All births are momentous life-changing events for parents but can be an everyday occurrence for the health practitioners involved in their care. Tuesday the 18th of July was different.
Jessie de la Roche gave birth to baby Fergus by caesarean section on that day. It was a special experience for her, as she recounts, “it was really relaxed compared with last time, I guess I would call it ‘healing’ from my previous traumatic birth”. Dad Dylan Baird added: “It was so smooth it was like perfect! Opposite to last time, this one was easy!”
The differentiating feature of this birth was baby Fergus being passed straight to his mother for immediate skin-to-skin contact instead of going to the paediatrician for a check first. Skin-to-skin contact is well known in literature to stabilise a baby’s vital signs and promote breastfeeding, bonding and even reduce the mother’s blood loss. Babies born by caesarean have an altered microbiome that may increase the risk of some health issues, but going directly to the mother’s skin will mean the first extra-uterine colonisation of bacteria for the baby will come from their own natural environment rather than other surrounds.
Baby Fergus being passed straight to his mother for immediate skin-to-skin contact.
Consultant obstetrician Celia Devenish was aware of Jessie’s prior experience of birthing with a placental abruption and a NICU stay for the baby following and had a conversation before the surgery getting to know Jessie and Dylan’s preferences. Celia was the instigator of getting the baby directly to Jessie, and had everyone in the room wondering - why can’t we do this more often?
Core midwife Megan Walker said, ‘it was fabulous, I was buzzing all day. As the baby was coming out, they dropped the sterile drape, got the extra sterile sheet and used that to pass the baby directly on to Jessie. The paediatrician was there ready to take the baby but wasn’t required. I stimulated baby while skin to skin and Dylan trimmed the cord, and the vitamin K injection was given all the while baby Fergus remained in skin-to-skin contact with his mum.’
Jessie’s LMC Paula Dore also mentioned the healing aspects of this birth for Jessie and complimented the team on making it work, “It was unbelievable!”
The anaesthetic registrar Louise Channon observed it as “a powerful experience for the parents” while also acknowledging that if this was to become standard practice some logistics would need to be addressed, such as providing more space at the head end of the bed. Obstetric registrar Marzi Reyneke said, “It was wonderful, and we maintained the sterile field adequately throughout.”
It will not always be possible to do this in practice as sometimes the baby may need medical intervention immediately and other factors may interfere, but it is great to know this as an option to offer new parents expecting to deliver via caesarean in low-risk circumstances.
(Jessie de la Roche and Dylan Baird have given their consent for their photos and story to be published.)
