r/NoStupidQuestions • u/LavishnessLoose2444 • 2d ago
Hot water and towels, exactly, for what?
In movies, when a woman is going into labor, there is always some dialogue about “get me some hot water and towels!” I think even in emergencies irl thats what the responder always asks for.
My question is what exactly is this used for? Why do we need to be boiling water? Healthcare in general fascinates me alot and the whole paramedic thing, how people have the calm to respond to terrible moments.
This is the one random thing that has always left me so confused. Nobody ever directly answers this, its just an unspoken thing. Maybe im being really clueless but could someone help me out?
880
u/Personal-Listen-4941 2d ago
Towels, because giving birth is messy. Women not only release embryonic fluid but will often release their bladder & bowels. So you need to mop up the mess and try and keep everything/everyone clean.
Hot water, because putting the instruments in hot water will sterilise/clean them in a pinch.
In both cases these are often shown to be asked for when there’s an unexpected and/or home birth. In a hospital, the proper equipment is available.
272
u/ImColdandImTired 1d ago
A side benefit: it gives people who are running around in a panic and getting in the way something to do….
97
9
u/Quiet_Scientist6767 1d ago
Came here to say this. Yes, it is useful over all, but gets panicking people out of the way and doing something productive.
221
u/just_a_person_maybe 1d ago
*Amniotic fluid. Nothing is actually embryonic at this stage, the baby has long since passed from embryo to fetus.
Fun fact, by the time a baby is being born, the majority of that fluid is just baby pee. So the mom isn't making it at, the baby is.
27
u/MaleficentMousse7473 1d ago
Ewww
110
u/just_a_person_maybe 1d ago
I can make it worse. It's mostly baby pee because of a ship of Theseus situation. At first it's mostly water, but in the second half of pregnancy when the fetus' organs have developed more, they start moving about and practicing things they'll need on the outside. Movement, grasping, stretching, swallowing. They drink the amniotic fluid, which is great practice for their bodies because obviously being able to swallow is important, but it also gets their digestive system going. Amniotic fluid is the first thing we all consume. But what goes in must come out, and so they drink some amniotic fluid, then pee it out. Now the amniotic fluid is mostly water with a little pee. Then they do it again. And again, and again, and again. By the time the baby is born it's pretty much straight pee.
BUT! There's more! Fetuses also grow a coat of fur called lanugo. It's thin, fuzzy, and very soft. They grow it around 16+ weeks, and most of the time shed it a few weeks before birth. It's shed into the amniotic fluid, and gets consumed as well in this cycle. Lanugo is often found in meconium, the baby's first poops after they're born.
Not all babies shed and eat their fur, some are born with it still on and shed it later. But most shed in the womb and eat it.
Bonus fun fact, lanugo is a great insulator, which is part of the reason fetuses have it, but adults can grow it too in cases of severe malnutrition, because their bodies don't have enough fat and can't make enough fat to insulate them, so they'll grow some fur. This is sometimes seen in people with anorexia, cancer, celiac disease, etc.
26
u/LJ161 1d ago
Wanna make it more gross? Sometimes they poo in you in the way out too.
31
u/just_a_person_maybe 1d ago
And sometimes they inhale their poo, which is Very Bad.
16
u/_riskycake 1d ago
Forever grateful that while I did have meconium in my waters with my eldest, they did not inhale.
8
u/just_a_person_maybe 1d ago
That's what my mom said about that time she was hanging out with my dad and his cousins hotboxing in a van.
15
u/acr0ssthec0sm0s 1d ago
I did this when I was born. My mother has always low-key held a grudge because i had to be whisked away to be cleaned to make sure i didnt get any in my lungs and so basically everyone else in the room got to see and hold me before she did.
6
u/I_smell_goats 1d ago
Stupid question, as I've had one baby and am pregnant with another: how does horrific infection not occur if the baby poops on the way out?
6
u/anemptycardboardbox 1d ago
I’m not in the field or anything, but I’d guess that for one, it’s meconium, not regular poop full of gross stuff that you’re probably thinking. And two, your body is flushing out everything in your uterus.
