Top Ten Misconceptions About the Use of Nitrous Oxide in Labor

by Michelle Collins, PhD, CNM, FACNM

The use of nitrous oxide as a labor analgesic has taken hold in the US in the past three years. It has been used widely in Europe for decades, with favorable results, along with comes educational information but all the perpetuation of myths.

10. Using nitrous oxide in labor is “just like” when you use it at the dental office. It’s not. In dental offices, the concentration of nitrous oxide to oxygen is variable, so the dentist can increase or decrease the concentration based on the patient’s needs. Dentists may use concentrations of nitrous oxide of up to 70%. The dentist also places a small mask over the patient’s nose, through which a continuous stream of nitrous oxide is delivered.

During labor nitrous oxide is only used at concentrations of 50% nitrous oxide to oxygen – no higher. And the stream of nitrous oxide is intermittently administered by the woman herself using either a mouthpiece or mask with a demand valve. The demand valve opens only when the woman inhales (breathes in) – which is when the gas is released. When the woman exhales (breathes out), the valve closes and the gas stream is stopped.10 Misconceptions about Nitrous Oxide in Labor

9. You will be confined to bed while using nitrous oxide. You will still be able to move around while using nitrous oxide during labor. About 10% of nitrous users may experience some dizziness, so your care providers will want to see you stand or move about without difficulty before they let you up on your own, but many women use nitrous oxide while standing, squatting, sitting in a rocking chair, or on a birth ball.

8. Continuous fetal monitoring will be required with nitrous oxide use. Whether you have continuous or intermittent fetal monitoring should be dictated by your obstetrical status, not because you are using nitrous oxide. In other words, if you are a candidate for intermittent monitoring, that does not have to change to continuous monitoring just because you begin using nitrous oxide.

7. If you choose to use nitrous oxide, you cannot use any other pain medications. A fair number of women who start out using nitrous go on to have an epidural placed at some later point in their labor. Using nitrous oxide earlier on allows you to maintain your mobility and stay upright, allowing the baby to move down well in your pelvis before being confined to bed with epidural anesthesia.

6. Nitrous oxide will stall your labor, or slow contractions. There has not been any research showing that nitrous slows down labor or causes contractions to be less strong or happen less often.

5. Nitrous oxide will harm the baby. Nitrous oxide is metabolized (processed) in your lung tissue, but because some of the gas passes into your blood stream, some can also pass through the placenta and go to your baby. However, studies have not shown adverse effects on babies of mothers who have used nitrous oxide in labor.

4. There is a point in labor when it is too late to use nitrous oxide. Actually, some women don’t begin using nitrous oxide until they are in the pushing stage. Other women don’t use it at all during labor, but find it very helpful if they need repair of any tears in their birth canal.

3. My family members can assist me with holding the nitrous oxide mask or mouthpiece if I get tired of holding it. As well-meaning as family members are, this is one area where they can’t help. A safety precaution for nitrous oxide use is that the laboring woman holds her own mask or mouthpiece. When she has had sufficient nitrous oxide, she won’t be able to bring her hand holding the device to her face. Allowing someone else to hold the mask/mouthpiece overrides this safety feature of nitrous oxide.

2. Nitrous oxide is offered at many hospitals and birth centers. Until 2011, there was really only one hospital in the US offering this option. Since that time, use of nitrous oxide has dramatically increased and there are currently over 100 hospitals and 50 birth centers offering nitrous oxide. Though it has come a long way, there is a long way to go to ensure that every woman who desires to use nitrous oxide in childbirth, has the opportunity.

1. Nitrous oxide makes you laugh (hence the nickname “laughing gas”). Despite the nickname, inhaling nitrous oxide doesn’t leave women laughing like hyenas! Because nitrous oxide decreases anxiety, it puts women more at ease and they may be more talkative and relaxed… but don’t count on side splitting laughter!

Michelle CollinsMichelle Collins is currently Professor of Nursing and Director of the Nurse-Midwifery education program at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. In addition to the teaching and administrative aspects of her job, she maintains an active clinical practice as part of the Vanderbilt School of Nursing faculty nurse-midwifery practice.  Currently she is a blogger for Nashville Public Television for the popular series Call the Midwife.


Resource on Nitrous Oxide For Nurses

AWHONN has a Nurses Leading Implementation of Nitrous Oxide Use in Obstetrics webinar to describe the history of nitrous oxide use to present day and the necessary steps nurses need to take to initiate nitrous services at their institutions.

