May 25, 2025 • 13 mins
Welcome to Hello Bump, a podcast about what you’re not expecting when you’re expecting.
In this episode, hosts Jana Pittman and Grace Rouvray discover your baby is around the size of a honeydew or a small watermelon! At week 36, you’re only a week away from being full term and your baby will be around 2.7–3kg in size. Jana explains how you might start feeling a drop in your pelvis as your baby’s head moves further down in preparation for birth. Plus, Grace asks about GBS testing and how you can manage birth if you do test positive.
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CREDITS:
Hosts: Jana Pittman and Grace Rouvray
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
You're listening to a mum and me a podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Mom and mayor acknowledges the traditional owners of land and
waters that this podcast is recorded on.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
I am pregnanty.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Welcome to Hello Bump. We're making pregnancy less overwhelming and
more manageable, hopefully. I'm Grace rue Ray, pregnant for the
first time and at thirty six weeks, it's starting to
get a little bit old.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
It's getting very real now you're only a week away
from being full termed. So anyway, I am Jana Pittman.
I am a training obstitution and gynecologist, a mum of
six beautiful babies, and I used to run for Australia.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Each episode, we will be holding your hands week by
week through the mysterious, perplexing and sometimes tiring miracle that
is pregnancy, all the way from a poppy seed to
a pumpkin.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Week thirty six, we're very much on the pumpkin side
now you are welcome to thirty six weeks.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
But if we're not a pumpkin, what else are we
a popcas? We are you're a podcast. You're officially a
pupkin thisst but a small pumpkin.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Yes, a small smallish honey, ye pupkin.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
But anyway, I've got a large lettuce but now that
feels quite small, or.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
A small watermelon I've got here as well.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Yeah, melon, melon, melons forever, all right.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
So baby is around two point seven to three kilos now,
so we really are very close to term.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So if you have a high risk.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Pregnancy, this is around the time that we actually do
start seeing some women being induced. Now we're talking very
high risk like preclamps here and growth restriction and things
like that. So again it'll be a very obstetric lead decision,
but definitely some women will be starting to have that
conversation if you have a few of those risk factors around,
when the timing of birth is most.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Appropriate for you and what have they developed most.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Things now, like there's not much leads just getting cuter,
is getting cute, but like no steroids at this point,
no lung support like little ones coming out if they're
normally grown babies at two point seven to three kilos,
we'll stay with mum. So thirty six weeks again, it's
a huge milestone because think most babies do very very
well at this point.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
What's happening to me and what's happening to us.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
You might start feeling that drop in the in your pelvist.
So look, it tends to happen sort of between thirty
six and thirty eight weeks where you still feel that
very much the baby's sitting underneath your ribs. But then
all of a sudden you wake up and you're like, oh,
I can breathe a bit better again. And that's because
we're hoping that the baby's head is heading down into
that pelvis, so increase problems passing your oine and things
like that. But we're getting closer.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
So it is a physical feeling rather than just the
visual of like, oh, it looks like it's dropped, Like
did you notice a change?
Speaker 3 (02:33):
I felt like I noticed a change. But again it's
a little bit of a wive's table. I mean, it
is obviously that head is going to head down. You
might notice that, for example, when you go for your
mid with free appointment. Now they do that really horrible
thing where they shove their hand down and try and
feel the baby's head and see if it's engaged or not.
So that basically means is the baby's head still coming
in and out of the pelvis like it would have
been two or three weeks ago, or is it nicely
lodged down there, And that's the first start of labor.
