Numbers of deliveries through Normal vs Operative mode is being debated recently as our Minister for WCD wants every hospital and private nursing homes to submit a report card.
According to our books it is 90:10- means only 10 in 100 will have to undergo an operation for various reasons and Fetal Distress is one of the reasons quoted in books.
What is Fetal Distress?
fetus is distressed if heart beat is higher/lower than Normal Range.
What is the heart rate of baby while mother is in labor?
120-140 and it is a wide range.
Why is the rate so high?
Every growing living being has a faster metabolic rate and this includes the heart rate also, to give more blood to entire body.
How to measure heart rate of baby while mother is in labor or comes for Antenatal Check ups ?
We have machine called Doppler which emits sound waves for the mother to feel happy and bonded and for doctors to interpret.
An ordinary stethoscope can do the job in case Doppler is not available in places like Rural PHCs
Heart beat is Higher/Lower if measured just after uterine contraction &
This low/high heart beat cannot be interpreted as Fetal Distress.
Do look for other parameters before making arrangements for an operative delivery.
What are they ?
Narrow bones of mother,
Exhausted mother due to prolonged labor( Maternal Distress)
Passing of stool by baby seen in amniotic fluid
Breech / any other positions of baby except vertex down
Umbilical cord around neck of baby which can be detected by ultrasound in case labor is not progressing ( babies were delivered with cord around the necks before ultrasounds gave us a chance to know about it before natural labor)
Head is slightly big and is not getting down to fit in the pelvic bone which has a shape like a wash basin, broad enough for the head to descend and fit in the bone.
Please do not be in a hurry to confuse the otherwise Normal Mother to be that her Baby is under Distress Due to abnormal heart beat,because it was checked Just After the Labor Pain.
Wait for Next pain and check the heart beat Only in a Relaxed Uterus, in Between 2 pains.
May be we as Doctors can Bring Down the rising Numbers of Operative Deliveries and No Minister has to Intervene in Our work.