I almost have enough births under my belt to be a certified toLabor doula! This is pretty exciting.
In addition to being a birth doula, I'm expanding my reportoire of trainings. In October I'll be attending a Childbirth Educator training. In November I'll be attending a Postpartum Doula training. This is all big, big, big for me. This will open up new opportunities for me and for my clients.
As a Childbirth Educator I'll be able to inform women on birthing choices more indepthly than I can now. I'll be able to teach, something I love doing, and give women the tools to help their birthing process be a more comfortable one. As a Postpartum Doula, I'll be available to my doula clients for extended periods after birthing their babies. I'll also be available to mamas who I was not a doula for.
I have this dream in my head: providing personalized childbirth education to doula clients with postpartum care afterwards. This can provide women with a very personalized experience.
I can hope and dream, right?
Showing posts with label Birthing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Birthing. Show all posts
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Homebirth
I am attending my first homebirth next month. I can't even explain how excited I am. And nervous. I referred a client to a midwife friend of mine. We've never worked together and she's a seasoned doula and midwife. Comfortable and intimidating. It's already a different experience than with a hospital birth.
I've attended the client's visits with the midwife. I've listened to the sound of the heartbeat and the placenta with a fetoscope...YES, they make two different sounds. Very cool.
The appointments with a midwife take about an hour, depending on the depth of questions a patient might have or the concerns a midwife has. Some appointments are at the client's home. Others are held at the midwife's home office. We have tea and sit on comfy couches.
My client is hoping to have a water birth, or at least labor in a tub. It's cute...she has a kiddie pool
for it. If you've never contemplated a homebirth, or a laboring/birthing tub, here are some questions and answers you might have.How do you get the water in the tub? Attach a hose to the kitchen/bathroom sink, washing machine or shower. You'd probably want to buy a hose specifically for this, like this
one, not using your potentially yucky garden hose. If you need to use your garden hose, I'd recommend cleaning it out with a strong vinegar solution with hot water or a bleach and water solution, rinsing very thoroughly. Regular garden hoses also might have chemicals or metals inside that may leech out. You should read the package before buying. Also, you'd need a hose-to-sink adapter, like this
one or this
one.How do you get the water out of the tub? A sump pump
. How will we keep the water warm? Remember those episodes of Little House on the Prairie where hot water was brought to the tub via a pot that had been boiled? Yes. Add hot water to the existing water. Please don't add boiling water to the tub while mama is sitting in it...or if it's necessary, don't burn the woman. You can add a pool thermometer
to make sure that the temp stays around 100%, so it does not keep mama too hot or cold. Please keep all children and pets away from the pool when filled.
You might also want to do a dry run to make sure that everything works. You don't want to be taking things out of packages while mama is in labor, waiting to take a dip, only to find out the adapter doesn't fit, there's a hole in the pool or the pump is faulty.
I am not a midwife, or a doctor, so please discuss and review with your midwife.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Importance of Birth Preferences
I can't stress enough how important it is to have in mind your birth preferences and to relay them to your midwife, OB or whatever other birth attendants you plan to have. Additionally, it is important to find out the rules and regulations at the hospital or birthing center you'll be birthing at, if you so choose to birth at one.
Recently, I read a very disturbing article. A laboring woman in New Jersey walked into a hospital, with a 50% cesarean section rate, and refused to sign the consent form many hospitals present their laboring mamas with. The consent gives the hospital a right to perform any interventions necessary, including intravenous drip, antibiotics, fetal monitoring and a cesarean section. I remember signing this consent at all three hospitals I gave birth at, without a second thought. I've watched mamas do it. This woman denied these interventions and refused to consent. However, she was not opposed to signing the consent if the time came where she would need to. She wanted to be able to assess the situation at hand and then decide. Sure, why not? After she gave birth, the hospital and child protective services took her baby. That was three years ago. She and her husband still have not seen their baby. They have been battling it out in courts during this time. Read the above-mentioned article and this one for more information. Here is the site for the National Advocates for Pregnant Women.
