Chapter 232 Childbirth Difficulties
"Push harder!"
"Push down!"
The anxious voice of Zhao, the village midwife, could be heard coming from the room.
Zhao, the midwife, was responsible for delivering babies in the village. Women in the village would go to her when they gave birth, but she was only a novice and didn't know much. That's why Cheng Wanwan went to Hekou County specifically to find a reliable midwife.
She walked to the door of the room and smelled blood, but fortunately the smell was not strong.
"Sidan, don't just stand there like an idiot. Go to your grandma's house and borrow an old hen. Sanniu, clean the hen and make soup. Yingying, go boil some water!" Cheng Wanwan instructed methodically. "Chunhua, go to the kitchen and prepare some food. We can't let the midwife make a trip and not even get anything to eat!"
The bewildered children quickly calmed down and went about their own business.
Cheng Wanwan took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and walked into the delivery room.
Zhao Dashan had already gone inside and was sitting by the bed, holding Wu Huiniang's hand tightly.
Wu Huiniang strained with all her might, her whole body was soaked in sweat, and her voice was a little hoarse.
Cheng Wanwan sat on the other side of the bed, took her eldest daughter-in-law's hand, and said softly, "Let's try a different breathing method. The exhalation must be even and slow. The inhaled air should slowly circulate around in your abdomen, slowly and gently, don't rush..."
This is a breathing technique for natural childbirth that she learned from a book. It can relieve the tension and panic of the mother and provide more oxygen to the fetus in the womb.
She doesn't know how to deliver babies; that's all she can do.
As she listened to her gentle, breeze-like voice, Wu Huiniang's tense muscles gradually relaxed.
Midwife Zhao stared excitedly at the birth canal and said, "We're almost there, Da Shan's wife! Push a little harder, quicker!"
Wu Huiniang had been in labor for two or three hours and had no strength left.
Cheng Wanwan bought a piece of chocolate in the mall and, when Zhao Dashan wasn't looking, stuffed it directly into Wu Huiniang's mouth.
The sweet chocolate melted in her mouth, and Wu Huiniang swallowed it without realizing it.
The chocolate provided a quick energy boost, giving her exhausted body a little bit of strength.
She let out a roar.
Finally, the midwife Zhao's joyful voice rang out: "The baby is out, it's finally out... No, no, how could this be..."
Cheng Wanwan's heart skipped a beat. She quickly got up to go and see, but her legs immediately went weak.
What came out first wasn't a head, but a fair and delicate hand.
Although she had never given birth, she knew very well what it meant when the baby came out hand-first—it meant a difficult labor caused by malposition of the fetus.
If the hand comes out but the head doesn't, the child could easily suffocate and die from lack of oxygen.
Midwife Zhao's voice trembled uncontrollably: "Five years ago, I delivered a baby for a woman in the village. The baby came out hand-first, and she couldn't give birth at all. In the end, both she and the baby died..."
"Grandma Zhao, please, save my wife..." Zhao Dashan knelt down on the ground with a thud. "You can do anything, as long as you can save my wife's life..."
Midwife Zhao kept backing away: "It's really no use... I can't save her, it's fate..."
After she finished speaking, she turned around and rushed out of the delivery room.
Old Mrs. Zhao and Mrs. Sun were waiting in the courtyard. They didn't hear the baby crying, but they saw the midwife rush out with a pale face. They were almost scared to death.
"Difficult, difficult labor..." Midwife Zhao's voice trembled. "I'm not capable of delivering this baby. We need to find someone else quickly..."
Grandma Zhao felt a rush of blood to her head and almost fainted.
Cao Yingying, carrying a basin of hot water, tried to remain calm and said, "Grandma Zhao, don't worry. Auntie went to Hekou County to invite the most famous midwife, Yu. Zhao Ergou and Uncle Zhao San have gone to invite her by carriage and will be back in about 15 minutes."
She appeared calm on the surface, but her voice was actually trembling.
The image of her mother's difficult childbirth when she was a child kept flashing through her mind. She pushed those images aside, carried hot water, and went into the delivery room.
