GUESS DATES, FLUID, AND FAITH

This couple came to see me when they were two days past their “due date” ( remember, Folks, it is only a GUESS date)  with their first baby for a consult.  They were, in their own words, in a state of total anxiety and panic. Their obstetrician had told them that there was too much amniotic fluid, that the cord would prolapse because of that – and also because the baby’s head wasn’t engaged, and that the baby was eleven pounds. He had  scheduled them for a cesarean. I told them that I did not agree with any of this and that I was quite certain they could have a lovely, safe, birth.  They hired me, waited eleven more days, and had a lovely home birth with a perfect amount of fluid, an  adorable eight-pound twelve-ounce baby boy.  It was quite a leap for them for them to continue to have faith in the process of birth in light of the “information” they’d been given, but they are so grateful to have had a natural birth. They are willing to talk to anyone who wants to hear their story. 

Interesting, as a few weeks ago, another couple came to see me who’d been told that they had too little fluid, came to see me on that Thursday night, called to say they wanted a home birth on Friday night, and had their HBA2C the next day. Ultrasounds are so notoriously inaccurate and babies hate them – for good reason.