By Elissa S. Lee, Center for Health Journalism, July 19, 2019.
Joy Dewing had a healthy pregnancy. But during labor, complications abruptly arose. Machines started going off as nurses rushed into the room, moving her body through multiple positions. One nurse held an oxygen mask to her face. “She was saying, ‘Breathe, honey, breathe for the baby,’” Dewing recalled. “And I was like, what is going on?”
Then Dewing saw the doula staring at the fetal heart rate monitor with a look of horror. The doula gestured at one of the nurses who responded, “We know, we’re dealing with it.”
Dewing found out later the umbilical cord had been wrapped around her daughter’s neck, and the nurses were trying to get her to shift positions to release pressure on the cord. “But no one explained what was going on,” Dewing said.
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