Unusual Deliveries Sometimes Can Cause Harm to the Baby

It has been widely generalized that if a mother has a normal state of health, it can be predicted that her delivery will usually be normal as well. However, there are certain cases where the delivery of the mother falls out of the normal pattern. Here are some unusual deliveries that may eventually cause harm to the baby and even to the mother as well.

• First is breech delivery. This is an unusual delivery since majority of childbirths would always have a vertex presentation wherein the child goes out of the birth canal head first. But for this breech delivery, the baby exits the birth canal either buttocks first or feet first. This delivery becomes difficult for both the mother and child because of the shape of the baby and size of the jaw and head which comes out last.
• This would increase the burden on the cardiac load and breathing of the mother because of the amount of strain needed to push the baby out once it reaches the head part. The mother cannot just stop pushing once the neck part is reached because the baby may be at risk of strangling. Thus, survival of the baby gets placed on the line.
• Next is forceps delivery. This kind of delivery occurs when the mother is incapable of exerting enough force to push or propel the baby out. This also occurs when the cardiac load on the heart of the mother is not allowed to be too high.
• Another unusual delivery is the use of episiotomy. This is the intentional cutting of the perineum in order to accommodate the exiting of the baby’s head. However, since this may cause a huge amount of pain to the mother, there has to be a local anesthetic administered to the mother before doing such a procedure. The cut will then be sutured after the baby and the amniotic sac has been delivered.
• Lastly, the rupture of uterus delivery is once unusual delivery that has precipitating factors such as previous caesarian section or excessive usage of certain medications or drugs during the course of pregnancy. Multiple pregnancies can also lead to this kind of delivery because the uterine wall’s muscular structure is already weakened and easily ruptured when pressure is applied either externally or internally.