Hey guys, Thanks for tuning in this episode of MomTalks with Christa. I'm your host, Christa. And we have a very special episode for you today. A lot of you guys don't know this, but MomTalks with Christa was a show primarily on YouTube before it was ever a podcast. So, we actually have a lot of episodes that didn't quite air on this platform and recently, I was going back through and kind of watching some of them and I was like, these are amazing episodes, I think they deserve a reshare. So, today we are going to reshare one of my favorite episodes, and is with Liesel Teen, and she talks about the top things, top 10 Things you don't know about labour. And for anyone that is either a new mom or know someone that's about to be a mom and wants to give tips, this is an awesome episode. Liesel from mommy labour nurses, one of our favourites to have on the show. I think she's been on like seven times or so we work with her regularly, she is just the best. She just knows so much about labour and delivery and newborn care. So, I wanted to replay one of her interviews, where she talks about the 10 things that you should know about labour. And so just check it out. it's a good one. It's a great one to share with anyone that is a about to be a first time, mom and yeah, we've a lot of fun with it and mind you, this came out over a year and a half ago on YouTube. So, we've made a lot of changes to the show since then so you might notice, hey, it might sound a little different but all the information there is still great, and it still works. So, without further ado, here is my interview with Liesel teen. Enjoy.

Christa: I'm here with Liesel Teen from mommy labour nurse, and she is going to talk all about top 10 Surprising labour and delivery facts that you might not know. So, it's gonna be a lot quicker than the other ones. We're kind of gonna run through them and just kind of shoot some facts your way. So, alright, welcome back Liesel.

Liesel: Yeah, thank you for having me, always a pleasure. I Love to be on here with you, Christa.

Christa: Yeah, we like to have so much fun.

Liesel: I know.

Christa: Hey, this is your fifth time.

Liesel: I was trying to think. I think it's either fourth or fifth.

Christa: So, number 10 is nurses care about your partner too.

Liesel: Yes. So, that is something that I feel like I failed when I went into labour and delivery to have my son. I didn't prepare my partner, my husband for the birth of my son and he was just kind of in the corner, like crying, like just like anxious and like, oh my god, what's happening. And I distinctly remember, my nurse, I had like a doula there was one of my co-workers but my nurse going over to him and comforting him and like helping him. And I still totally do that like with almost all of my deliveries, I'm like, also thinking about your partner and the other people that are in the room, because yeah, what you're going through is maybe traumatic or painful. Let's say painful, but it's also really, really hard to watch somebody that you love go through pain. So, it's really, really important to not only care for the patient who's experiencing the pain but also look to the other side of the room at their partner, or their mom, or their sister, whoever, and care for them as well because yeah, it's something that I do in practice, but like I totally didn't. I totally neglected preparing him for delivery, but nurses definitely do not neglect your partners. We are trying to care for everyone in the room.

Christa: So, this next one, number 9, you might curse or get angry with the nurses because you're in pain, but they won't take it personally.

Liesel: Yes, yes. And that happens quite frequently. There have been a few patients that I've taken care of who are who are disrespectful and just not very nice and that's just their personality. Like I had a patient like this a few weeks ago and just disrespectful throughout the whole, even afterwards. Usually, if you're in pain, you're going to be out of your mind. I mean, it's okay to curse at your nurse or you know, just be kind of out of character. We kind of expect that. It's not something that I am like, oh, like why is she calling me a B-word or whatever like I'm not going to take that home. 90% of the time if that happens and somebody is like, she'll say something to me or whatever. 90% of the time after delivery they are like, I'm so sorry I said that, what was I saying, blah blah blah, they're like, give me a hug, it's fine. So, if that happens to you and you are out of character or something, you're like calling your nurse, or doctor names, or your husband or partner or whoever, like, it's just usually because you're in transition, you're in pain, and nobody's gonna take it seriously. You are, it's a special circumstance. So, it's okay to be a little out of character, so definitely won't take it personally.

Christa: Number 8, the nurse will treat you the same way she treats all of her patients.

Liesel: Yes. So absolutely, I would hope that you would go into labour, knowing that you're going to be treated the same way regardless of your sex or your gender, or not your gender, but you know, your sex or your race or your religion or whatever, we strive to treat patients regardless of where their background or whatever the same. I'm gonna treat somebody who makes a million dollars and is hoity toity, whatever, the same way,  somebody who's coming, having a baby who is in prison.

Christa: Number 7 is if you are an active labour, you're probably the nurses only patient.

Liesel: Yeah. So that is just a staffing ratio that we do most hospitals, a good hospital that has good patient staffing ratios. If you have an actively labouring patient, and they are getting ready to have a baby, they're close to delivery, you're usually going to be my only patient. I'm going to be in there with you the whole time. It's not like I have four or five patients going on. Now, If you're in labour and delivery, and you're not quite active yet, maybe it's busy on the floor, I might have another patient that I have to attend to where I can't be in there the whole time but if you're getting ready to deliver, we tried to keep pace, staffing ratios, one to one at that point.

Christa: Number 6 is modesty is out the window.

Liesel: Yeah, so my quote was I haven't found a way to help deliver a baby vaginally without being able to see your vagina. That's just how it goes. You can't go in there blind.

Christa: Right, right.