(02:56):
That's the first time where baby's getting in that right
direction and that pressure will start happening on that service
because that's how the cervix opens, is the baby's pressure
of the head.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Is against it.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
And then when the uterus contracts, obviously it then allows
that cervix to open. But the first thing is having
something ahead or a bum pushing heavily on that cervix.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
That's fascinating, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I mean, partly it'll be the shape of the uterus.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
I mean, babies do go obviously transverse and sideways and
bleak in all these different positions. But if you think
the longitudinal shape of your uterus, does you know, you'd
hope sort of define the way they lie. But I've
seen some cheeky babies in some very unusual positions.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Oh and that's what's terrifying if they go down there
and then you rock up at a hospital and they've
moved again, like you said a few episodes ago.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
And I think actually it's a really good point.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
There's a couple of really important things we do in
this week, and the first one is if you go
into labor now, it is actually a really good idea
to ask them to do a quick ultrasound to check
baby's head down. Now, most of the time the midwives
are going to do it anyway, or the doctors, but
you don't want to be caught out fully blown labor
and find there's a foot there. So it is just
nice to know that there's definitely ahead. Now. We can
usually feel that through your tummy, but even the most
(03:55):
senior midwives can sometimes get it wrong and it's a button,
not a head, so just get them to chuck the
ultrasound on. This is also the week that we do
and it's a bit controversial, but we have done all
the controversial topics in this podcast. Your GBS swab, so
that is a bacteria that grows in the vagina. Normally
it's very transient. It's about one in four women will
have it, and you need to decide if you're happy
to have it. So a lot of women say, yep,
no problems. I'd prefer to know because we know that
(04:17):
there's some significant problems for the baby at birth does
not affect you at all. So if a woman's got
GBS positive, she'll be just slight the twenty five percent
of other women that do not concerning for mum at all.
But if bubby could catch it, it can cause really significant
problems with their lungs and also with their brains, so
in terms of being very unwell post birth. So you
can get late onset and at term GBS sepsis in
(04:37):
a baby, so you know, look it's rare to get it,
but if baby does get it, there's a very high
mortality rate, which means that the ones can die from it.
And so look that sounds very scary. And I know
some people be listening to this, you know, saying, oh,
you know, that's ridiculous. I don't want antibiotics in birth,
because that's what it means. So what does it mean
is if you're positive, it means if you wraps your membranes,
we will recommend. We won't do it, we will recommend,
and then it's your choice, but strongly recommend that you
(04:59):
have an induction, so as soon as your waters are broken,
versus if you break waters without having that GBS bug,
you can have twenty four to forty eight hours to
see if your body goes into labor naturally, So that's
that intervention of if I do this swab and it's positive,
I'm going to have an induction. And then the second
thing is that we recommend antibiotics in labor because we
know that we can protect the baby via the placenta
(05:20):
to not get that infection. And then women worry about, well,
is that going to change my bastmel because it's going
to change the baby's biota and things like that, and look, yes,
absolutely there are those real concerns. But I think if
you've seen a baby get very sick from gbos sepsis,
which unfortunately I have seen, it was pretty heartbreaking, you
want to know that you've done and you put your
best foot forward, and so it is a discussion to
(05:41):
have with your midwife, and I look as an obstitution,
I have to say I recommend it, but there are
I've definitely had mums who come up with some really
good reasons and they said they're happy to have the
extended stay in hospital and watch their baby closely, and
that they prefer that. And ultimately, remember it's your body,
it's your baby, and you have to make the decision
that's right for you.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
In this space.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
But you know, why do they do it so far
out then.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Because unfortunately the taste takes quite a bit of time
to come back and there's no way of testing, like
no the PC go to labor. Yeah, there is some
places that can do a quick test it's a PCR test,
but it comes back you know, in four or five hours.
It's extremely expensive. And you know, the New South Wales
government when it comes to immunizations and swab tests and
things like this, I guess do a nationwide thing where
(06:22):
there's a budget that allows for the best number of
women to be treated and the most number of babies
to be safe. And I guess the recommendation at the
point is to do it. But you are right because
by forty weeks you may not be positive at all.
In other words, you might be overtreating and worse. That
lady for example, that we had, she did do the
swab and it was negative for thirty six weeks and
the baby got sick. So she did nothing wrong because
she didn't know she had GBS in labor and so
(06:44):
you know, there's a lot of arguments there are saying
that is it a useless test? Then unfortunately we don't
have anything better at the moment, and so I think
it really comes down to like, for my case, I
made the decision to do it, and I did the swab,
I was I've been GBS positive once, so I had
the antibiotics in labor for that, and then I just
took probiotics after labor.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Is it an ivy antibiotic?
Speaker 3 (07:03):
It is Benzl penicillin unless you have a penicillin allergy.
And then I gave a little bit of probotics to
the baby as well, which again is a bit controversial,
but Kiara is a isolated from breast milk, so we
basically put a time a little bit on my nipple
or in their formula to try and help with their
gut biota afterwards. So again it's a very personal decision
and I think the really hard spot in that space
(07:24):
is that some hospitals don't do it, but many do.
