Month: September 2011

Ways to Induce Labor According to the Old Wives

/ Jordyn Redwood / Leave a comment

Have a pregnant character in your novel? What lengths might they go to to put themselves into labor? Would those methods actually work?

I’m pleased to host guest blogger Erin MacPherson today at Redwood’s Medical Edge to discuss those ever popular myths (and some truths) about how to get a woman to go into labor. Erin has a wicked sense of humor so this should not only be informational but give you a chuckle as well. She hosts the equally funny Christian Mama’s Guide.

If you’re interested, I’ve started doing a twice monthly guest post over at Erin’s blog giving “real life” girlfriend to girlfriend advice about pediatric issues. Ever wonder what a pediatric ER nurse thinks about things? This is the place to look. You can find my first post there that discusses if it’s truly a risk taking a less than two-month old out in public. http://www.christianmamasguide.com/2011/08/31/newborns-and-the-er/

Welcome, Erin! I think her non-fiction book would be a great gift for anyone expecting a little one.

Somewhere between 36 and 41 weeks of pregnancy, you might decide to take matters into your own hands and try to induce labor at home. I fully support this. Not because I think it will work—it probably won’t—but because the diversion of trying to induce labor at home will probably keep you from destroying the still-dirty baseboards in your nursery or wasting more gas on another trip to the hospital. Here are the old wives’ best labor-inducing tricks:

1.        Eating spicy food. The story goes that eating a spicy burrito will get your whole digestive track moving and doing the Macarena, and your cervix will want to join the fun. The only effect I ever felt from eating spicy food was heartburn, but it’s worth a try. A little Thai curry never hurt anybody.
2.        Walking. I tried this—a lot—at the end of my first pregnancy. I’d get home from work, grab a snack, lace up my tennies and start roaming the neighborhood. I didn’t want to roam too far from home in case I actually went into labor, so I spent most of the time pacing in front of my house and looking psycho in front of my neighbors. It never did jump-start contractions, but it did soothe my nerves to be outside and get some fresh air.
3.        Sex. The gist of this method—which I’m sure was “discovered” by a man—is that sperm on the cervix can help spur it into dilating. Sounds a bit fishy to me, but my husband thought this sounded like a great idea, so I agreed to give it a try. It did not work out as well as my hubby or I had hoped. Not only did I not go into labor, but it was a bit tricky navigating around a really, really huge pregnant belly. But, you can rest assured, the same “professionals” who suggest this method, also assure you that it will in no way hurt your baby, so if you’re wanting to give it a try, feel free.
4.        Castor oil. Castor oil makes your bowels move. The theory here is that —aside from giving you a really bad case of diarrhea— your moving bowels will somehow trigger a chain-reaction and the rest of your body will start moving as well. I have yet to know anyone that got anything other than diarrhea and some abdominal cramping from taking castor oil, but if you’re a glutton for punishment—and ready to spend the day in the bathroom—then drink up.
5.        Nipple stimulation. I want to go on record as telling you not to try this one at home. I have a girlfriend whose doctor assisted her with nipple stimulation using a breast pump in the doctor’s office with access to medical help, but most doctors don’t recommend this method at all. Why? Because it actually works. Something about how nipple stimulation mimics a baby’s suckling and causes your body to start contracting. The problem is that the contractions are often super-close together and super-unproductive, so it can pose a danger to you and your baby. So, if you absolutely must try this, I suggest that you talk to your doctor or midwife very candidly about it first and stay close to the hospital (say, in the parking lot) when you actually do it.
6.        Acupressure. Tell your hubby you want a foot rub—he groans and moans. Tell your hubby you need him to perform some acupressure to induce labor and suddenly he puts on his superhero glasses and gets focused on the task at hand. The general idea here is that by putting pressure on certain pressure points around your body, you can stimulate your uterus into contracting. Look up the pressure points online and ask your doctor if you’re at all nervous. At the very least, you’ll get a nice foot rub.
7.      Raspberry leaf tea. Raspberry leaf is on the pregnancy no-no list because it has a tendency to produce contractions. But if producing contractions is your aim, raspberry leaf tea can move off of the ix-nay list and onto the A-OK list. My doctor said it was safe after thirty-eight weeks, but before you go making yourself a big pitcher of raspberry iced tea, you might want to call your doctor just to be uber-certain that it’s okay. It’s always better safe than sorry.
8.      Begging and pleading with God for mercy. I guarantee that God will eventually hear your pleas and put you out of your misery.
QUESTION: What did you (or WOULD you) do to induce labor? Have you written a scene with a pregnant woman in labor?
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Religious Objection to Medical Care

/ Jordyn Redwood / Leave a comment

Some religions object to medical care. Some believe in faith-healing. Other’s will accept some medical treatment but object to some procedures such as blood transfusions.

