There's a scene in the fourth season of Sex and the City where a labor and delivery nurse is cheering Miranda on, as she is about to give birth. Carrie turns to the nurse and simply shakes her head, signaling for the cheerleader to cut the words of encouragement as Brady's mom delivers him.
While every laboring mama has an idea of the type of birthing coach she wants to support her throughout the process, an unexpected slip of a few choice phrases can completely change the mood in the room. Knowing what an expectant mum wants during the process can help visitors plan their words wisely, but here are five things that are never appropriate to say to the soon-to-be mother.
- "Ouch! Here comes a BIG contraction!"
- "Hold on, the team's not quite ready yet."
- "Do you think you can cross your legs and hold it in until I get the camera working?"
- "My mom said it really didn’t hurt that much."
- "I’m ready to get started on the next one, how about you?"
Feel free to add your favorite phrase to the list.
Photo courtesy of HBO
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Not "never." I thought it was hysterical when my husband said "I'm ready for another, how about you?" and it really lightened the mood. The crossing legs one would've made me laugh too.
1I heard a nurse say to my sister, who was battling through a hard contraction and moaning "oh it doesnt hurt that much you big baby"
2When I got checked into the hospital for my induction, my first nurse in L+D spoke pretty mediocre English and was trying to explain to me the steps of the induction. However, whenever she was referring to contractions or being in active labor, she just referred to it as "the pain".
3They had a student nurse in when I was giving birth, and it was a particuraly bad one... massive blood loss, horrible doctor, screwed up catheter that caused a ton of bleeding, swelling, clots, etc, and as im finally nearing the point where ive nearly got her out, the student very loudly exclaimed, "She just keeps going right back in!" uh....
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