So it's a conversation to have with you midwife and
get her to do that. The stats are very real,
Like you, A one percent of babies will get the
infection if mum's positive, and at the mortality rate can
be up to fifty percent in babies that catch it.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
That get sick.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
So there's all these like really long winded statistics, but
you're probably better off getting a leaflet about it and
then making it yourself when you can have an educated decision.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
I want to ask about fetal movements, so we talk
about them so often, but one thing that I've read
is that the movements may change because they've gotten bigger
and they're running out of space. Is that true? And
how are we still looking for patterns to make sure
in the safe zone.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
It's really hard and you know, their babies do have
less room because they're bigger now they're all curled up.
But again we're looking frequency of movements. So if your
baby moves all day and is sleepy at night, that's
their normal pattern. And if that changes and all of
a sudden they're really quiet during the day, you come
on into the hospital. I think we need to look
at how often it happens as well. So things that
(08:24):
we are looking for is that has there been some abruption,
has there been some decrease in placental function, has babies
growth reduced? So there's there's reasons as to why a
baby stops moving. Because I get I liken it too.
You know, if you go for a hard run and
you run out of food and no one gives you
a protein shake or and energy drink. After you've gone
for an exercise, you want to lie on the couch
and do nothing. And so, yeah, babies stop moving because
(08:46):
they're running out of supply, and that can be that
they're having chronic hypoxia, which basically means they've got something wrong.
Like you know, we get your recist negative mums that
don't have anti D for example, that might have a
baby that's developing a chronic anemia, and they obviously stop
moving as much.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
And we do a.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Test called a KLIHOW which is special test to actually
see whether there's a reaction between the baby and the mother,
and if that's positive, we know that there's a reason
to birth baby. So there's we want you to come
in case there's something terrible like that. Nineteen nine percent
of the time, Grace, by the time you baby come
you come into the hospital, it's doing cartwheels in your
belly and you feel embarrassed. It's totally fine, and I
(09:22):
really want to reassure you it's one hundred percent the
right thing. Because we have had many, many mummies save
their babies lives by coming in because of concerns.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
And this is something that you've spoken about before, is
that you have been called to an er so many
times and you don't care.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
No, it's a twenty four to seven service and in fact,
most of the time you're sitting there going I've got
nothing to do.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Oh yeah, yes, I want to come around and say
hello too, sometimes anxious, I'm ready.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
You needed to come.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
And we also have a lot of junior doctors in
the hospital and they often get to come and learn
from those experiences because it is and look, I've mean
this in a negative way, but it is a bit
of the cry wolf, but if you're not careful, you'll
miss the real wolf, like as in you need to
be really good in that space of saying taking every
single woman who comes in seriously with mother's intuitions enormous
and even if you have a normal categ and a
normal ultrasound and everything's normal, if it changes again, I
(10:06):
want you to come back like it doesn't. It's there
were all screening tools, they're not diagnostic, So if you're concerned,
you come back. And I still vividly remember this incredible
woman who unfortunately did have a still birth, and then
she came back pregnant, and she came in and I
met her. The's only six months ago and she's only
thirty five weeks pregnant. She's like, there's something wrong. And
the CTG was normal and the ultrasound was normal and
everything was normal. She's like, there's something wrong, but we
(10:27):
couldn't find it. We just couldn't find it, and so
we admitted her and watched and it was just like
a bit of a gut instinctive and obviously a bit
of ten to eleven care because she'd had a terrible
outcome before. In the middle of the night, she's like,
something's really wrong. We popped the CTG on and the
heart rate had dropped right down to sixty and we
did a beautiful birth and she has a baby to
go home with. But had she not stuck to her
guns and pushed and pushed back on us to say
something is wrong, she may have had an even worse
(10:50):
outcome than she'd been through previously. Can't imagine two things
happening to the same person, but it sometimes does. So
listen to your heart. It's completely fine, and we much
prefer to see you then come in with a terrible outcome.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
My took kit this week I wanted to ask you
about is packing your bag?
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (11:11):
It is thirty six weeks late. Late, too late, yes,
too late.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
I want you ladies, we probably should have put that
a few weeks ago. Thirty two weeks.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
I think a bag a shuld be at the front
door or maybe in the.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Car double oops before Look, you're.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Probably not going to need it.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Let's be really honest, you're probably not going to need it. Well,
worst case scenario, have a little day bag which is
a pair of undies, and your charge it.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
For your phone.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Okay, because sitting around in birth units is so boring
and it's very long when your phone always goes dead.