She knelt beside Wu Huiniang, helping to wipe away the blood that had flowed out. Although her hands were trembling, her movements were meticulous and gentle...
“Mother…” Wu Huiniang’s voice broke as she grabbed Cheng Wanwan’s sleeve, crying, “Save the child, you must save the child… Mother, please, help me…”
Cheng Wanwan stroked her hair and said softly, "Midwife Yu will be here soon. Don't worry, the baby will be fine."
Wu Huiniang closed her eyes in anguish: "Didn't that mother goat also have a difficult birth last time... Mother, please use that method to get the baby out. I'm not afraid of pain, I'm not afraid of death... Mother, please..."
"no!"
Zhao Dashan immediately rejected it.
He held his wife's hand tightly, kissed the back of her hand, and said in a hoarse voice, "We're still young, we can have more children in the future, but what will I do if you're gone..."
Wu Huiniang shook her head weakly: "Dashan, the child can't be hurt, the child absolutely can't be hurt, you go out, go out!"
"Dashan, you go out." Cheng Wanwan said slowly, "Yingying, you go out too."
Cao Yingying carried a basin of bloody water out.
Zhao Dashan's eyes were red-rimmed. He wanted to say something, but he held back. He shook his head and said, "I'm going to stay here and guard this place. I'm not leaving."
Cheng Wanwan knew that her son was stubborn and would definitely not want to leave in this critical moment.
She stopped trying to persuade her and went to the other side of the bed. She took out a fetal heart monitor from the mall's storage area. The most important thing right now was to determine if the baby was still alive.
If the child is already... then there's no need to persist.
She placed the fetal heart monitor on Wu Huiniang's abdomen and soon heard a strong and clear heartbeat.
The heartbeat is steady and strong; the child is alive and in very good condition!
It's likely that not all the amniotic fluid has leaked out yet, and there's still oxygen in the uterus, so the baby isn't experiencing fetal distress.
Those delicate little fingers even twitched slightly.
At this moment, Zhao Dashan was completely preoccupied with his wife and didn't notice what his mother was doing.
Cheng Wanwan was at a loss. Even if she cut open her birth canal, she was afraid it would be difficult to give birth to the child.
In modern times, she would probably opt for a cesarean section, but she's not a medical professional. Even if she could buy all the medical equipment, she wouldn't have the ability to perform such a dangerous surgery.
Various thoughts flashed through her mind. Although she thought about many things, only two minutes had actually passed.
Just then, the sound of horses' hooves came from outside the window.
Then came hurried footsteps, the delivery room door was suddenly pushed open, and Midwife Yu rushed in.
As soon as she got off the carriage, she heard about the situation from Old Mrs. Zhao. When she saw the little hand, she realized that the situation was really serious.
She asked someone to bring her hot water, washed her hands repeatedly, and said in a somewhat deep voice, "This young woman's baby is breech and needs to be positioned correctly first. This is a very risky procedure, so I must get your permission before I dare to proceed."
Zhao Dashan hurriedly asked, "What do you mean by 'very risky'?"
“If the procedure is not performed correctly, the mother is prone to severe bleeding, and the baby may suffocate,” Midwife Yu said slowly. “But if the procedure is not performed, the baby will definitely die, and the mother will not fare much better. At best, she will never be able to have children again; at worst, both mother and baby will die…”
Zhao Dashan's face instantly drained of all color, and tears he had been holding back for so long flowed uncontrollably down his cheeks.
"Help me..." Wu Huiniang said with difficulty, "I'll do anything to save my child..."
Cheng Wanwan stood to the side without moving. In fact, she quickly bought a book about correcting fetal position in the mall. After reading the key passage, she breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that it was possible to correct the fetal position during natural childbirth if the fetal position was incorrect. However, it required an experienced midwife to do this. Midwife Yu had been delivering babies for thirty or forty years and was definitely experienced.
At least, the risks associated with having a baby in the correct position are much lower than the risks of having a cesarean section.
Cheng Wanwan said, "Midwife Yu, then I'll have to trouble you."
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