Nitrous Oxide as Labor Analgesia, Nursing for Women’s Health, Volume 16, Issue 5, pages 398–409, October / November 2012.

Our Nurse Changed Our Lives

Jessica_Familyby, Jessica Grenon

When I think back to the birth of my second child earlier this year, tears almost instantly begin to fill my eyes.

Unlike the birth of my first child three years prior, this isn’t because I am overjoyed by thoughts of holding my baby against my chest for the first time while I stare in awe at the life my husband and I created, a life that I grew in my own body and delivered into the world after many, many hours of hard labor. Instead my eyes fill with tears because I think of my labor and delivery nurse and how I believe her actions on that day affected the trajectory of my life, my son’s life, and the future of our family.

I am not a nurse, I don’t even work in the medical industry, but for the past nine years come June my work has brought me to the annual AWHONN convention, where I support the online system used by those submitting proposals and assist presenters’ presentations. Through this work I have read hundreds of abstracts and watched dozens of presentations on standard topics such as home births and skin to skin care for newborns, to more memorable subject matters like how to care for a vaginal piercing during a delivery.

My work with AWHONN does by no means make me an expert in the field of labor and delivery, but on January 30th of this year, I had gained enough knowledge from working with AWHONN to know what the possible outcomes could be when something suddenly went wrong during the birth of my son.

After 13 hours of laboring in the hospital, the time had finally come to begin pushing. Not yet knowing the gender of my child, I felt extra encouragement to push as hard so I could finally meet my baby. It took only 21 minutes of pushing to hear the words, “only one more push, Jessica, and you will be able to hold your baby!”, however, that was quickly followed by a sudden shout to stop pushing.

Stop pushing, but why? I looked down and between my legs I could see the head of my baby, turned toward my inner right thigh; he was silent and lifeless. Right away I knew that it was shoulder dystocia, and like any mother, my mind went to straight to thinking about the worst case scenarios. Was my baby getting oxygen, would he have brain damage? Is his shoulder going to be broken? I don’t care if he has broken bones, bones heal, just make sure he can breathe! Just last June at AWHONN a presenter and I had a conversation about shoulder dystocia, what was it that she said the other outcomes could be?

The next few minutes were all a blur me screaming at the doctor to help my baby, my husband kissing my head and doing the best he could to stay strong for the two of us, the student midwife attending her first delivery still holding onto my left leg waiting for someone to give her instructions and then there was a voice that I will never forget. Then the firm voice of my labor and delivery nurse as she turned to the doctor and said, “Doctor. Would you like me to call for another set of hands?” I got the sense that she wasn’t asking for permission, but rather she was politely informing the doctor of her intent to ask for assistance because she knew it was needed.

The doctor nodded as my nurse instantly took one side step closer to my head, she looked me straight in the eyes and smiled as she pushed the call button for the nurse’s station and requested another attending physician join us in my delivery room. A moment later the door swung open and the already crowded room began to fill with more people. In an instant, my nurse and another doctor were in the delivery bed with me, pushing on my low abdomen , doing all they could to change the position of my baby.

In this chaotic scene I once again heard that firm voice calmly say, “Doctor. Would you like me to call in a NICU team?”. The doctor nodded yes and soon a NICU team stormed into the room to wait for my son to be born to take over his care.

At the end of this ordeal, I was blessed with a perfectly healthy child; not one bruise on his body, no torn muscles, no broken bones, and no lack of oxygen to his brain. He did stay in the NICU for two days to be supervised for a potential infection, but otherwise all 10lbs, 5ozs of him was unscathed during his traumatic birth .

It may have been my doctor’s hands that brought my son into the world, but it was my nurse’s voice that I credit for my son’s health and our future without the need for further medical treatment.

Would my son have been fine if he were stuck during the birthing process for another couple of minutes? I don’t know. Fortunately because my labor and delivery nurse spoke up during a time of crisis, I don’t have to find out.

JessicaJessica L. Grenon is the Director of Continuing Education Services at The Conference Exchange, where she has worked with AWHONN since 2007. She, her husband, and their two young children enjoy traveling and spending time with their extended family, especially with her twelve nieces and nephews.