And so I guess every time you go to your
antenatal clinic is an opportunity where something might say, sorry
to race, you have to come into hospital overnight.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
So to me, it's just better.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
It don't mean it's gonna happ you have your baby
that night, but it does mean we might need to
monitor you if there's something we're concerned about. So, if
it's in the back of the car, are you telling
me you haven't got your bag right now?
Speaker 1 (11:53):
It's a little worry.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Yeah, okay, tonight, yeap tonight, We'll do it tonight. This
is a bit terrifying, but all right, what's on your
checklist for this week?
Speaker 3 (12:02):
I think this is the time when you need to
book a night away with your partner or a friend,
like have your baby moon or whatever you're going to
do with your favorite person of choice, because again, things
are getting real and it's getting soon.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Don't go into.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
State, just putting it out there because I had a
lovely lady this week who flew from Brisbane down here
and then went into early labor, and it's a long
way from home. So I think somewhere within thirty to
forty minutes from home is about the best option, just
so you can have that safety of your medical team
that's been looking after you the whole time and the
comforts of home.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Well, we're doing a staycation, but not only is it
within forty minutes or what it's like within ten minutes, Oh,
that's booked a hotel in the city, And that does
remind me. I spoke to my husband today. I was like,
I'm going to ask you on to this question. Can
I have a bath now? Because this hotel room has
a bath. Yeah, So is it the same rules as
the first trimester or are they different rules.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Look, we still say that anything overheat, your baby can't
regulate it's temperature the same as you. But like, if
you're going to have a lovely warm bath, not stinking hot,
and you're in there for five or ten minutes, if
you sold for forty five minutes to an hour, probably
not the best thing for.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah, but if I still do a little at bit.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
That's fine. Ten minutes I think.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I mean, you know, in labor, we're gonna you in
the bath, hopefully because it's a lovely way to relax
a woman in labor. But I think it's all in
moderation at this point.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
I hear, Yes, that's what I Yes. We hope you
enjoyed this episode of Hello Bump. We have so many
episodes of this series filled with tips and stories from
women and experts who've been through it all before.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
You can go back and listen to everything else Hello
Bump related in this podcast feed.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
And while you're there, we'd love if you could give
us a flying star rating and maybe leave us a review,
or even share this episode with a friend.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
This episode was produced by Courtney Ammenhauser with audio production
by Tom Lyon We'll catch You Next Time.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
This episode of Hello Bump was made in partnership with
Huggies Bye Bye
You're listening to a mum and me a podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Mom and mayor acknowledges the traditional owners of land and
waters that this podcast is recorded on.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
I am pregnanty.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Welcome to Hello Bump. We're making pregnancy less overwhelming and
more manageable, hopefully. I'm Grace rue Ray, pregnant for the
first time and at thirty six weeks, it's starting to
get a little bit old.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
It's getting very real now you're only a week away
from being full termed. So anyway, I am Jana Pittman.
I am a training obstitution and gynecologist, a mum of
six beautiful babies, and I used to run for Australia.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Each episode, we will be holding your hands week by
week through the mysterious, perplexing and sometimes tiring miracle that
is pregnancy, all the way from a poppy seed to
a pumpkin.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Week thirty six, we're very much on the pumpkin side
now you are welcome to thirty six weeks.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
But if we're not a pumpkin, what else are we
a popcas? We are you're a podcast. You're officially a
pupkin thisst but a small pumpkin.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Yes, a small smallish honey, ye pupkin.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
But anyway, I've got a large lettuce but now that
feels quite small, or.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
A small watermelon I've got here as well.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Yeah, melon, melon, melons forever, all right.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
So baby is around two point seven to three kilos now,
so we really are very close to term.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So if you have a high risk.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Pregnancy, this is around the time that we actually do
start seeing some women being induced. Now we're talking very
high risk like preclamps here and growth restriction and things
like that. So again it'll be a very obstetric lead decision,
but definitely some women will be starting to have that
conversation if you have a few of those risk factors around,
when the timing of birth is most.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Appropriate for you and what have they developed most.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Things now, like there's not much leads just getting cuter,
is getting cute, but like no steroids at this point,
no lung support like little ones coming out if they're
normally grown babies at two point seven to three kilos,
we'll stay with mum. So thirty six weeks again, it's
a huge milestone because think most babies do very very
well at this point.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
What's happening to me and what's happening to us.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
You might start feeling that drop in the in your pelvist.