I honestly couldn't believe what I was reading while I was reading it. I could see doctor's freaking out and calling social services in. But I can't really understand why this became a three-year battle. I can't understand why it was even an issue. If hospitals are going to take your children away from you if you don't sign the consent, then why have a consent form? Shouldn't it just be law that they can do whatever they want and you have no right to your own body? (that was sarcasm, if you couldn't tell) I have a hard time swallowing that social services came in and thought it was a good idea to take this newborn baby away from the parents because they exercised their personal rights.
After absorbing all this information, I felt it absolutely necessary to remind mamas to make sure that they know their rights and to express them to their birth attendants, as often as you deem necessary.
Happy birthing!
Recently, I read a very disturbing article. A laboring woman in New Jersey walked into a hospital, with a 50% cesarean section rate, and refused to sign the consent form many hospitals present their laboring mamas with. The consent gives the hospital a right to perform any interventions necessary, including intravenous drip, antibiotics, fetal monitoring and a cesarean section. I remember signing this consent at all three hospitals I gave birth at, without a second thought. I've watched mamas do it. This woman denied these interventions and refused to consent. However, she was not opposed to signing the consent if the time came where she would need to. She wanted to be able to assess the situation at hand and then decide. Sure, why not? After she gave birth, the hospital and child protective services took her baby. That was three years ago. She and her husband still have not seen their baby. They have been battling it out in courts during this time. Read the above-mentioned article and this one for more information. Here is the site for the National Advocates for Pregnant Women.
I honestly couldn't believe what I was reading while I was reading it. I could see doctor's freaking out and calling social services in. But I can't really understand why this became a three-year battle. I can't understand why it was even an issue. If hospitals are going to take your children away from you if you don't sign the consent, then why have a consent form? Shouldn't it just be law that they can do whatever they want and you have no right to your own body? (that was sarcasm, if you couldn't tell) I have a hard time swallowing that social services came in and thought it was a good idea to take this newborn baby away from the parents because they exercised their personal rights.
After absorbing all this information, I felt it absolutely necessary to remind mamas to make sure that they know their rights and to express them to their birth attendants, as often as you deem necessary.
Happy birthing!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Birth Preferences
You might know this as a Birth Plan. However, as a wise woman once told me, "birth never goes along with the plan, so it should be called 'birth preferences'."
Having birth preferences is not a necessity, however, they can be helpful in an hurried situation. Your partner or doula would benefit to know that you do not want narcotics and would remind you of that if a nurse should offer you some while you're writhing in pain. Writing them down alongside your birth partner is also a way to get the conversation flowing about what is anticipated. Many men simply show up to the birth of their child not really knowing what their partner wants or needs.
One client wanted music for her labor and birth. The couple were all set up with their iPod's and docking stations. The husband even drove home to get the dock. In the end, she couldn't have cared less. I remember asking her if she wanted the music turned up and she said, "No, just turn it off."
Things to think about when deciding on birth preferences:
Having birth preferences is not a necessity, however, they can be helpful in an hurried situation. Your partner or doula would benefit to know that you do not want narcotics and would remind you of that if a nurse should offer you some while you're writhing in pain. Writing them down alongside your birth partner is also a way to get the conversation flowing about what is anticipated. Many men simply show up to the birth of their child not really knowing what their partner wants or needs.
One client wanted music for her labor and birth. The couple were all set up with their iPod's and docking stations. The husband even drove home to get the dock. In the end, she couldn't have cared less. I remember asking her if she wanted the music turned up and she said, "No, just turn it off."
Things to think about when deciding on birth preferences:
- Music - would you like music? What do you think you would you like to hear?
- Lights - dim, bright
- Smell - aromatherapy
- Sight - a focal picture, a familiar item from home (if in a hospital setting) like a blanket or your child's favorite toy (if you have another child)
- Taste - I know a mama who ate Pop Rocks while in labor. It took her mind off the pain for moments at a time.
- Who is going to cut the cord? Delayed cord clamping?