 


Resources on Shoulder Dystocia

Definition: Shoulder Dystocia is the impaction of the fetal anterior or posterior shoulder behind the material pubic symphysis resulting in delay in a cephalic vaginal delivery. This creates a high-risk intrapartum complication affecting both mother and baby.

For Parents: Health providers can’t always predict or prevent shoulder dystocia, but there are some risk factors you can learn about.

For Nurses: AWHONN has a Shoulder Dystocia online product to help prepare clinicians for this level of critical care event.

5 things that nurses wish all parents knew about newborn screening

by Emily Drake, PhD, RN, FAAN

  1. Newborn screening saves lives.  In the first few days after birth, clinicians screen newborns for over 30 rare but serious diseases, most of which are easy to treat with diet changes or other treatment.  This screening, along with early intervention, can save babies from death or disability. Your baby’s pediatrician works with the state health department to ensure that this screening is done.  Many professional organizations including the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses support newborn screening.

Continue reading

Postpartum Recovery Tips for Moms from Our Nurses & Midwives

In preparation for your new arrival it is likely you will take classes, read books and get advice from friends and family on how to take care of your new baby.

What you can easily forget in all the excitement is that you take care of yourself too!

To help you focus on YOU, we recently asked our nurses and midwives what postpartum recovery advice they give their patients.

We received advice for you from over 100 nurses!

Take note of the clear themes – limit visitors to take that time to bond with your new baby, accept help from others, do skin-to-skin and sleep when the baby sleeps!

Good luck in all your new parenting adventures!


Postpartum Care Tips from Nurses and MidwivesTop 20 tips from our nurses and midwives:

  1. Absolutely choose a hospital for the care you will receive and not the new beautiful building. You’re much more likely to receive a positive birth experience and the education you receive from your postpartum nurses will make all the difference in the world.
  2. As a former postpartum nurse, I noticed how often new mothers put their needs last. It seems often families look at postpartum time as party time. I have seen c-section moms sleeping in the same room as 15-20 family members talking loudly and passing baby around for hours. My best advice is for new mothers to have 1-2 designated family helpers to be there to help care for baby while she gets much needed naps throughout those exhausting first days. Baby’s hunger cues are often missed when there are too many visitors for long stretches of time. It is difficult for new mothers to set limits.
  3. Don’t be afraid to ask people to leave. I have seen so many new mothers that are worn out from feeling like they cannot turn people away. Turn off your phone too. I wish I did for the first couple of days.
  4. Breastfeeding is an acquired skill for you and baby, be prepared to be patient and try, try again. It is a wonderful thing for you both, but needs to be learned. Do not suffer in silence, please contact your OB/midwife for lactation nurse help/referral if you are having difficulty with latching and/or very sore nipples.
  5. Sleep when baby sleeps.

