Common hospital routines
Here I will cover some of the most common hospital routines when it comes to giving birth in Sweden. If you are currently pregnant or plan to get pregnant and give birth in Sweden, then this is the post for you!
Firstly I want to remind you that healthcare is optional in Sweden and you are entitled, by law, to make informed decisions when dealing with health care. All health care in Sweden is offered to you and you can choose to opt out of some options if you so please.
If you come to hospital in labour I think most, if not all delivery wards in Sweden will want to check you with a CTG. This is a machine that checks the baby's heart rate as well as the frequency of the contractions. You will most probably be asked to lay down in a bed and be connected to the CTG machine. Some hospitals, but not all, will have cordless CTG monitors which can be helpful if you prefer to move around. This CTG monitoring will generally go on for 20-40 minutes.
Sometimes before or after the CTG monitoring the midwife will check the baby's position by feeling your abdomen on the outside. The midwife checks that the baby's head is down in the pelvis and the position the baby is in.
After the CTG monitoring, or in some cases during monitoring, a vaginal exam will be offered to you. With a vaginal exam the midwife checks the cervical position, length and what most people know is the dilation. The dilation will be between 0 and 10 centimeters and is used to determine how far along in labour the birthing person is. The midwife also checks things like the baby's position in the pelvis and if possible may check how the baby is rotating in the pelvis.
The midwife will also ask you questions like how long you have been in labor, if your membranes have been released, if you have any discharge and what it looks like and if you can feel your baby move as usual.
Depending on these exams there are different causes of action.
If the midwife determines you are not in active labor you may be suggested to return home with something called a “Sovdos”. These are medications that help you deal with the pain and relax, maybe sleep a little to save up energy for the active stage of labour. Which exact medications will be given in this “Sovdos” varies from hospital to hospital.
If the midwife determines you are in active labour you may be offered pain relief. Maybe you have a written a birth plan. Check my video on tips how to write a birth plan if you need tips!
If you have written a birth plan make sure to go through it with the midwife at this point. In it you may already have stated which pain relief you have planned to use and you can take it from there.
Depending if you are deemed to be a low, medium or high risk pregnancy the routines vary. For a low risk pregnancy the midwife will listen to the fetal heart rate regularly during active labour. This can be done with a CTG, a Fetal Doppler or a Pinards stethoscope. This is a way to ensure the baby is handling the birth well.
Fetal doppler och doptone to listen to baby’s heart rate
If you are deemed to be medium or high risk for some reason the hospital will have specific routines when it comes to how often they want to listen to the baby's heart rate and may prefer to do this via CTG. In these instances a doctor will also be involved in your care. You may not meet this doctor if everything continues without complication, but a doctor may still be involved in your care.
Midwives work together in a team with an assistant nurse or Undersköterska, and are the people you will primarily meet during birth. The staff work in shifts and during a 24hr period you may meet three different shifts of people. In most hospital the midwife and assistant nurse care for 2 and sometimes 3 birthing families at once.
I will post a blog post about what happens after baby is born in the coming weeks.