When I worked in the pediatric intensive care unit, one of these instances arose. The child was on a breathing machine and not doing very well. The patient’s hemoglobin level was low. You may know this as anemia. However, that’s just one type of anemia. What’s hemoglobin? It’s the part of your red blood cell that carries oxygen. When you don’t have enough hemoglobin to carry oxygen, your cells begin to starve and die. This leads to shock and death. It doesn’t matter how much oxygen we deliver, if there’s nothing to carry it to those individual cells, the patient can still die.

This problem is easy to solve. We give the child a blood transfusion. The parents, based on their religious beliefs, refused. This child’s levels were so low, he was at risk for complications and he’s already critically ill. It won’t take much to tip him over the edge. What are the options?

In pediatrics, often tests can be run with a lot less blood so we do micro-sampling and keep track of every drop of blood we take. Micro-containers generally fill with about a 1/2ml of blood whereas adult tubes take up to 3ml’s. Generally, patients in the ICU get labs every day to track their progress. The physician may choose to decrease the amount of labs done on a daily basis to conserve blood.

We ended up getting a court order to transfuse blood. The ICU docs were willing to respect the parent’s position up to a point, but they were not willing to let the child die.

Imagine being the nurse at the bedside in the morning, trying as best as you can to only take a small amount of blood. Then getting the results back and wondering if you’ll have to be the one to transfuse this patient.

The child survived and ended up not getting a blood transfusion and actually did really well. The nursing staff met with the family and a member of their church to discuss the issues that surrounded their child’s care. A nurse asked the mother, “What would it have been like for you if we did give your child blood?” The mother responds, “It would have been like you raped my baby.”

Those are strong, powerful words. I remember them to this day. Enough conflict? I think so and I definitely felt it at the time.

Visit with Colorado Coroner Chris Herndon

/ Jordyn Redwood / Leave a comment

Most people imagine Sunday afternoons to be filled with football and family. Especially now that there will be a football season— and yes, I do hear the collective sigh of all men. But, if you’re a nurse and an author, you think there’s nothing better than to go to a talk given by the local coroner, Chris Herndon.

That’s what I did a few Sundays ago….



http://coloradocoroners.org/board.htm

 As always, I’m always intrigued by medical things and myth busting. Here’s a few highlights that I thought were of particular interest for writers. One even busted a myth I had in my current ms. Guess I’ll be changing that.

Item One: Do coroners really wear Vick’s Vapor Rub under their nostrils to mask the smell? She says “no”– going on to explain that this ointment “opens up the nasal passages” and “why would I want to do that?” Much better to work with a bad cold to block out the smell. I will say though that I will often put on a mask or chew gum to help me. Chris mentioned she always has mints on hand.

Item Two:  Six weeks for DNA testing unless done by a private lab.

Item Three: Victims who drown in flood waters are generally found nude as the water will rip off their clothing.

Item Four: Often times in suicide pacts, one person will not follow through.

Item Five: It really does not pay to drink then cut thyself.

Chris shared two stories that exhibited this.

The first was of a man who was drunk and high (double bad combo) and decided to harass an old girlfriend. He punched his hand through a window, cutting the underside of his arm and severed his brachial artery. After this, he staggered through the parking lot until he dropped dead. Upon police arrival, they follow the trail of blood to the broken window and ask this woman why she didn’t call police after he broke it. Sadly, she’d been harassed so often by this gentleman that she’d given up asking the police for assistance.

Second was of a man who was on Coumadin for atrial fibrillation. Coumadin is a blood thinner. Atrial fibrillation is an irregular heart beat. This gentleman decided to cook while drunk. He dropped a knife on his the top aspect of his foot and severed the dorsalis pedis artery. Well, he does realize he’s injured himself as there was evidence that he’d walked to the garage to get paper towel to wipe up the mess. He begins to not feel well, so he sits at his kitchen table and places on a home blood pressure cuff. Loss of blood will cause you to feel weak, lightheaded, and dizzy. This is where he’s found dead. At the kitchen table, sitting up with blood pressure cuff in place. A pool of blood by the injured foot.

His blood alcohol was over 0.350. That’s a professional drinker….

So people, please, no drinking with sharp implements! Really… no drinking in excess would be great for us ER professionals. Moral: Have at least one sober person that you haven’t relentlessly harassed present to call 911 for you.

What other morals do you see? Have you written any of these particulars in your ms?