mom was facing doing very supportive, support person stuff. I was sitting on the bed, behind the mother. Because of mom’s position, as the baby was coming into view the father was as close to her perineum as I was, so he got to see his child’s birth in detail, rather than peak from up above. The really cool thing was that since the baby was OP, as it was born, it had its eyes wide open and was looking right at his father, so his father was the first person he saw instead of me. Then this baby took a big breath and began audibly crying while the head was still the only part delivered. I do not remember ever seeing that before.

It felt so right to me, because with me behind mom and dad being so close and involved, I felt like I was not even integral to this delivery, It was just something that this family was doing together. Then the icing on the cake was that instantaneous eye to eye contact between father and son as the head emerged. I so wish I had it on video.”

Most of the time, birth doesn’t need any help. A good care provider knows when to step away and let it happen. Let the couple experience their amazing moment. 

Let’s not rush in to save the day when it doesn’t need saving.