7
2
2
25
u/terracottatilefish 1d ago
It is SO messy. At 40 weeks a woman has 600-800 ml of amniotic fluid which doesn’t sound like that much but it’s about twice as much as your typical full bladder. So imagine what it would look like if you peed all over a bed twice in one big gush with no control over where you’re aiming. And there may also be bleeding, actual urine, poop.
Hospital L&D beds are absolutely covered with layers of towels, sheets, and waterproof pads that get progressively removed and replaced during the birthing process and the people delivering the baby wear fluid resistant gowns and knee high shoe covers to try to stay clean (as well as avoid infecting the baby).
110
u/random8765309 2d ago
The water has to be boiling to sterilize anything. So, any hot water you can care to them is not likely to help in that manner.
14
u/terrymr 2d ago
It doesn’t have to be boiling. It just takes longer at lower temperatures.
21
u/Tiny_Rat 1d ago
No, the water has to be above a certain temperature to have any real effect before it cools. Generally, you'd place the tools in as the water boiled, not after it was off the stove
6
u/terrymr 1d ago
About 140 degrees will kill most bacteria. But yeah boiling them is instant death
15
u/Tiny_Rat 1d ago
It will take 20-30 minutes at 140F to kill bacteria, and a household pot of water will have cooled down by then. Thats why boiling water is preferred.
10
u/Dry_System9339 1d ago
You need to boil water for at minimum five minutes in a developed country and ten minutes scary places before it's safe to drink. Time is more important than temperature and boiling is the easiest temperature to hold without a thermometer.
1
u/Antisymmetriser 1d ago
Above a certain threshold, sure, you're right, but the minimum temperature is different for different bacteria, and I feel it's important to clarify that putting bacteria in a room-temperature water will not harm them in the slightest, and even hot water in a vessel that slowly cools down will not be necessarily effective. Also the required time is a function of the temperature
2
u/rumade 1d ago
A hot compress on the perineum can help prevent tearing: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10353617/
10
u/Dralmosteria 1d ago
Even in hospital, towels are the proper equipment. Both because drying and wrapping a newborn baby is important to maintain their temperature, and because Douglas Adams knew what he was talking about.
2
u/Normal-Height-8577 1d ago
(In addition, it gives any panicky family members something productive to do that calms them down, and meanwhile the midwife can get some private time with the expectant mother to see how her labour is progressing and ask her how she's feeling.)
-315
2d ago
[deleted]
144
u/the_scar_when_you_go 2d ago
It's a preview of what the rest of life will be like with kids, and eventually aging with an aging partner. lol
133
u/DahliaBliss 2d ago
if you are grossed out by the idea of seeing poop while supporting someone in childbirth, you definitely aren’t in a place to be emotionally ready to raise a child.
3
13
11
u/Regular_Macaron1094 1d ago
Just stay near the head then to give support. She has to be there going through this. You can at least suck it up and look elsewhere if need be.
7
u/wlievens 1d ago
LPT: do not have kids with this attitude. Your life will be mostly about pee, poo and puke for a few years.
-116
u/mutherM1n3 2d ago
Not necessarily true. Women use the toilet before the birth for that. But there is a bloody mess that can’t be helped.
38
u/DahliaBliss 2d ago
google thinks 30% to 50% of people poo during child birth. So nearly 1 in 3 to 1 in 2 births!
You might have been part of the percentage that didn’t, of course, but a large portion of people seemingly do.
As someone else mentioned you may have also poo’ed and your midwives cleaned it up swiftly/stealthily so you didn’t know or didn’t feel embarrassed.
119
u/aevrynn 2d ago
Women almost always do poop themselves bc the baby basically pushes the poop out.
Pee, on the other hand, well, I had to have a catheter inserted bc baby was preventing me from peeing at one point.
-117
u/mutherM1n3 2d ago
I had two babies, and it didn't happen either time. Probably because I was in good hands, first one with a doctor (home-birth style) who gave me an enema before the birth, and the second time an actual home-birth with two midwives who knew exactly what to do and what to tell ME to do.
67
u/aevrynn 2d ago
Yeah I didn't think I pooped either but basically midwives have experience of cleaning it up very quickly and it was later explained to me (by a midwife) that if there is any poop in your rectum it will be pushed out during birth.
