It’s said that when a recommendation to stop doing something that doesn’t support physiologic birth (or even to start doing physiologically supportive things), it can take 20 years. For instance, there are recommendations and studies published that advise clinicians to stop routine suctioning of the newborn, even in the presence of meconium. Yet, time and agin, nurses are suctioning babies and offen trigger the vagel response which depresses respirations andd heart rrate for up to 20 minutes.
While you might not be able to advocate for this to not happen while you are pushing your baby out, your partner and I can. Dicuss this with your care providers should you want to decline this procedure, and put that in your birth preferences. I have not come across a graphic icon for this, so it will need to be written in.
You can utilize the following links in your discussions with your care providers if needed.
Suctioning neonates at birth: Time to change our approach - Neumann, Mounsey and Das, MDs
Evolution of Delivery Room Management for Meconium-Stained Infants - Chabra, Shilpi MD
The Curse of Meconium Stained Liquor - by Dr Rachel Reed of Midwife Thinking
Building evidence for practice: a pilot study of newborn bulb suctioning at birth - Waltman Brewers, Rodgers, May
Even in a healthy baby that is born by cesarean there are no benefits to routine suctioning.