34 replies to this topic

[ImAli]

It is a nurse that is usually checking your dilation.... occasionally a doctor will come in (but usually not until the last minute) Most likely the nurse will be female but if not you can request a female nurse since there will be other nurses on duty In fact it is unusual to have a male nurse on labor and delivery because even non muslims don't care for male nurses in such situations. No one will tell you to remove your scarf unless you need to have surgery....then there is a dress code. Like I said in an earlier post they will probably knock before entering the room during labor and postpartum.

As for feeling sick during labor every woman is different. Some women don't get sick....you can barely even tell they are in labor until the very end. Some women are hysterical from the get go....for most women it is somewhere in between. I felt sick and overheated for like 24 hours before going into labor and then I became carsick on the way to the hospital....so I was sick the entire time and having horrible hot flashes and everyone's face was getting on my nerves LOL. They even gave me an injection to stop the nausea because I started heaving but it didn't work well.

[UmmAhmad]

ImAli, on 06 August 2012 - 01:34 PM, said:

It is a nurse that is usually checking your dilation.... occasionally a doctor will come in (but usually not until the last minute) Most likely the nurse will be female but if not you can request a female nurse since there will be other nurses on duty In fact it is unusual to have a male nurse on labor and delivery because even non muslims don't care for male nurses in such situations. No one will tell you to remove your scarf unless you need to have surgery....then there is a dress code. Like I said in an earlier post they will probably knock before entering the room during labor and postpartum.

As for feeling sick during labor every woman is different. Some women don't get sick....you can barely even tell they are in labor until the very end. Some women are hysterical from the get go....for most women it is somewhere in between. I felt sick and overheated for like 24 hours before going into labor and then I became carsick on the way to the hospital....so I was sick the entire time and having horrible hot flashes and everyone's face was getting on my nerves LOL. They even gave me an injection to stop the nausea because I started heaving but it didn't work well.

Off the topic, but kind of on the topic too. My labor was really easy and quick, the only time I got hysterical was during the pushing. A nurse tried to move me in a different position when the baby was crowning- which hurt worse then anything during the labor- and I actually hit the nurse! In my right mind I would have never done anything like that!

[Ruq]

Maryammm, on 06 August 2012 - 07:22 AM, said:

Salam, thanks I have actually and it's very interesting! though it doesn't really include any muslim ladies who wear hijab giving birth lol, for obvious reasons! Most people that I have spoken to in the UK haven't had the problem of dealing with male doctors, and have been able to not wear the headscarf in the birthing room, it has just been an issue in times of emergency, which is what I worry about. Salams and duas inshallah and I hope that you are enjoying a blessed month of Ramadhan and getting lots of blessings inshallah x

ws and blessings to you and family also =) I find OBEM somewhat addictive viewing, although about 1/3 of the time im sitting watching in horror >.< its v emotional though and can be v dramatic when theres a difficult birth and the baby isnt breathing or something. But alhamdullillah i havent yet seen a baby that didnt survive. We are blessed with fabulous technology here in UK thanks to God and the midwives in that show are so awsome, very compassionate and professional. They do what they can to make the mother not be stressed, but if there is a problem their priority is the baby, so if ther only person available to help is male then things like hijab will have to be compromised. But you can see on that show that the majority of births dont require intervention.

Theres a similar docu recently started on bbc2 btw.

[Al-Afasy]

I'm all for hijab..heck I even think some women need to wear niqab but if a woman is suffocating under the hijab then she needs to take it off for MEDICAL reasons. If she, however, takes it off just for the hell of it, then obviously that isn't acceptable.

They say child birth is like having all the bones in your body breaking at once....la ilaha ila Allah.

[Maryammm]

ImAli, on 06 August 2012 - 01:34 PM, said:

It is a nurse that is usually checking your dilation.... occasionally a doctor will come in (but usually not until the last minute) Most likely the nurse will be female but if not you can request a female nurse since there will be other nurses on duty In fact it is unusual to have a male nurse on labor and delivery because even non muslims don't care for male nurses in such situations. No one will tell you to remove your scarf unless you need to have surgery....then there is a dress code. Like I said in an earlier post they will probably knock before entering the room during labor and postpartum.

As for feeling sick during labor every woman is different. Some women don't get sick....you can barely even tell they are in labor until the very end. Some women are hysterical from the get go....for most women it is somewhere in between. I felt sick and overheated for like 24 hours before going into labor and then I became carsick on the way to the hospital....so I was sick the entire time and having horrible hot flashes and everyone's face was getting on my nerves LOL. They even gave me an injection to stop the nausea because I started heaving but it didn't work well.

Salam, lol never heard of being so hot and sick throughout! poor you! and poor everyone that had to be around you from the sounds of it lol! I can't believe the injection for nausia didn't work, must have been really bad... I hope that maybe if you do have another child inshallah, that's if your first two didn't put you off lol, then inshallah you wont have to suffer so bad with the hot flashes and nausia.

Oh and as fo uniform in case of needing surgery, the hospital where I would be most likely to give birth has female surgeons, quite a few, including a muslim muhajjabah as well. Also, there is a new gown specially designed for muslim women in the uk that is now allowed to be worn, but I am not sure if it's available everywhere, inshallah I wont have to have any surgery and if I have to have a ceasarian then at least I hope that it would be a pre booked one, so that I could try and book it at a time when there is a female surgeon, this is what a friend of mine did at the same hospital.