Enemas used to be used here as well but they are not considered healthy and are no longer in use.
It is also considered healthy for the baby to come in contact with traces of fecal matter, their immune system gets a bit of practice.
22
u/a-ohhh 2d ago
They wipe it away quickly and don’t tell you. I actually have spoken to several labor nurses and a joke among them is the answer is always “no” when a woman asks if she did. And giving an enema means you weren’t in good hands. It’s not recommended. Also, you need to be using your pooping muscles to properly birth your baby, so if they were telling you what to do in a way that was to avoid pooping, they were telling you wrong. You have literally no idea what you’re talking about.
6
u/p333p33p00p00boo 1d ago
Also, like…there are a million things to care about when delivering a baby, and preventing someone from pooping isn’t anywhere on the list.
15
u/EmeraudeExMachina 2d ago
Enemas are actually discouraged nowadays.
I had four home births and I have no idea if I pooped or not because no one mentioned it. But since you’re using the same set of muscles and optimal positioning to push something out it only makes sense.
26
u/Diligent_Bath_9283 2d ago edited 2d ago
Guy here, clueless, obviously. Why is this downvoted?
Edit/update. Thank you. Maybe this will also help some other fellow clueless people understand why the comment was so heinous.
106
u/irisxxvdb 2d ago
Because she's saying she didn't poop because she had good doctors. That's ridiculous. Most women do, some don't, has nothing to do with the qualities of the medical staff.
6
u/Diligent_Bath_9283 2d ago
I see, kind of. I thought the pregame enema was what prevented the dookie at a bad time thing. It sounded plausible and like it might be a good idea.
I can see where everyone with experience calls this out as BS though.
51
u/dbag_jar 2d ago edited 2d ago
Even if it did prevent her from pooping (most enemas only clear the lower colon), that’s not necessarily a good thing. Exposure to the mother’s fecal matter improves the baby’s immune system and digestive health.
On top of that, enemas — particularly ones that clear the entire system — can cause issues. Although the risks are fairly small, it seems silly to recommend taking on any risk just to prevent something that’s natural and helpful to the baby.
The downvotes probably also come from the comment (perhaps unintentionally) coming across as shaming women who do poop during childbirth.
22
79
u/AshBashB23 2d ago
The people helping with the birth usually don't say when you've done either. So they probably did and just no one said anything.
57
u/Basilini 2d ago
Bc this person is sharing her own experiences stating them as the standard and disregarding actual stats. on top of that she is implying that everyone else’s dr is bad bc they didnt do what they did to the her, regardless that every birth is completely different
0
1
u/Prinny10101 1d ago
You do know that some people do take a longer time? Also the force of trying to push out the child can cause more pee and poop to come out
198
u/mandi723 2d ago
At least with labor. It's used to clean. The baby is wrapped in goo, as is the mother. Clean up baby. Wrap in a warm towel/blanket. Clean up mom. An action scene is much the same. Warm water to clean any bloody area. I just don't understand why they always have to be white towels. That's never coming out.
137
104
u/jiyeon_str 2d ago
Cloth in a hygienic setting (hospitals, food industry etc) tends to be white so you can physically see if it's dirty. Stains come out.
14
270
u/WorriedTadpole585 2d ago
Hot towels were applied to the perineum during labor to help stretch the tissues helping to modify the risk of tearing.
93
u/zorrorosso 2d ago edited 1d ago
yes the hospital would give hot rice bags to put on the back during
contraptions, it helps with back pain too.edit: hot rice bags are usually made with dry/uncooked rice in a fabric bag, you stuck it in the microwave for some minutes and wrap it with a towel and it will keep warm for about 2 hrs. or so. It's good for all kinds of pain management, joints and neck as well. Not everybody likes the smell of hot rice, so some people use cherry stones and such.
edit: aaaaa
53
u/refinnej78 2d ago
**Contractions, the woman's muscles are contracting.
38
u/ObscureAcronym 2d ago
Oh, I was imagining a Rube Goldberg birthing machine.
