Common interventions antenatal class and pregnancy update 36 weeks

Last week we had our 3rd and last private antenatal class thankfully we didn't have any group exercises. We opted for 3 classes as I wanted to know more about labour as I thought it will give me a better idea of what to expect and what might happen. 

I think one of our teachers (student midwife) was more “open” this time e.g. she mentioned that unfortunately midwives tend to be very time oriented and due to that you won't normally have as much time relaxing or do what you want during labour as you will be constantly rushed.

We discussed interventions we may have:

- episiotomy

- c-section

- use of forceps, ventouse

- anti-d injections

- sweep

- breaking waters

- baby turning in case of a breech

As most of us are first-time mums-to-be we were told about induction. In our area when pregnant woman reaches 41 weeks she will be offered a sweep and induction-pessary (internal tampon alike medical device) which will be left for 24 hours to see if it works (woman stays in hospital), if pessary doesn't work she will be offered 2nd pessary for another 24 hours, and if 2nd doesn't work she will be offered c- section. In cases where pessary works (cervix starts to change) midwife will break waters and put on a hormone drip (artificial oxytocin). The whole induction process scares me the most as I never thought or even considered c-section and it will be a big led down for me if I can't do it naturally. 

In the second half of our lesson Helen- one of our teachers gave us a card with an acronym:

B- benefit

R- risks

A- alternatives

I- implications/instinct

N- nothing (to do nothing for a while)

S-smile

This acronym can be used if mum-to-be will be offered an intervention and it is our right as a future parent to question it and make sure that we are making the right decision e.g. waters breaking or any other intervention.

The last part of our class was dedicated to massaging and breathing techniques. With breathing it was more of a relaxation session where we had to concentrate on the way we breath, it was very nice but I think that when you are in the middle of giving birth all these techniques will be forgotten. Massaging wise we were showed how to rub/massage back starting from shoulders and going down to bum area avoiding spine, massaging bum in 8 alike movements, massaging lower back area. We had some time to practice it in the class and after trying all these methods I felt more comfortable with a shoulder to bottom massage. 

Overall, I enjoyed classes certainly learned something but I can't say it gave me more confidence I am still scared of unknown. I guess I need to try it myself to know.

Bump update

Visible changes in my body: my bump is more visible but again not as big as some other mums-to-be have; swollen feet- nothing helps really.

Other: hospital bag is pretty much packed. I like staring at my bump all the time, waiting for little one to move as I know I'm going to miss it a lot. Slightly paranoid at times as wake up in the middle of the night or early morning and checking if my waters broke or not.

How do I feel: I still have pains in my back, sore ribs, feel tired quicker and often and of course started visiting loo at night again.

Cravings: still none.

Fitness: swimming once a week, our treadmill is currently in the garage due to us needing all the space for baby shower and we still didn't manage to put it back into house.

Baby: At 36weeks baby is still gaining weight – about 28g a day. She weighs nearly 2.7kg and is about 47cm long from head to toe. Baby’s lungs are now complete and are producing a lubricant called surfactant that will help the lungs when they take their first breath.