So look, it tends to happen sort of between thirty
six and thirty eight weeks where you still feel that
very much the baby's sitting underneath your ribs. But then
all of a sudden you wake up and you're like, oh,
I can breathe a bit better again. And that's because
we're hoping that the baby's head is heading down into
that pelvis, so increase problems passing your oine and things
like that. But we're getting closer.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
So it is a physical feeling rather than just the
visual of like, oh, it looks like it's dropped, Like
did you notice a change?
Speaker 3 (02:33):
I felt like I noticed a change. But again it's
a little bit of a wive's table. I mean, it
is obviously that head is going to head down. You
might notice that, for example, when you go for your
mid with free appointment. Now they do that really horrible
thing where they shove their hand down and try and
feel the baby's head and see if it's engaged or not.
So that basically means is the baby's head still coming
in and out of the pelvis like it would have
been two or three weeks ago, or is it nicely
lodged down there, And that's the first start of labor.
(02:56):
That's the first time where baby's getting in that right
direction and that pressure will start happening on that service
because that's how the cervix opens, is the baby's pressure
of the head.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Is against it.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
And then when the uterus contracts, obviously it then allows
that cervix to open. But the first thing is having
something ahead or a bum pushing heavily on that cervix.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
That's fascinating, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I mean, partly it'll be the shape of the uterus.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
I mean, babies do go obviously transverse and sideways and
bleak in all these different positions. But if you think
the longitudinal shape of your uterus, does you know, you'd
hope sort of define the way they lie. But I've
seen some cheeky babies in some very unusual positions.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Oh and that's what's terrifying if they go down there
and then you rock up at a hospital and they've
moved again, like you said a few episodes ago.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
And I think actually it's a really good point.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
There's a couple of really important things we do in
this week, and the first one is if you go
into labor now, it is actually a really good idea
to ask them to do a quick ultrasound to check
baby's head down. Now, most of the time the midwives
are going to do it anyway, or the doctors, but
you don't want to be caught out fully blown labor
and find there's a foot there. So it is just
nice to know that there's definitely ahead. Now. We can
usually feel that through your tummy, but even the most
(03:55):
senior midwives can sometimes get it wrong and it's a button,
not a head, so just get them to chuck the
ultrasound on. This is also the week that we do
and it's a bit controversial, but we have done all
the controversial topics in this podcast. Your GBS swab, so
that is a bacteria that grows in the vagina. Normally
it's very transient. It's about one in four women will
have it, and you need to decide if you're happy
to have it. So a lot of women say, yep,
no problems. I'd prefer to know because we know that
(04:17):
there's some significant problems for the baby at birth does
not affect you at all. So if a woman's got
GBS positive, she'll be just slight the twenty five percent
of other women that do not concerning for mum at all.
But if bubby could catch it, it can cause really significant
problems with their lungs and also with their brains, so
in terms of being very unwell post birth. So you
can get late onset and at term GBS sepsis in
(04:37):
a baby, so you know, look it's rare to get it,
but if baby does get it, there's a very high
mortality rate, which means that the ones can die from it.
And so look that sounds very scary. And I know
some people be listening to this, you know, saying, oh,
you know, that's ridiculous. I don't want antibiotics in birth,
because that's what it means. So what does it mean
is if you're positive, it means if you wraps your membranes,
we will recommend. We won't do it, we will recommend,
and then it's your choice, but strongly recommend that you
(04:59):
have an induction, so as soon as your waters are broken,
versus if you break waters without having that GBS bug,
you can have twenty four to forty eight hours to
see if your body goes into labor naturally, So that's
that intervention of if I do this swab and it's positive,
I'm going to have an induction. And then the second
thing is that we recommend antibiotics in labor because we
know that we can protect the baby via the placenta
(05:20):
to not get that infection. And then women worry about, well,
is that going to change my bastmel because it's going
to change the baby's biota and things like that, and look, yes,
absolutely there are those real concerns. But I think if
you've seen a baby get very sick from gbos sepsis,
which unfortunately I have seen, it was pretty heartbreaking, you
want to know that you've done and you put your
best foot forward, and so it is a discussion to
(05:41):
have with your midwife, and I look as an obstitution,
I have to say I recommend it, but there are
I've definitely had mums who come up with some really
good reasons and they said they're happy to have the
extended stay in hospital and watch their baby closely, and
that they prefer that. And ultimately, remember it's your body,
it's your baby, and you have to make the decision
that's right for you.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
In this space.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
But you know, why do they do it so far
out then.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Because unfortunately the taste takes quite a bit of time
to come back and there's no way of testing, like
no the PC go to labor. Yeah, there is some
places that can do a quick test it's a PCR test,
but it comes back you know, in four or five hours.