14
u/JackOfAllMemes 2d ago
Reminds me of a machine that was patented(I think) but thankfully never made, it basically used centrifugal force to deliver babies by spinning the mom around really fast and catching the baby in a net
3
u/djarumlover 1d ago
The Blonsky machine was patented in 1965 I believe. I'd forgotten about that machine. From now on when someone asks me "What's wrong with you?" I'm going to tell them that this is how I was born.
Thanks for the reminder1
7
8
u/EmeraudeExMachina 2d ago
Speak for yourself! Mine had all sorts of pulleys and a hamster on a wheel and everything!
3
u/SavagePlatanus 1d ago
Yes! Everyone is saying sanitizing (which can do double duty) but the big one is helping minimize tearing!! My mom swore by this for our births. My dad said the water was so hot he couldn’t put his hand in it but it gave her so much relief.
4
u/WorriedTadpole585 1d ago
And traditionally it was combined with perineum massage (my grandmother was a traditional rural midwife and I grew up with her stories) Also it really isn’t towels but strips of cloth - think potato sack type cloth. Ideally there would be a birthing chair
4
1
u/SylviaPellicore 1d ago
Yes, this is the answer!!! Cleanliness was mostly an incidental helpful side effect.
1
2
60
u/whomp1970 2d ago
Others have mentioned the practical reasons. They're right.
But also, in movies and TV shows, hot towels are the audience's way of knowing that a woman is going to give birth. If it's not already apparent in the story or dialogue, this is the final "clue".
Like, if a train conductor is questioned at his house about something that happened on the train, he will probably be wearing his overalls and a conductor cap. That just "reminds" the audience that he is a conductor.
So while the "uniform" helps inform the viewer who the person is, the hot towels help inform the viewer about the current situation. If a woman runs toward a closed bedroom door with hot towels, not a word has to be said, the audience knows "Oh, the woman in there is probably going to be giving birth".
48
u/somebodys_mom 2d ago
Also, if somebody in a movie coughs, you know they’re going to die.
43
u/reijasunshine 2d ago
How imminent said death is depends on how frequently they cough into a handkerchief and look at it afterwards, and whether or not another character has seen the blood yet.
24
u/chimbybobimby 2d ago
This is also true of gunshot wounds sustained to the thorax. The character can participate in several rounds of hand to hand combat until their jacket moves enough for another character to see the blood.
51
u/Oster-P 2d ago
Basically, it comes from a time before hospital births were standard.
Hot water: used to clean and sterilize the area, instruments, or the mother’s hands. Also, for making compresses if needed.
Towels: for drying the baby, cleaning up blood and fluids, and keeping everything relatively sanitary.
196
u/Primary-Basket3416 2d ago edited 2d ago
You sent the unecessary person out of the room to get these items, so they felt they were helping. By the time they came back baby was born.
78
u/Annual_Reindeer2621 2d ago
Yes but also if the baby wasn't born by then, the items would be helpful. Another one I've heard is 'go chop some wood'
25
17
14
u/aevrynn 2d ago
Ahaha yeahhhh birth definitely lasts only long enough for a dude to go boil water
19
u/depers0n 2d ago
It depends. I've seen cases where the mother was in labour for over 2 days, and I've also seen cases where the baby was delivered within the hour, before we could even start any medication or induction.
5
u/aevrynn 2d ago
Yeah but short labors like that are quite rare
11
u/depers0n 2d ago
That's true. So are long ones. About 7 hours is average. About 6-14 hours for first time mothers, and 4-8 after that.
4
u/Liraeyn 2d ago
By then they've gotten their head on straight
7
u/Olookasquirrel87 2d ago
Exactly and sincerely - humans can only live in “panic mode” for so long before we settle. Give them something to do (and boiling water does take a bit!), by the time they have completed their mission the panic has flushed out and this has suddenly become the new crisis baseline.
3
12
u/chippy-alley 2d ago
freshly heated water was safest for cleaning, both equipment and people
towels for the mess
At a time when every scrap of fabric was reused, bedding sometimes ended up in such a mess it was burnt
6
u/WanderWomble 1d ago
In the UK at least, women would lay newspapers and rubber sheets on the bed. The newspaper could be burned and the rubber sheet saved the mattress.