  6. If you had a cesarean, take a pillow for the car ride home to support your incision for the bumps in the road.
  7. Use the Dermoplast (benzocaine topical) spray before having a bowel movement…it’ll make the process a whole lot more comfortable and a lot less scary.
  8. If someone offers to come over so you can shower, take them up on it.  For c-section moms remember not only did you have a baby, but you had major surgery.
  9. Trust yourself and your instincts. Pick and choose the advice, tips, expert advice etc. that works for you. And know that if you’re worried about being a good mom, you already are.
  10. Padsicle! Pad, ice pack, tucks, then a spray of Dermoplast.
  11. Know your body. When you get home, use a hand held mirror to look at your perineum or you cesarean section incision. This way, if you experience problems, you will have a baseline to know if something is different, for example: increased swelling, redness, tenderness, or drainage from incision. It is helpful in knowing when to contact your physician with these issues.
  12. Limit your visitors. You will not get this time back. Use it to bond as a family, seek help with breastfeeding. Skin to skin is the best bonding tool! We want to help you succeed with breastfeeding. You can press your call light for every feeding if you need to. Your baby needs your love and protection. You are your baby’s primary advocate. Not all mothers’ choose to or are able to breastfeed. How you feed your baby is your decision and your nurse will support you. Ask visitors to wait until you’ve been home for at least a couple weeks. Settle in, recover. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. If someone wants to visit, ask them to leave their little ones at home.
  13. Sleep when the baby sleeps. Keep drinking water to flush out the excess fluids and keep hydrated. Accept help from anyone willing to cook a meal, run errands or do housework so you can rest and spend more time enjoying your new baby. Get outside for a walk. Fresh air and activity help to restore and rejuvenate sleep deprived minds and bodies as well as improve the blues!
  14. While planning your new routine, ask someone to watch the baby for an hour of each day for you to spend as you please.
  15. Good nutrition is key. Have a healthy snack each time you feed baby if you don’t have an appetite. Try to get a good four hour blocks of sleep several times a week. Ask support people to change, burp, comfort baby and only bring baby to you for breast feeding to extend your sleep when tired. Have a good support system and don’t be afraid to ask them for help. Soak up the sun when you can. Have an enjoyable activity to look forward to each week. Try to get out of the house, but if you can’t do something you enjoy at home or pamper yourself. Relax and enjoy your baby. Use what works for you and don’t try to follow everyone else’s advice.
  16. Accept offers of help and assistance with meals, cleaning etc. I tell father’s to give moms one uninterrupted hour to herself each day. She can bathe, sleep, read, or anything that she wants for that hour. Daddy needs time to get to know baby too!
  17. When you get home, set visiting hours and have each visitor bring groceries or food (they’ll be thrilled to get what you need). And stay in your pajamas. Most people will be less likely to overstay their welcome.
  18. Once “settled” in with the baby reach out to a Mother’s group ( stroller club, baby sitting co-op, Mommy and me Gym or Yoga class), to get out of the house and receive and provide support to other new Mom’s.
  19. Give yourself a break. Sit at the bottom of the shower and cry if you need to every now and then, parenting is hard work. Learning to breastfeed is hard work and so is incorporating another member into your family. Sleep deprivation and shifting hormones will, in fact, make you feel crazy at times but it will get better. You will find your new norm. It’s not all cute onesies and hair bows, it’s more like poopy onesies and newborn rashes, and that’s ok.
  20. You’re stronger than you think! Don’t worry about what others might think. Enjoy every moment.  Parenthood is a beautiful experience. Allow yourself grace & room to grow.

Do you have advice for new moms as well? If so let us know. We’ll keep rolling out the advice.

For additional resources for mom visit our Healthy Mom&Baby website!

5 Q&A about Inducing Labor from our CEO

We asked moms what questions they had about inducing labor and Lynn Erdman our CEO answered back.

  1. My girlfriends told me that having labor induced is the safest, and certainly most convenient, way to have my baby, but my nurse is saying that waiting for labor to start on its own is the safest. Which is true?

Many people don’t realize that undergoing labor induction for any reason is associated with immediate and long-term health risks. Induced labor can lead to excessive postpartum bleeding (or hemorrhage), which in turn, can increase the risk for blood transfusion, longer hospital stays, hysterectomy, more hospital re-admissions and, in the worst cases, death. Induction is also associated with an increased risk for cesarean birth. Cesareans increase a woman’s  risk for infection, problems with how the placenta implants in future pregnancies, and life-long pain from abdominal adhesions.

AWHONN recommends against inducing labor at any time during pregnancy unless it is medically necessary, because a woman or her baby have problems. The medication used to induce labor is a manufactured hormone and a type of drug that bears an increased risk for causing serious patient harm when used in error. With the increasing use of labor induction and its resulting complications, it’s more apparent than ever that we must improve our understanding of the health consequences of administering artificial hormones, especially to vulnerable populations like pregnant women and infants. The short- and long-term health risks are just too serious to undergo labor induction when there is not  a medical need. Continue reading

Happy Father’s Day

by, Gerald A. Lowe, MSN, RN

Gerald A. Lowe I first became a father in July, 17 years ago, with the birth of my daughter. After 39 weeks and 6 days, I was the father of a little girl. I really cannot explain how I felt. It was better than being a child on Christmas and getting everything you wanted! I fell in love with her at first sight!! Almost three years later, my son was born. I again experienced the same set of emotions, instant love and excitement for him. Continue reading

Placental Transfusion for Neonatal Resuscitation After a Complete Abruption

by, Lisa-Marie Sasaki Cook, BSN, RNC-OB, C-EFM, ICCE, CD

In the potentially fatal event below, a cord blood infusion really put into practice everything we already know about delaying cord blood clamping – the increased provision to the neonate of oxygen, red blood cells, stem cells, immune cells, iron reserves, and blood volume.

It was wonderful was seeing this baby go home with no apparent sequellae after a complete abruption at birth. Continue reading