- Will the cord blood be saved or donated? (Some hospitals, like Milford Regional Medical Center do not have a donation program there, but will follow a donation bank's procedures to procure the blood. Then a courier from the donation program will come and collect the blood. And it's FREE.)
- Would you like to utilize a birthing ball or laboring tub, provided the hospital has them?
- Do you want to be monitored continuously with the fetal monitor?
- Do you want pitocin or for your water bag to be broken if it has not already done so?
- Would you like narcotics or an epidural?
- Do you want to wear your own nightgown or a hosptial johnny?
Childbirth Class Options
 |
| Sitting on the Birthing Ball |
Online - About.com offers a childbirth education class given by Robin Elise Weiss, LCCE. There are six online classes. It's all reading, with a few interactive things like polls and other links...
There are plenty of pictures, charts and graphs. And it's free.
Givingbirthnaturally.com also offers a do-it-yourself approach to childbirth education. For $50 (Paypal accepting) they will send you the following:
- The Core Curriculum
- Your Birthing Workbook
- The Language of Childbirth Vocabulary Pack
- 24/7 Access to StudyWomb™ (an Online Natural Child Birth Education Classroom)
- One-Click Email Support
The Bradley Method - This method focuses on exercise, nutrition and deep breathing. The Bradley Method teaches a way to give birth naturally to those women who are experiencing a complication free pregnancy.
12-week course with an extensive curriculum. Important to have a partner in order to be successful in this method.
The Alexander Technique - "In this the Alexander Technique can be of enormous help: we can teach the woman how to cope with labour pain rather than wishing to eliminate it. Through inhibition and direction (these are both Alexander Technique teaching terms) we can stop our habitual reaction to pain. Instead of flexing, tensing and pulling our heads back and down (followed by other symptoms of panic attack) we can consciously and voluntary undo the involuntary muscle tension. We can learn to exercise conscious control over our posture and movement. This, in turn, gives us an indirect conscious way of affecting the hormonal balance."
Hypnobirthing - "HypnoBirthing® - The Mongan Method - is a unique method of relaxed, natural childbirth education, enhanced by self-hypnosis techniques. HypnoBirthing® provides the missing link that allows women to use their natural instincts to bring about a safer, easier, more comfortable birthing. Emphasis is placed on pregnancy and childbirth, as well as on pre-birth parenting and the consciousness of the pre-born baby. As a birthing method, HypnoBirthing® is as new as tomorrow and as old as ancient times. It is presented in a series of five, 2 1/2-hour classes."
Birthing From Within - This method focuses on lifestyle and family. It embraces birth as a "rite of passage and not a medical event". Their philosophy encourages creativity and individuality - "Parents deserve support for any birth option which might be right for them (whether it be drugs, cesarean, home birth, or bottle-feeding)."
Birth Works - "Birth Works is a process...not a method. We believe that each woman will labor and birth in her own way. There is no one right way to give birth. Our childbirth classes honor each woman's wholeness and individuality and encourage integration of the mind, body, and spirit through the practice of human values." They strive to empower and build confidence.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Birth is Hard, Birth is Easy
Birth is one of the most natural things in the world. For the most part, birth is safer today than it has ever been in this country.
Every woman has a different birthing experience. Some birth quickly and seemingly painlessly. Others labor long and hard and push long and hard. There is no right or wrong, weak or strong way to birth a baby. Your body was created to birth your baby in the way it was meant to birth, be it a 2-hour labor, a 10-hour labor or a 36-hour labor. Your baby will be birthed one way or another, have faith in that.
Here are a couple of excerpts that I found interesting:
Birth in India: One Chosen Perspective
by Diane Smith
© 2002 Midwifery Today, Inc. All rights reserved.