Liesel: So yeah, that is something that I think some people as they're preparing for delivery, they might not realise that hay, like these people are, they're gonna see every part of me. It's not just going to be your vagina, I'm going to see your butt and your boobs, especially if you're breastfeeding and helping breastfeed. It's not like I have the door open, the curtain open, and people are just walking going to see you. So, I try to keep it as private as possible and close the curtain when I have to and have people step out if they don't want to, you don't want them in there while we do an exam or what not. But yeah, unfortunately, modesty is something if you're modest, that's something that kind of goes out the window when you do have a baby. But when I talk about modesty, a lot of people talk about, like pubic hair and how that is during delivery, like, do I shave, do I not shave, do I wax, do I not wax. And that, you know, do what you got to do. I tell people we are not concerned about your pubic hair as labour delivery nurses, like we're concerned about taking care of you so don't feel like you have to shave, you have to wax, you have to be like super groomed down there, if that's your norm.

Christa: Number 4 is sometimes emergencies happen.

Liesel: I try to prepare you if an emergency arises. Let's say you need an emergency C section or you have a shoulder dystocia, or some kind of birth emergency happen happens, especially with emergency C sections. Most emergency C sections, there's going to be things that happen where we're kind of preparing you for it and we're saying hey, like your baby's heart rate isn't super stable, or you're starting to get at a fever or whatever, it may be, we might be trending towards a C section. But there are certain circumstances that happen where it is a true emergency, nobody is prepared for it, we just kind of have to like say, Okay, this is what happening and let's go and I might be kind of doing things to prep you and not explaining things. I'm trying my best to explain things as its kind of happened so you can be prepared for it. But unfortunately, labour and delivery is very fast pace and a baby can drop their heart rates very very quickly. It's not like an adult patient that who is deteriorating, who it takes a long time. Babies are just like, their umbilical cord gets really clamped, or their persona all of a sudden stop working because it's ripped off of their uterus. And it's like bam, we got to go. So yeah. Unfortunately, it seems to happen. It's always scary for everybody involved and I'm going to try and do my best to explain to you what's going on but sometimes I just have to do stuff and I just do the best I can.

Christa: Number 3 is things might not go quite as planned.

Liesel: Yeah. So that is going along with that question, yes. And that one also is, if you have something in your birth plan that you're hoping might happen, it might not happen. We try to stick to birth plans and we try to stick to your birth wishes as much as we can but birth is very unexpected and these, sometimes things happen, you have to get induced because of XYZ, you have to break your water for because XYZ. And so, I always tell people when they're kind of writing out their birth plans, or they're thinking about their birth pay to be really flexible, because your baby, you can't control really what your baby's going to do.

Christa: Number 2, most nurses are on your side.

Liesel: Yes, and that goes along with the whole birth plan thing. We are definitely not trying to squash your birth plans. My job is to advocate for you, okay? my job is to stand up for you if something isn't going to plan. If you bring me your birth plan, I'm not saying oh, we can't do that, oh, we can't do that, oh, we can't do that, oh, we can't do that. I'm saying, okay, maybe we can't do this but we can definitely do this, we'll work with you. Trying to advocate you we're not, if anybody's watching who's like super anti medical, most medical providers, if you have found a medical provider who is, you guys are on the same page, you're more likely to trust them. We are definitely absolutely on your side, we want the best for you.

Christa: Number 1, labour and delivery is nothing you've ever quite experienced before.

Liesel: Yes. So, I like to tell people because I get this question a lot with first time moms is like, what is a contraction feel like? how do I even know I'm in labour? blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So, I like to tell people that if you've ever been not, been on your period, and you have period cramps, it's kind of like that pain, but it's amped up a whole lot. Like, it's like times 100 and you feel that pain not only in your stomach where your uterus is, but your uterus is much larger so you might have pain way up here and you might have pain in your back in your butt and your legs. As a baby kind of descend, you're going to have a lot of pressure down there. It might feel like you have to poop and you're in a lot of pain. So yeah, I tell people prepare yourself as much as possible. Do lots and lots of reading, do lots and lots of birth prep. But it really is there is no experience like it in the entire world.

Christa: It's one of those things I keep hearing too, or it's like, you can't quite explain it. You could say you can explain it only so much without like being in it.

Liesel: I mean, think about how long we've been having babies, we've been having babies for hundreds of 1000s of years and people women do it, you can absolutely do it. It's gonna be hard but you can absolutely do it.

Christa: Guys, well, there you have it. Our reshare interview the top things you don't know about labour with Liesel Teem. If you have any more questions about labour, check out Liesel's page, mommy labour nurse. She's on Instagram, she has a website and there's just tons of information that she offers. She's one of our favourite experts to have on the show. So, I hope you guys enjoy the episode. Like I said, it's one of my favourite. It's just quick to the point and it's a great episode of sent to new moms or if you are a new mom yourself to check it out. Also, as a reminder on YouTube, since we had this show for a year and a half before as a podcast, if you are listening on the podcast app, or if you're just a new listener, go back and check on some of the older ones. We have some amazing experts that have come on for the last few years. So, it has been so much fun. There’re so many cool people that come on the show. So, check it out. Thanks for checking in to this episode and I will see you guys next week for a brand-new interview.

Christa: Hey guys, if you found this or any episode of MomTalks with Christa helpful, please like, comment, subscribe, and of course, share it with your friends. We release new videos every single Wednesday and our new podcast is out every single Thursday. So, lots of different ways you can catch us. And of course, if you're not following us on our socials, go ahead and follow us there. We've got tons of new content for you every single day. And finally, if you're watching this and doubting yourself, you're doing a great job. So, thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you next week.

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