Question from UK mum to USA moms?

Question

Whenever I watch US films or tv, serious drama or comedy, if someone is giving birth everyone is wearing surgical gowns and masks, even the father who is just standing around giving support, it all seems very clinical, is this how it is or is it all just made up for the tv. Here in the Uk no one wears them, and there are definately no masks. Just curious

Answer 1

I think it's mostly for tv. I had the same doctor deliver both my children, he didn't wear a mask. He did wear gloves and a gown however. It also may be his personal choice. I'm sure that some doctors do wear masks etc.

Answer 2

It's two-fold. One, it's for tv "drama". Two - hospitals in the US charge a HUGE fee for everything they do. If they wear masks and gowns, they charge you and/or your insurance money for them. All of a sudden, a 15 cent mask becomes a $6.00 charge! YAY for the hospitals making tons of money (said w/ sarcasm).

I am an OB nurse. The hospital I currently work in doesn't wear gown & masks for a vaginal delivery unless the mom is hemorrhaging or something. Of course everyone wears gloves - it's called "universal Precautions" and it's just to protect Drs & RN's against blood-born pathogens, etc.
People, medical & family, do "gown up" for a C-section because they are hoping for a sterile field/environment to prevent surgical infection to the mom.
However, the vagina is not a sterile body part and the infant does not require a sterile environment to support his/her life. So there's no need for a sterile vaginal birth (it's impossible to have a sterile vag. birth anyway but we always hope for a "clean" one).

Just to address what a few have said about midwives in the US. The legality of homebirth depends on the state in which you live. With many, many, many years of nursing experience (and the majority of it as on OB/Gyn hospital nurse), I say a planned home birth or birthing center birth is just as, if not safer, for mom and baby as a hospital birth! This obviously is for healthy, uncomplicated deliveries. Obviously, a woman having a placental previa (seperation), eclampsia (high blood pressure often with seizures), or sextuplets, etc, would be better off delivering in a hospital. But numerous studies both in the US and in Canada show that infant mortality and maternal mortality is equal to or often lower in homebirths attended by a certified midwife than those born in a hospitals to Drs.
I had my first child in the hospital where I work. It was not a good experience AT ALL!!!! My second child was born at home with two midwives and it was WONDERFUL!!!(and the midwives only wore gloves). The whole "clinical"-ness of what you've observed on tv is one of the many reasons I chose a midwife attended homebirth. I labored in the water the whole time and it was far more effective for pain control than the epidural I received w/ my hospital birth.
Sometimes babies and moms die in both the hospital and in the home. It's sad but true. A good midwife monitors labor just as well, if not better, than the nurses in the hospital. Your experienced midwife will know when to transfer if the need arises. When your laboring at the hosptial, in the US anyway, most Drs. aren't with you the whole time. They come check on you once during your labor and then the nurse calls them at their home or office whenit's time for you to push out the child. So even if something happens in the hospital, you most likely won't have a Dr. *right* there to help, but you'll have to wait a period of time.
I'm sorry. I know you didn't ask about homebirth or midwives but since several people brought up negative comments, I just wanted to include a few positive ones.

Answer 3

It varies, but in general the masks are only for surgery.

Birth in general is MUCH more "medical" in the USA than in the UK from what I understand.

Homebirth is viewed as a freakish and dangerous thing to do in the USA, but as I have been told it is perfectly legal and accepted in the UK.

Midwives are not as common here, and the surgeons attend the majority of births, well, is it any wonder the rate of surgical births keeps going up?

Midwives are perceived differently in the USA than in the UK, I am told they are much more respected as a profession in the UK.

Here even hospital based midwives are sometimes treated with distrust, especially by the older generation (You should be seen by a "real doctor!" as some mother-in-laws state...)

My Aussie friends watch american birth shows like "A baby story" and cringe...:-P

Answer 4

My husband did not have to wear any special gown or mask. The doctor had on gloves and a gown. He was not wearing a mask either. However, if you need a c-section, that is a surgical procedure and everyone in the room needs to be "gowned" up.

Answer 5

I have three children and my youngest is 7 yrs. old. If I remember right....yes, the doctor was in surgical scrubs, but they were bright blue. The nurses and doctor all wore masks and had their hair covered and wore surgical gloves. Minutes after my baby was born, however, and the umbilical cord was cut.....they removed their masks and caps. There are alternatives, such as home deliveries with mid-wives, but I don't know how they dress for that setting. Some hospitals offer the options to deliver squatting, or in water....with low lights, music, the whole ambience thing which removes the 'septic institutional' feeling of a hospital. I went with the traditional hospital set up because I wanted to know that if something were to go wrong in the delivery or after....that my baby and I would get immediate medical help. I hope that helps to answer your questions.

Answer 6

I think it depends on the hospital and or the situation. If a C-section is necessary, everyone will be wearing masks for sure. Some hospitals mandate you to wear all the gear (gowns/masks) even in normal deliveries though

Answer 7

When i gave birth, the doctor didn't put his robe on until the baby was almost ready to come out. The whole time I was pushing everyone was just in their regular clothes. Then my Dr. was the only one who wore the clinical gear. The pediatrician and nurse who gave my daughter her apgar's and weighed her and things wore the robe, mask and gloves. I think the only time everyone has to wear them is if you are having a c-section which is because it is a serious surgery and germs are a definite concern.

Answer 8

No, they don't wear masks and gowns, unless there is a ceserean section being performed. Nobody in the room had on a gown or masks when my daughter was born. In the packet in the room for my husband there were disposable scrubs, but the nurse just used them to put my daughter's footprint on as a Daddy's keepsake. I guess on tv or movies they do it for dramatic or comedic effect.

Answer 9

If it's a c-section, everyone wears that stuff.

During a delivery that's normal, the doctors wear scrubs and gloves, but I don't remember anything else. My husband and sister didn't wear anything.

My daughter is three now.

To the person who talked about midwives, etc, I delivered in a hospital and didn't think it was all that sterile. I would NEVER deliver at home. People claim that women have been giving birth at home for thousands of years, and my counterclaim is that women have been dying at home for thousands of years.

I nearly died immediately following delivery with a uterine inversion. This could NOT have been fixed at home with a midwife. It took surgery, 3 doctors, and 4 blood transfusions. It's not that I dont TRUST midwives. If I KNEW 100% that the delivery would be normal, I would definately want to be in the comfort of my home with a midwife. But since it's never a 100% chance that it will be normal, I'll opt for the hospital, thanks.

Answer 10

My husband wore them each and every time I went into delivery room, only once he didn't make it for face mask and top scrub (last baby) and that was at 3 different hospitals! I think they just want to have germ free area! They also made him scrub like a doctor does before surgery. It did make me feel better though. His clothes were protected (not that it was going to be a war zone of blood every where) and he got to keep his scrubs as mementos of each birth! Each one said something cute in corner like; "i just delivered my baby" "father in training" etc.