It's extremely expensive. And you know, the New South Wales
government when it comes to immunizations and swab tests and
things like this, I guess do a nationwide thing where
(06:22):
there's a budget that allows for the best number of
women to be treated and the most number of babies
to be safe. And I guess the recommendation at the
point is to do it. But you are right because
by forty weeks you may not be positive at all.
In other words, you might be overtreating and worse. That
lady for example, that we had, she did do the
swab and it was negative for thirty six weeks and
the baby got sick. So she did nothing wrong because
she didn't know she had GBS in labor and so
(06:44):
you know, there's a lot of arguments there are saying
that is it a useless test? Then unfortunately we don't
have anything better at the moment, and so I think
it really comes down to like, for my case, I
made the decision to do it, and I did the swab,
I was I've been GBS positive once, so I had
the antibiotics in labor for that, and then I just
took probiotics after labor.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Is it an ivy antibiotic?
Speaker 3 (07:03):
It is Benzl penicillin unless you have a penicillin allergy.
And then I gave a little bit of probotics to
the baby as well, which again is a bit controversial,
but Kiara is a isolated from breast milk, so we
basically put a time a little bit on my nipple
or in their formula to try and help with their
gut biota afterwards. So again it's a very personal decision
and I think the really hard spot in that space
(07:24):
is that some hospitals don't do it, but many do.
So it's a conversation to have with you midwife and
get her to do that. The stats are very real,
Like you, A one percent of babies will get the
infection if mum's positive, and at the mortality rate can
be up to fifty percent in babies that catch it.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
That get sick.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
So there's all these like really long winded statistics, but
you're probably better off getting a leaflet about it and
then making it yourself when you can have an educated decision.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
I want to ask about fetal movements, so we talk
about them so often, but one thing that I've read
is that the movements may change because they've gotten bigger
and they're running out of space. Is that true? And
how are we still looking for patterns to make sure
in the safe zone.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
It's really hard and you know, their babies do have
less room because they're bigger now they're all curled up.
But again we're looking frequency of movements. So if your
baby moves all day and is sleepy at night, that's
their normal pattern. And if that changes and all of
a sudden they're really quiet during the day, you come
on into the hospital. I think we need to look
at how often it happens as well. So things that
(08:24):
we are looking for is that has there been some abruption,
has there been some decrease in placental function, has babies
growth reduced? So there's there's reasons as to why a
baby stops moving. Because I get I liken it too.
You know, if you go for a hard run and
you run out of food and no one gives you
a protein shake or and energy drink. After you've gone
for an exercise, you want to lie on the couch
and do nothing. And so, yeah, babies stop moving because
(08:46):
they're running out of supply, and that can be that
they're having chronic hypoxia, which basically means they've got something wrong.
