unassisted childbirth third stage

Unassisted childbirth – what you need to know about the third stage

Date: 2010.07.16 | Category: Unassisted Childbirth | Tags: Birth,delivering the placenta,placenta,third stage labor,UC

Planning an unassisted homebirth, and birthing my baby without medical assistance, has been an exciting journey for me, and one that allowed me to learn an awful lot about the physiology birth, about my body, and about medical habits. One of the questions that was important to me was what I needed to know about the delivery of the placenta. How long should it take for a placenta to be born? What are the complications that can occur? Is any action required to deliver the placenta? The research I have done into the third stage of labor led me to the following conclusions.

• Immediately after birth, it is best for mother and baby to snuggle up together, and for the baby to be put to the breast to try to nurse. Making sure both mother and child are warm, to boost oxytocin levels and decrease chances of hemorrhage. Nursing encourages the uterus to contract, allowing the placenta to be born more easily.

• Not cutting or clamping the umbilical cord until it stops pulsing ensures that the baby receives the largest possible blood volume. While some doctors claim this can lead to medical complications, studies indicate otherwise. The placenta will also continue to provide the baby with a back-up of oxygen for a while, which can be highly beneficial.

• Pulling on the umbilical cord to encourage the placenta to deliver, a practice that the medical establishment refers to as “controlled cord traction” increases the risk of post-partum hemorrhage. Staying well away from the cord until the placenta delivers naturally decreases this risk.

• In some women, placentas tend to be born soon after the baby, whereas others need a lot more time. Following the online UC community, I have noticed that some women take many hours to deliver their placenta, while some birth their placenta very soon. Mine took a mere five minutes. As long as the mother feels well, and shows no sign of fever or post-partum hemorrhage, these are all variations of normal. Retained placentas are rare, and there is evidence that they can be caused by premature cord cutting. However, if a mother feels something is wrong, or is showing signs of shock after not delivering her placenta, medical assistance is needed.

• Some women use herbs to help their placentas to be born. I have not needed any of these, but there are mixtures called “Placenta Out”. Likewise, there are herbs that stop post-partum hemorrhage. If your placenta has delivered, cutting a piece off, and swallowing it, can help stop post-partum hemorrhage. Blood loss of more than a cup warrants medical assistance.

What do you think? Is there anything else that you would add about the third stage of labor? If you are considering a UC, and you are wondering what my sources were for any of the conclusions I came to, feel free to email me. I thought about including links with sources of information, but wanted to keep this post short and to the point.

6 Responses to “Unassisted childbirth – what you need to know about the third stage”

Bri 10/07/18 03:35

Glad I made my way from ‘Curly Hairdo Ideas’ to check out your site. I’ve had two births one natural and one natural until the emergency csection. For our third I really want a natural vbac with a midwife. For both my pregancies at the end I become anemic which leads to alot of blood loss for me during labor and after. Iron pills make me horribly sick so I can’t take them. Is there anything natural with herbs or something I can do to help this problem? Even though I love meat I still grossed out about eating my placenta. But maybe I should consider it more if it will help with blood loss.
writenow 10/07/18 12:53

Hi! Nice to hear from you! Are you able to take Vitamin B12 complex? Vitamin C is also said to help with absorbing iron. As for post-partum hemorrhage, Shepherd’s Purse tincture can help prevent and stop bleeding and encourage the uterus to contract. Have you found a midwife who does VBACs? Perhaps a holistic midwife with knowledge of herbal medicine would help you! Even if you are not pregnant yet, it does no harm to check out local midwives :)!

Olivia
Jemagain 10/08/31 21:45

Hello. I have just overcome the symptoms of anemia (severe fatigue, listlessness, pale appearance, etc.) and am in my last weeks of pregnancy. The supplement I used (because I too get an upset stomach from the iron pills) is Floradix Iron and Herbs liquid. You only need 2 tsp. in the morning and 2 in the evening, and it is much more absorbable, contains B vitimins and Vitamin C, and tastes like juice, and does not upset your stomach at all. I take a vegan Rainbow Lite brand supplement in the middle of the day as well, and all of this together with eating at least two eggs a day, other dairy, lots of dark leafy greens (lambsquarter, a wild edible, is excellent) and fruits and grains in plenty, (and lots of H20 has kicked my anemia. Hope this helps you. Bless you and your baby!
Jemagain 10/08/31 21:47

Oh, and nettle tea is another great supplier of iron. <3 ~J
writenow 10/09/01 09:41

Thank you so much for sharing! I think I will have to do a post about anemia.

Have a great day,

Olivia
Moshe 11/02/22 23:03

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February 22, 2011
Hello
Advice sought for third stage of labor hemorrhage prevention
My daughter is 34 years old. She has 4 children, a girl and 3 boys, and is currently pregnant and expecting in 3 months. She is a registered nurse and works as a midwife. She is generally healthy; her only health problems I’m aware of are sinusitis and post nasal drip. She has amalgam fillings, root canals and metal crowns.
All of her 4 deliveries were normal. However, after two of them (the second and fourth deliveries) she went through what is termed “third stage of labor pph”. This means that the placenta would not detach and come out, thus preventing uterus contraction which leads to massive bleeding. After her last delivery, while the doctors were pulling the placenta which would not come out, she felt as if the uterus was being pulled as well. After half an hour of massive bleeding she was in a real emergency. The attending doctor inserted his hand into the uterus and snatched the placenta out, thus saving her life. Since she refused epidural – it was extremely painful. During that time it looked as if she had passed out, but she told us that for a short while she had seen herself from the outside, which means that she had undergone a near death experience and that we almost lost her. She ended up with a hemoglobin count of 5 and it took her months to recover (she was nursing the baby in the meantime). My daughter told me that the umbilical cord was clamped and cut after stopping pulsating.
The doctors’ explanation to this phenomenon, as she explained it to me, is that the placenta is attached to the uterus at an area where there is some scarring (although she has never undergone any procedure that could have caused any scars). The placenta stays attached to the uterus at the scarred areas and would not come out, thus causing the massive bleeding.
The doctors’ strategy for the next delivery is to give her epidural (in spite of her reluctance) and be on alert. The problem is that she lives about a 120 miles away from the hospital she works at. If she must deliver at another hospital in case of emergency – problems could arise even if the staff is informed about her past deliveries.
What I’m looking for is a natural solution for the prevention of the above mentioned problem. If it could be caused by several factors, can I be advised of tests that could help determine the cause for my daughter’s specific problem?
As a final remark I would like to point out, although I’m not a physician, that there might be some genetic involvement. My daughter is light skinned with blue eyes while her husband is dark skinned with dark eyes. The deliveries of the first and third babies, whose colors match those of their father, were OK. The post partum massive bleeding occurred after the second and fourth deliveries where the babies acquired the colors of their mother.
Thanks a lot to anybody trying to help
Moshe

[Edited to remove identifying personal details about your daughter. Olivia]