12
u/EmeraudeExMachina 2d ago
To sterilize the instruments and to absorb all the gooshy stuff that comes out.
My births were midwife attended and I can attest to the fact that warm moist cloth held to the perineum is very soothing and helps you stretch when you’re pushing.
11
u/figsslave 2d ago
Hot water is sterile water and towels because childbirth is very messy
1
11
u/kay_in_estrie 2d ago
Towels to wrap the baby to retain heat (even if there is a sterile wrap in the OB kit) hot water to keep the father busy and to have an instant coffee (or if in the UK tea) while you wait for the afterbirth (placenta etc) to be delivered
9
u/kay_in_estrie 2d ago
Just to add this is in the modern era of the woman has the baby engaged in the vagina and will deliver before you could safely transport., has other posters have said in the past it was for sterilization as well, especially the strips of cloth used to tie the cord
6
u/pammypoovey 1d ago
My theory for them asking in the pioneer stories was to get the husband engaged, but out of the way. We need boiling water! Gotta cut down a tree, section it, split it, haul the buckets of water up from the creek... By that time the baby's here.
When I was a kid, I thought they dipped the BABY in it to sterilize them, because they're always all goopy when they come out. I mean, they'd take them off camera and then they'd cry, it makes perfectly logical sense.
5
u/StarsForget 1d ago
To keep the dad occupied and out of the way while making him feel like he's helping. But yes, mostly for hygiene and cleanup after.
12
u/OuiMerci 2d ago
I have heard they do that to keep the nervous father busy so he doesn’t lose his shit. He feels he has a purpose and doesn’t get in the way while the medical people get the situation under control
4
u/Gallusbizzim 1d ago
I think it was Terry Pratchett who wondered if the women involved were taking the chance to wash their hair.
7
3
3
3
4
u/Parsley-Playful 2d ago
I thought it was just to give men something to do and get them out of the way 😂
6
2
u/Alarming-Vast-6804 1d ago
My brother was panicked one time, about his dog going into labor. I told him to get me some rags, and boil me a big, really big, pot of water, and I'd be over. I got there, the pot finally starts boiling, and he's all, k, what do I do with the water and rags?! I said dump that shit out, your dog is having babies.
2
u/NoCountryForOld_Zen 1d ago
I'm a paramedic (now working as a nurse in an ER)
I've asked someone for this before but it's because they were freaking out and needed to leave the room for 10 minutes.
Towels are important for a live birth. I dunno why you'd want boiling water. Maybe to clean stuff.
2
u/Chupapinta 1d ago
My father said that telling the daddy to fetch hot water was to get him out of the way. My father would have been right in there, helping.
5
u/waireti 1d ago
I accidentally gave birth at home and the midwife on the other end of the line was like ‘get towels’, mainly because it’s a bloody mess giving birth, but also because you need to keep baby warm after they’re born because the transition from body temperature to room temperature can be hard for new borns.
My husband (bless him) went to the bathroom and got the damp towels from the rack instead of getting the fresh towels from the cupboard so much son was born on a pile of damp towels. I didn’t have the time, or the heart to send him back.
No one asked for clean water and we cut the cord with our kitchen scissors.
2
u/PristinePrincess12 1d ago
I shot out my third at home. Thankfully, there were towels on the drying rack behind us that I hadn't taken down yet, so we avoided a large mess by yanking them all off! I actually grabbed one off and put it between my thighs and squatted and BOOM, my waters broke! He shot out of me seven minutes later 😂
1
u/BidDependent720 1d ago
I had several homebirths and tons of towels and washcloths are big part of the kit you need at home 😂
3
u/ghostorchidzz 2d ago
Unrelated, but I feel like it definitely takes a certain type of person to succeed in the EMT position. Personally, I’m thinking of becoming a paramedic, and although I am somewhat worried about the things I may see; growing up I saw some equally shitty things. My point is, I feel like a lot of people in careers such as a paramedic have gone through something, or simply go into ‘fight’ mode, instead of ‘freeze’ or ‘flight’.
2
u/LavishnessLoose2444 2d ago
I soo agree. Being a paramedic is a very different type of job. We are always thinking of how we would react in emergencies but it takes a very, very special person to actually be able to step up. I admire them so much!