Veronica was another story altogether. I was giving a workshop in Bihar, truly the underbelly of India. It is the most corrupt, degraded, impoverished state in the country while once being the cradle of education and birthplace of the Buddha. I was working in a protected nunnery with Sister Pilar, who is famous in the region for her tireless work with women. Veronica, her given Catholic name, came to us in the early morning wanting to deliver there with us. She was maybe five feet tall, skinny as a whip from malnutrition, standing on the tiniest feet, with a hemoglobin of perhaps five and signs of a UTI with a slight fever. She was eight centimeters dilated, in active labour with her second child on the way. It would be an incredibly hot day and she didn't want to travel to a facility that might better serve her with all these risks presenting. We had the clinic next door for antibiotics and basic emergency equipment. It seemed safer to keep her than send her on a five-hour journey in the heat, in a rickshaw on roads that couldn't really be called roads, to a hospital that might not actually serve her. Our heroism and the use of antibiotics began!
There was myself, my translator, a visiting healer from France and Sister Pilar. Veronica began to push around 9 a.m. with a full bladder and after using peppermint vapours, mud packs, ginger compresses and soaking her hands in warm water, I realized only a catheter that would empty her bladder. The one from the clinic was of a huge diameter and it took two hours to find one in Gomia that would fit. At noon I drained her bladder with great satisfaction watching urine the color of dark tea exit. She carried on pushing, continuing to try many different positions.Through mid-afternoon there continued to be slow, slow progression. Baby was fine. By 4:30 I wasn't as happy with the heart tones and our energy was beginning to deplete in comparison to hers. After a few contractions of bradychardia I insisted that nearly eight hours of pushing was enough and now we had to have the baby out. She was supported in a standing squat, her legs lifted up in a standing McRoberts—if you can imagine—and she pushed like hell to deliver her son. He was born flat and came round slowly with stimulation. His survival is nearly another story altogether but I believe he was kept in this world by the skilled hands and energy work of the woman from France. He appeared to be hovering in and out of a convulsive state, though stabilized by the healing work that was going on continuously. I began my wait for the placenta.
This took another eight hours in total. It was by now nightfall and any travel was completely out of the question. Bihar is littered with dacoits and Naxolites (bandits and freedom fighters). Nobody goes far from home at night, and brutalities in the dark are common. There was no option for transport after we began to wait. The local female physician was out of town. We waited. Though Veronica's uterus was firm, and there was no bleeding, as the hours wore on her heart rate and respirations escalated. She would only smile at us, and that was my only consolation things were okay. Her anxious family was otherwise. Custom in Bihar is to reach up inside the uterus immediately after the birth and tear the placenta out for fear it will rise up in the body and create bleeding. The bleeding and death that result from aggressive removal doesn't seem to relate to the action in the minds of the people. I was being accused of not having taken it out fast enough by a very angry mother. I attempted a manual removal after a couple of hours and felt it falling to pieces in my hand, and thought it better to just wait. I tried again after four hours to find it still more stuck and forgiving of its place on the uterine wall. We put out a call for the returning doctor to come to us in the aid of a more aggressive removal. She replied she would if she first knew who was the dai and who was the family. If either were of importance and this young woman died, her life would be in danger. We weren't, I guess.
Veronica's vitals were wildly out of normal range and her smile continued into the wee hours. It felt eerie at times. Was this some strange symptom of shock? I asked the French healer whose hands were round the clock on the unstable infant, "Tell me, is she going to make it?" She placed her skilled hands on Veronica's head for some time and confidently answered. "Yes." I, in all confidence, replied with "Good!" And this exchange felt completely relevant and positive in the face of those eight hours of pushing and a retained placenta, being with this young very compromised woman and uncertain baby. We waited, monitored her vitals, and as we were about ready to make another attempt, the physician walked in. I remember her elegance in her sari compared to our sodden clothes, and our drawn and sweaty faces after the marathon. She walked, grabbed a used glove, blew it inside out, made no introductions, plunged her hand inside Veronica and pulled out a measly, mealy placenta, told me I could have done that and left. I never thought I could have, having met the resistance I did as it seemed to fall apart in my hand. I wondered if the time was just right for plucking that fruit or if it was actually a more aggressive maneuver than I knew. The baby breastfed, Veronica had a nap, her vitals returned to normal and we took turns napping. At sunrise I returned to find her dressed and wanting to go home now, "Please." I insisted she have breakfast and we observe her up and about a bit. She complied. I have a photo of this young girl looking over her shoulder at me as she was leaving. The look on her face was one of primitive gratitude. Our minds never met, but our hearts did as she placed full trust in us while her family raged outside the hut door. I was never directly offered the sweets that came with the mother the next day because I was still being held in blame for not taking the placenta out. After months and a return visit apparently the baby boy is fine, and life goes on in Bihar for Veronica and her family.
