All About Meconium || Amniotic Fluid, Baby's First Poop & MORE!

In today video we chat all about meconium. Your baby's first poop sometimes happens before birth, also known as meconium stained fluids. We will go over the causes, signs for concern, meconium aspiration syndrome and what might happen in the hospital. We also talk about the norms for these sticky, black poops and what to expect for your baby's bowel movements for the first few days postpartum!
Did your baby have meconium-stained fluids? Did you find those diapers are tough to change as I did? Let's chat in the comments!
check out my instagram for more content: / nursezabe

[@laurenslengths]

My first pregnancy was unknown until 5 months! I was very unhealthy, I had no menstrual due to malnutrition and serious drug use. Changed my life during that pregnancy but once my daughter was born she was taken after MECONIUM results came in, I hadn't used anything in just over 4 months & her blood was "clean" not sure exactly why I'm sharing this but the first year of my daughter's life I dealt with child services and the benefits of jumping through the hoops to earn my rights to be a mother back were monumental for me andd truly made me value motherhood so much more..... Anywayy thanks for the video =)

[@Nurse_zabe]

I am so proud of you and I know your daughter is too. 💗

[@StephanieDouglassMusic]

I just had my baby girl last Tuesday! I got to the hospital and was laboring over a birth ball on the bed when my water *exploded* and there was definitely meconium in there. 😂 She was term at 39w5d so it was reassuring that her digestive tract was ready ☺️ She's a little redhead with red eyelashes, so cute 🥰

[@Nurse_zabe]

She sounds beautiful! Congrats! Enjoy some baby snuggles for me!

[@kelly1827]

Congratulations on your new daughter! Enjoy!!!

[@amymckenzie3101]

Yes i did, wish i would have know about swallowing the fluid and how that causes issues with pooping later....i love your videos so educational

[@Nurse_zabe]

💗💗

[@ryanelisabethharvey1242]

I’m learning so much!

[@Nurse_zabe]

Yay! 💗💗

[@jaylabrianna]

I’ve always heard about how bad it could be if baby swallows that first poop. Thank you for this information ❤

[@jaerena408]

It happened my second baby. He took a breath before he came out and swallowed the meconium. Had to be in NICU for 2 weeks.

[@Nurse_zabe]

Just an issue if they breath it in! 💗

[@maiaatkinsschalchlin2075]

My baby pooped in my hand while we were doing skin to skin. I was just so happy that she was here and healthy I hardly noticed it.

[@Nurse_zabe]

It wouldn’t be bad at all if it weren’t so dang sticky!

[@spunkey46]

Nasty. Slap a diaper on for God's sake

[@erinistheawesomest]

I was induced at 40 weeks due to cholestasis and when my waters were broken, it was very obvious that he'd been pooping away in there 😅 it was like green jelly 🤢 Thankfully when he was born, everything was absolutely fine and he had an apgar score of 9 so I'm sure he was just ready to come into the world! Thanks for the video, Elizabeth 😊

[@Nurse_zabe]

Actually cholestasis can cause earlier passage of meconium! High bile acid levels have been associated with increased risk of meconium stained amniotic fluid. I’m so glad baby did well!!

[@erinistheawesomest]

@@Nurse_zabe Oh I didn't know that! Thanks for letting me know! I'll keep that in mind for next time if I get cholestasis again.

[@lisagiannoumis3816]

My brother aspirated meconium during his birth in the 80s, he ended up in the NICU for a few days. My mom still talks about how much it scared her, but he's fine and he was the healthiest biggest one in the NICU apparently 🤷

[@Nurse_zabe]

It’s so scary!! I’m glad he’s doing ok.

[@crazymusicchick]

The midwife change my baby's 1st nappy as she was showing my husband how to change a nappy lol as I was bit out of it coz I had a c section and I had changed 7 million nappies before (I work as a childcare educator in a babies room ). My mum said I was in that small % that swallowed it on the way out.

[@addymiller5297]

Could you possibly do a video about biophysical profile monitoring or just have anything to share about it? I’m 34 weeks and have lupus and my dr just informed me today that starting at 36 weeks, he wants to start BPP and I’m quite anxious about it! Sorry for being off topic.

[@Nurse_zabe]

Not at all! I have a video on fetal monitoring that might explain biophysical profiles that might be a good place for you to start! I can also add this to my video list.

[@addymiller5297]

@@Nurse_zabe Thank you so so much!

[@kristina282k]

White poop in babies is also something to watch out for, might suggest some liver problems

[@Nurse_zabe]

Great point!

[@CarolineNotCarolynBoyd]

I had "pea soup" meconium stained fluid when I gave birth to my son. My midwife was like 80 years old and did all sorts of stuff like amnio infusion and deep suctioning. How common is that level of meconium staining in fluid and what does it typically indicate? Is it more dire than if it'd just been a little bit of staining? Am I more at risk for it the next time? I wasn't allowed to do a water birth because of it which was really disappointing and difficult for me.

[@Nurse_zabe]

Pea soup means thicker meconium which does put baby at a higher risk for Meconium aspiration syndrome or other issues. In the absence of any visible issues with the fetal heart rate tracing, it’s hard to know the cause beyond gut maturity, and I haven’t found any studies to support having meconium in one birth putting your at a higher risk next time. I am so sorry things had to pivot during your birth from what you had hoped for. How did baby do?

[@CarolineNotCarolynBoyd]

@@Nurse_zabe he was totally fine when he came out! I did kind of a quick jump from early labor with fairly inconsistent contractions to transitioning in maybe 2 or 3 hours and I'm wondering if it's possible that he was just overwhelmed and not tolerating the severity of them very well. I wish they'd helped me change positions to try to relieve any pressure that was causing him trouble instead of forcing me to stay still in a bed with the efm attached. They kept saying he seemed distressed but was fine he arrived

[@Chewberika]

Don’t know if there is any correlation but, with each subsequent birth my babies got through meconium faster.

[@Nurse_zabe]

Two things can play into this. Faster labors mean that babies will sometimes not get that big squeeze and swallow more amniotic fluid leading to lots of pooping in the first 24 hours. Second thing is that your milk tends to come in a bit earlier with subsequent babies so your newborns take in more volume!

[@jljerzyk]

Delivered my baby yesterday and he pooped as soon as he was out. 10 seconds later and he would have pooped on my chest haha

[@Nurse_zabe]

Glad he missed you 😅

[@Nurse_zabe]

And CONGRATS!!!