I found out recently that according to a study done by non muslim researchers, having males present at the birth, whatever religion you are, actually pro-longs the birth process and makes it more stressful for a lot of women. I think the differences weren't necessarily noticable if you didn't do some kind of specific study on it. Not sure if you have heard of the same study, but the results are very interesting, and I suppose if nothing else, it shows that women are the best ones to deal with this, though the bossy and sometimes inconsiderate midwives that I have seen would make you think otherwise!

Thanks for letting me know more about the heat and sickness thing, didn't realise it could get that bad, I have just been thinking about the pain and contractions! I just assumed that the pain was the thing that caused the heat and sickness, but that this would mainly be towards the end when the contractions get more extreme, but now I know from you that it can be a whole lot worse then that. Still, as long as I don't experience what happened to the lady whom I was birthing partner for, then I am happy... it was terrible seeing her baby going blue and not breathing, and crying with the joy of new life but also the worry that it might be over sooner rather then later... When we heard the first cry, it was amazing! Inshallah that wont happen to me, or anyone really, and if that woman had of had faith then she may have found it easier. To experience childbirth in a more 'Islamic' way, with my mother inlaw reading Qur'an for me, and reading duas etc it should be an even more amazing experience inshallah.

Once again, thanks for sharing and if you have any more nuggets of information than that would be most appreciated!
Salams and duas inshallah!

[Cake]

Maryammm, on 07 August 2012 - 07:05 AM, said:

Oh and as fo uniform in case of needing surgery, the hospital where I would be most likely to give birth has female surgeons, quite a few, including a muslim muhajjabah as well. Also, there is a new gown specially designed for muslim women in the uk that is now allowed to be worn, but I am not sure if it's available everywhere, inshallah I wont have to have any surgery and if I have to have a ceasarian then at least I hope that it would be a pre booked one, so that I could try and book it at a time when there is a female surgeon, this is what a friend of mine did at the same hospital.

I found out recently that according to a study done by non muslim researchers, having males present at the birth, whatever religion you are, actually pro-longs the birth process and makes it more stressful for a lot of women. I think the differences weren't necessarily noticable if you didn't do some kind of specific study on it. Not sure if you have heard of the same study, but the results are very interesting, and I suppose if nothing else, it shows that women are the best ones to deal with this, though the bossy and sometimes inconsiderate midwives that I have seen would make you think otherwise!

Please inform us of the name of this special gown and also link us to the study (or an article about the study).

[Logical Islam]

i think God will understand if you choose to give birth without hijab on lol

the purpose of hijab is to stop Zina.

Doctors are not allowed by law to have relationship with patients...since the time of hippocrates

[Brother K]

Hello everyone, please read the entire section in the below URL. It will clear things,

http://islamqa.info/en/ref/5693

Basically, "The male doctor must also be trustworthy and above suspicion with regard to his character and religious commitment. In this case it is sufficient to take people at face value."

[Marie1986]

W.s.I'm on my third pregnancy and I've had a female ob each time .
My first time no male was ever present for any thing , I requested just in case but there was no need.
My second I had no choice but to have a man at the end because that was the only dr on duty and we only have one hospital i actually Gage birth without The dr because of extreme circumstances ( I was 36 weeks and had been given medication , and my labour progressed extremely fast 4 minutes from fully dialated to baby to be exact ) but he did make it after .

The first time o did not wear hijab because i knew for sure but the second I wore hijab until the very end ( I didn't know I'd be giving birth any time soon and no one was by my side husband went to pray and by the time he came back I had had the baby)
But it was just the one dr , I made sure to keep the door closed I had a private room both times.

There's no way to keep everyone quiet but as soon as I got to hold the baby which is AFTER they do a quick check/clear the air passages we made sure to say and do all of the mustahabs like milk in the eyes/nose ,zam zam, me eat date as well as the ones stated. In a hospital setting I can't see this being able to be any different so if this is not for you then maybe a home birth would be best.

Where I live there are a lot of women ob's they know the basics of our religion and some get a little annoyed when it's Ramadan and you fast but after they see you and your doing exceptional they see it was nit a big deal my dr who has seen me through all of my pregnancies has now changed her thought on it since seeing how well I do during the mth.

There were a lot of questions so I'll have to go back n re read but really it depends in what you decide there's an app called baby bump and I think they have a online site there are lots of ppl from UK you might want to try that site to see if there are any Muslim women (who actually follow) that could give you better idea

[Marie1986]

I re read some and I had a private room so I never had an issue when it came to breastfeeding , but yes it is very common to see ppl BF in the hospital but usually ppl cover with blankets so you don't really notice .
Some ppl will look at you different because your wearing hijab but it's no
Different then any other place like a store ect.

The food I didn't get food from the hospital but they do have veg food , some have kosher and if your in Michigan they even have halal.
My mil made me food and my husband brought it but really I didn't have much of an appetite .
And it's not just Muslims that get food so it's not odd in any way.
And as far as birthing plans go don't expect it to go exactly as planned because labour is completely in predictable just have a general ideaif what you would like, and have back up plans . Like me I knew I wanted just females unless no other choice, i wanted epidural, I wanted no visitors except mil,SIL .
Also know if you don't want epidural there are other pain management meds and gas available.

One of the best feelings was doing the after birth ghusle I got up very shortly after giving birth to do this!

Do bring something cozy and easy to remove for after birth like the abayas that are open at the front or side ( instead of the over the head ones) even if you don't usually wear abaya changing and fussing with clothes every time you want to feed is a nightmare becausebthey feed any where between every hour to every two hours.
Do your self a favor and get lanolin cream and have it ready to apply after the first feeding this prevents cracking and bleeding which is EXTREMELY painful .