02 February 2010 01:31
Gisele Bundchen - Bundchen: 'Birth Was Pain-Free'
Supermodel GISELE BUNDCHEN has become the unofficial spokeswoman for water births after revealing her own delivery could not have been more pain free.
The Brazilian beauty gave birth to little Benjamin last month (Dec09) and opted for an unconventional birth in a bid to ease the pain - and it worked.
She says, "I wanted to have a home birth. I wanted to be very aware and present during the birth... I didn't want to be drugged up. So I did a lot of preparation, I did yoga and meditation, so I managed to have a very tranquil birth at home.
"It didn't hurt in the slightest. The whole time my mind was focused in each contraction on the thought, 'My baby is closer to coming out’. It wasn’t like, 'This is so painful’. So I transformed that intense feeling into a hope of seeing him."
And Bundchen is full of love for her newborn - her first child with American football star Tom Brady.
She adds, "It's wonderful. Never in my life I thought I could love like this (sic). You hear people talking about it, but you don't know until it happens to you. I couldn't be happier."
Every woman has a different birthing experience. Some birth quickly and seemingly painlessly. Others labor long and hard and push long and hard. There is no right or wrong, weak or strong way to birth a baby. Your body was created to birth your baby in the way it was meant to birth, be it a 2-hour labor, a 10-hour labor or a 36-hour labor. Your baby will be birthed one way or another, have faith in that.
Here are a couple of excerpts that I found interesting:
Birth in India: One Chosen Perspective
by Diane Smith
© 2002 Midwifery Today, Inc. All rights reserved.
Veronica was another story altogether. I was giving a workshop in Bihar, truly the underbelly of India. It is the most corrupt, degraded, impoverished state in the country while once being the cradle of education and birthplace of the Buddha. I was working in a protected nunnery with Sister Pilar, who is famous in the region for her tireless work with women. Veronica, her given Catholic name, came to us in the early morning wanting to deliver there with us. She was maybe five feet tall, skinny as a whip from malnutrition, standing on the tiniest feet, with a hemoglobin of perhaps five and signs of a UTI with a slight fever. She was eight centimeters dilated, in active labour with her second child on the way. It would be an incredibly hot day and she didn't want to travel to a facility that might better serve her with all these risks presenting. We had the clinic next door for antibiotics and basic emergency equipment. It seemed safer to keep her than send her on a five-hour journey in the heat, in a rickshaw on roads that couldn't really be called roads, to a hospital that might not actually serve her. Our heroism and the use of antibiotics began!
There was myself, my translator, a visiting healer from France and Sister Pilar. Veronica began to push around 9 a.m. with a full bladder and after using peppermint vapours, mud packs, ginger compresses and soaking her hands in warm water, I realized only a catheter that would empty her bladder. The one from the clinic was of a huge diameter and it took two hours to find one in Gomia that would fit. At noon I drained her bladder with great satisfaction watching urine the color of dark tea exit. She carried on pushing, continuing to try many different positions.Through mid-afternoon there continued to be slow, slow progression. Baby was fine. By 4:30 I wasn't as happy with the heart tones and our energy was beginning to deplete in comparison to hers. After a few contractions of bradychardia I insisted that nearly eight hours of pushing was enough and now we had to have the baby out. She was supported in a standing squat, her legs lifted up in a standing McRoberts—if you can imagine—and she pushed like hell to deliver her son. He was born flat and came round slowly with stimulation. His survival is nearly another story altogether but I believe he was kept in this world by the skilled hands and energy work of the woman from France. He appeared to be hovering in and out of a convulsive state, though stabilized by the healing work that was going on continuously. I began my wait for the placenta.
