Comments on: A Man’s Guide to Pregnancy: How to Deliver a Baby in a Pinch

By: Nicky

Nicky — Mon, 30 May 2011 17:54:18 +0000

Great job! Thank you for noting that lying down is not the best position to deliver a baby. As a natural birth mother who delivered in a hands and knees position, I am very impressed!

By: Bali Wedding

Bali Wedding — Fri, 27 May 2011 03:57:25 +0000

Hi, greetings from bali wedding Palace. I am very impressed and gave me new knowledge. Thanks for the article.

By: Jared

Jared — Mon, 23 May 2011 06:34:14 +0000

Ugh, I meant shaves*

By: Jared

Jared — Mon, 23 May 2011 06:33:40 +0000

The craziest thing about this video is, (I know this sounds really immature, but I’m interested in historical pop culture), that she saves her vagina! I didn’t think that happened until the mid nineties.

By: Will

Will — Tue, 17 May 2011 18:21:37 +0000

Bringing the babe to breast for post-delivery suckling helps ensure the successful release and delivery of the placenta. Oxytocin, baby!

By: Paul M

Paul M — Tue, 10 May 2011 15:38:54 +0000

@Scott & Stephen:

Regarding the pressing on the outside of the toe: This is an acupuncture point indicated for use in the turning of breech babies.

By: Hillary

Hillary — Tue, 10 May 2011 14:02:33 +0000

That video is priceless!

Baby warmth: Get mama and baby skin to skin and cover the BOTH of them. And really–just don’t intervene. Interventions usually do more harm than good–just support and use common sense.

By: NavelgazingMidwife

NavelgazingMidwife — Mon, 09 May 2011 15:35:15 +0000

Of course, the midwife has to poke her head in, right? (And I just shared this on FB, so expect a slew of new hits from the natural birth community!) A couple of things.

1. If the baby is breathing, you do *not* need to suction anything… mouth or nose. Newer research shows that suctioning can actually *cause* more problems, so if your kid is hollering, leave the suctioning out.

2. DO NOT, under ANY circumstances, DO NOT MASSAGE THE UTERUS BEFORE THE PLACENTA IS BORN! If you massage the uterus *before* the placenta is born, you can dislodge sections of it and cause a massive hemorrhage. If the placenta hasn’t been born, LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE. If you’re transporting mom to the hospital anyway, there is zero reason to concern yourself about the placenta OR the cord until you are at your final destination. If mom is bleeding, the placenta *might* have detached. You can have mom kneel a little to see if the placenta falls out and if it does, *then* you can massage the uterus to make it into a hard knot. Oh, and in the police video, they are massaging the mom’s fundus about 4 inches too low… move up to the belly button… *that’s* where to massage.

3. There is no reason to cut the cord… and PLEASE leave your filthy shoelaces in your shoes! Many of us are on a mission to educate how disgusting shoelaces are and how they have NO PLACE near your brand new baby. There is no rush to cut the cord at all. In fact, there is a fringe movement that *never* cuts the cord (Lotus Birth), but lets the cord fall off with the placenta still attached… several days after the birth.

Thanks for writing this, though… most of it is fantastic advice! Leaving the baby alone to do his/her thing is the best advice for anyone “catching” a baby… docs included!

And the video… the video! One of the highlights of my year so far is this video. Thanks for sharing it!

By: Mannyclouds

Mannyclouds — Sun, 08 May 2011 06:27:19 +0000

seriously where was this article 4 years ago when i was stuck in road works on the way to the hospital and my at the time youngest daughter was born? luckily i was more experienced this time round and managed to do it at home when my wife was too stubborn to go to the hospital, GREAT article

By: RedHatJumper

RedHatJumper — Sun, 08 May 2011 03:01:12 +0000

It never hurts to research beforehand, especially since you never know… My wife spent all night having contractions with our second son and they never got less than ten minutes apart. Her water broke and less than five minutes later I was catching my son in my bedroom. Do yourself a favor, read it, watch it, hear it. Never take for granted that the medical professional actually has any clue about what they tell you beyond what they read in med school ten years ago. I highly recommend you watch “the business of being born” and read up on the Bradley method of Birth. even if your wife has no intentions of giving birth naturally you will have tenfold the knowledge of what is actually happening and will be that much more helpful when the time comes.

“I pack chutes and catch babies, top that.”