Like you know, we get your recist negative mums that
don't have anti D for example, that might have a
baby that's developing a chronic anemia, and they obviously stop
moving as much.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
And we do a.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Test called a KLIHOW which is special test to actually
see whether there's a reaction between the baby and the mother,
and if that's positive, we know that there's a reason
to birth baby. So there's we want you to come
in case there's something terrible like that. Nineteen nine percent
of the time, Grace, by the time you baby come
you come into the hospital, it's doing cartwheels in your
belly and you feel embarrassed. It's totally fine, and I
(09:22):
really want to reassure you it's one hundred percent the
right thing. Because we have had many, many mummies save
their babies lives by coming in because of concerns.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
And this is something that you've spoken about before, is
that you have been called to an er so many
times and you don't care.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
No, it's a twenty four to seven service and in fact,
most of the time you're sitting there going I've got
nothing to do.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Oh yeah, yes, I want to come around and say
hello too, sometimes anxious, I'm ready.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
You needed to come.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
And we also have a lot of junior doctors in
the hospital and they often get to come and learn
from those experiences because it is and look, I've mean
this in a negative way, but it is a bit
of the cry wolf, but if you're not careful, you'll
miss the real wolf, like as in you need to
be really good in that space of saying taking every
single woman who comes in seriously with mother's intuitions enormous
and even if you have a normal categ and a
normal ultrasound and everything's normal, if it changes again, I
(10:06):
want you to come back like it doesn't. It's there
were all screening tools, they're not diagnostic, So if you're concerned,
you come back. And I still vividly remember this incredible
woman who unfortunately did have a still birth, and then
she came back pregnant, and she came in and I
met her. The's only six months ago and she's only
thirty five weeks pregnant. She's like, there's something wrong. And
the CTG was normal and the ultrasound was normal and
everything was normal. She's like, there's something wrong, but we
(10:27):
couldn't find it. We just couldn't find it, and so
we admitted her and watched and it was just like
a bit of a gut instinctive and obviously a bit
of ten to eleven care because she'd had a terrible
outcome before. In the middle of the night, she's like,
something's really wrong. We popped the CTG on and the
heart rate had dropped right down to sixty and we
did a beautiful birth and she has a baby to
go home with. But had she not stuck to her
guns and pushed and pushed back on us to say
something is wrong, she may have had an even worse
(10:50):
outcome than she'd been through previously. Can't imagine two things
happening to the same person, but it sometimes does. So
listen to your heart. It's completely fine, and we much
prefer to see you then come in with a terrible outcome.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
My took kit this week I wanted to ask you
about is packing your bag?
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (11:11):
It is thirty six weeks late. Late, too late, yes,
too late.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
I want you ladies, we probably should have put that
a few weeks ago. Thirty two weeks.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
I think a bag a shuld be at the front
door or maybe in the.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Car double oops before Look, you're.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Probably not going to need it.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Let's be really honest, you're probably not going to need it. Well,
worst case scenario, have a little day bag which is
a pair of undies, and your charge it.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
For your phone.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Okay, because sitting around in birth units is so boring
and it's very long when your phone always goes dead.
And so I guess every time you go to your
antenatal clinic is an opportunity where something might say, sorry
to race, you have to come into hospital overnight.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
So to me, it's just better.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
It don't mean it's gonna happ you have your baby
that night, but it does mean we might need to
monitor you if there's something we're concerned about. So, if
it's in the back of the car, are you telling
me you haven't got your bag right now?
Speaker 1 (11:53):
It's a little worry.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Yeah, okay, tonight, yeap tonight, We'll do it tonight. This
is a bit terrifying, but all right, what's on your
checklist for this week?
Speaker 3 (12:02):
I think this is the time when you need to
book a night away with your partner or a friend,
like have your baby moon or whatever you're going to
do with your favorite person of choice, because again, things
are getting real and it's getting soon.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Don't go into.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
State, just putting it out there because I had a
lovely lady this week who flew from Brisbane down here
and then went into early labor, and it's a long
way from home. So I think somewhere within thirty to
forty minutes from home is about the best option, just
so you can have that safety of your medical team
that's been looking after you the whole time and the
comforts of home.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Well, we're doing a staycation, but not only is it
within forty minutes or what it's like within ten minutes, Oh,
that's booked a hotel in the city, And that does
remind me. I spoke to my husband today. I was like,
I'm going to ask you on to this question. Can
I have a bath now? Because this hotel room has
a bath. Yeah, So is it the same rules as
the first trimester or are they different rules.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Look, we still say that anything overheat, your baby can't
regulate it's temperature the same as you. But like, if
you're going to have a lovely warm bath, not stinking hot,
and you're in there for five or ten minutes, if
you sold for forty five minutes to an hour, probably
not the best thing for.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah, but if I still do a little at bit.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
That's fine. Ten minutes I think.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I mean, you know, in labor, we're gonna you in
the bath, hopefully because it's a lovely way to relax
a woman in labor. But I think it's all in
moderation at this point.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
I hear, Yes, that's what I Yes. We hope you
enjoyed this episode of Hello Bump. We have so many
episodes of this series filled with tips and stories from
women and experts who've been through it all before.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
You can go back and listen to everything else Hello
Bump related in this podcast feed.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
And while you're there, we'd love if you could give
us a flying star rating and maybe leave us a review,
or even share this episode with a friend.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
This episode was produced by Courtney Ammenhauser with audio production
by Tom Lyon We'll catch You Next Time.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
This episode of Hello Bump was made in partnership with
Huggies Bye Bye
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