This took another eight hours in total. It was by now nightfall and any travel was completely out of the question. Bihar is littered with dacoits and Naxolites (bandits and freedom fighters). Nobody goes far from home at night, and brutalities in the dark are common. There was no option for transport after we began to wait. The local female physician was out of town. We waited. Though Veronica's uterus was firm, and there was no bleeding, as the hours wore on her heart rate and respirations escalated. She would only smile at us, and that was my only consolation things were okay. Her anxious family was otherwise. Custom in Bihar is to reach up inside the uterus immediately after the birth and tear the placenta out for fear it will rise up in the body and create bleeding. The bleeding and death that result from aggressive removal doesn't seem to relate to the action in the minds of the people. I was being accused of not having taken it out fast enough by a very angry mother. I attempted a manual removal after a couple of hours and felt it falling to pieces in my hand, and thought it better to just wait. I tried again after four hours to find it still more stuck and forgiving of its place on the uterine wall. We put out a call for the returning doctor to come to us in the aid of a more aggressive removal. She replied she would if she first knew who was the dai and who was the family. If either were of importance and this young woman died, her life would be in danger. We weren't, I guess.
Veronica's vitals were wildly out of normal range and her smile continued into the wee hours. It felt eerie at times. Was this some strange symptom of shock? I asked the French healer whose hands were round the clock on the unstable infant, "Tell me, is she going to make it?" She placed her skilled hands on Veronica's head for some time and confidently answered. "Yes." I, in all confidence, replied with "Good!" And this exchange felt completely relevant and positive in the face of those eight hours of pushing and a retained placenta, being with this young very compromised woman and uncertain baby. We waited, monitored her vitals, and as we were about ready to make another attempt, the physician walked in. I remember her elegance in her sari compared to our sodden clothes, and our drawn and sweaty faces after the marathon. She walked, grabbed a used glove, blew it inside out, made no introductions, plunged her hand inside Veronica and pulled out a measly, mealy placenta, told me I could have done that and left. I never thought I could have, having met the resistance I did as it seemed to fall apart in my hand. I wondered if the time was just right for plucking that fruit or if it was actually a more aggressive maneuver than I knew. The baby breastfed, Veronica had a nap, her vitals returned to normal and we took turns napping. At sunrise I returned to find her dressed and wanting to go home now, "Please." I insisted she have breakfast and we observe her up and about a bit. She complied. I have a photo of this young girl looking over her shoulder at me as she was leaving. The look on her face was one of primitive gratitude. Our minds never met, but our hearts did as she placed full trust in us while her family raged outside the hut door. I was never directly offered the sweets that came with the mother the next day because I was still being held in blame for not taking the placenta out. After months and a return visit apparently the baby boy is fine, and life goes on in Bihar for Veronica and her family.
02 February 2010 01:31
Gisele Bundchen - Bundchen: 'Birth Was Pain-Free'
Supermodel GISELE BUNDCHEN has become the unofficial spokeswoman for water births after revealing her own delivery could not have been more pain free.
The Brazilian beauty gave birth to little Benjamin last month (Dec09) and opted for an unconventional birth in a bid to ease the pain - and it worked.
She says, "I wanted to have a home birth. I wanted to be very aware and present during the birth... I didn't want to be drugged up. So I did a lot of preparation, I did yoga and meditation, so I managed to have a very tranquil birth at home.
"It didn't hurt in the slightest. The whole time my mind was focused in each contraction on the thought, 'My baby is closer to coming out’. It wasn’t like, 'This is so painful’. So I transformed that intense feeling into a hope of seeing him."
And Bundchen is full of love for her newborn - her first child with American football star Tom Brady.
She adds, "It's wonderful. Never in my life I thought I could love like this (sic). You hear people talking about it, but you don't know until it happens to you. I couldn't be happier."
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