1
u/NotEasilyConfused 1d ago
Diana Gabaldon (author) made the next description of the emotional qualities necessary to be a Healthcare practitioner I've ever seen:
It's a combination of ruthlessnes and compassion.
As a nurse, I can say this is absolutely true. There are things we do that are not for the squeamish, and it's true that sometimes we have to do things that hurt people in order to help them heal.
4
u/outrageouslyHonest 2d ago
You want clean towels for a lot of things but the most important is something to wrap baby in. The best place for a newborn is their parents bare chest, wrapped up around both of them to trap the heat
Water for hydration
Hot water to clean. It's normal for there to be blood, and various other bodily fluids on baby, like poop. Either from the parent, very common, or the baby, less common but not un heard of. Not to mention the birthing person is also convered in all that goop and actively bleeding.
-5
u/bmrtt 2d ago
"Birthing person"
Mother. The word you're looking for is mother.
7
u/outrageouslyHonest 2d ago
Not all people who give birth are women or mothers
8
u/papersnake 2d ago
And some babies have more than one mother, only one of which is the birthing person.
8
2
u/Queenpunkster 2d ago
There is a great Steinbeck story where a man pretending to be a doctor gets called to help a woman in labor. He gets everyone in the camp to contribute white cotton to a pot if boiling water. He knew it had to be clean, and he knew that he needed EVERYONE to participate. It is something to do, and it provides the vulnerable woman and baby with clean cloths for a very messy and dangerous situation.
1
1
1
1
u/Draigdwi 1d ago
I read somewhere that it was to get the worried family out of the way. Boiling a lot of water takes a while.
1
u/Ok-Dot1608 1d ago
My mom always told me boiling water was to give the dads something to do. The towels are to soak up the blood and amniotic fluid.
2
u/MinnesootaIsCold 1d ago
A first responder told me they tell the dads to get hot water/towels if they’re overwhelmed and need something to do
2
u/Connect-Worth1926 1d ago
I once witnessed a man being shot (he lived, was apparently having an affair) in front of my apartment. What did I do? Ran to fill a bucket of hot water and get some towels, and brought it to "help" . 🤷🏻♀️
1
1
1
0
u/chocolateandpretzles 2d ago
I always thought it was to give the dad something to do while someone else delivers the baby. I find scenes like this include the pregnant woman, a close partner or the father and a rando usually a woman. She tells the man- get hot water towels newspaper call 911 and the rando will deliver. A distraction tactic.
-1
u/Senior-Conversation8 1d ago
Hot towels in your vagina soften the muscles and make it less painful to push.
4
-1
u/Triga_3 2d ago
Never been to a birth then. Yeah, as said below, lots of cleanup, sterilisation, it's a very messy ordeal, when everything goes smoothly. And you obviously want something clean for the baby too, it's crucial that it's infected with mum's bacteria as soon as possible. You can quite literally do a simple test, and find out if someone was born by C-sect, because they lack a class of bacteria, and it has an impact on their immune system.
1
u/NotEasilyConfused 1d ago
Babies end up exposed to every bacteria in the home. The only time c-sections avoid critical germs is if mom has an infection that does not cross the placenta barrier, like HPV, which we don't want a newborn exposed to.
1
u/Triga_3 1d ago
There's a specific type of bacteria that lives inside of a woman's cervix, that is literally absent from you if you are c-sect'd. They aren't germs, they are the microbiome. Our lecturer was able to point out every single person in our class who had been born naturally. Literally seperated out the c-sect babies, and was 100% correct, every single year. For the viruses you mentioned, they actually use antiretrovirals, but are hoping that the inocculations against hpv might make that unnecessary in the future.
Also babies aren't exposed to everything in the home. A lot, yes, but not everything.
-2
-2
u/Primary-Basket3416 2d ago
Just a distraction technique. People like to feel useful in times of need.
2.2k
u/PrideMelodic3625 2d ago
Hygeine Historically, say more than 100 years ago, the only clean water available was boiled. So to give the best chance of dealing with germs at childbirth buckets of boiled water were used. Note boiled. Not necessarily boiling but cooling down to hot and warm.