Archive for Natural Childbirth
Eat My Placenta? Ewwww!
Most people are initially grossed out at the mention of placenta eating, including my own husband. He’s heard me talk about it numerous times with my friends, and still shutters with an audible “ughhh” every time the subject comes up. Even I thought it was weird the first time I heard it mentioned, but as a woman who has suffered postpartum depression with both of my children, I only wish that someone had told me about it before I had my babies. Once you hear how and why it works, it seems like a much better alternative to anti-depressant drugs…especially once you realize it comes to you in the form of capsules taken just like you would any other pill. [...]
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Plan Your Hospital Birth
If you are going to have your baby in a hospital, you can greatly benefit from having a birth plan—especially if you’re planning a natural birth. In the article Eyes Open Childbirth, author Amy Scott says, “In a hospital, the possible interventions are numerous and it is wise to be aware of these methods, their usefulness, their risks, and in some cases, their misuse or overuse. It can be easy to forget that in most ways birth is reliable, and that in the case of most healthy women, it can be trusted to produce a healthy baby with no more intervention than encouraging words, soothing hands and watchful eyes.” The article goes on to describe all of the medical interventions and birth processes you should be aware of and educated about in case you have to make a game-day decision about what’s right for you. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you read it! [...]
New Study on Home Birth is Skewed
All of my birth-obsessed friends on Facebook have been buzzing about a recent home birth study published by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (AJOG). Everyone, including the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS), is outraged that the publishers of the study “accepted a poorly designed and methodologically unsound study in which authors concluded there is a 3-fold increase in neonatal mortality in planned home births compared with planned hospital birth.” You can read CIMS’s full response to the study on their website. [...]
A Labor and Delivery Nurse’s Views on VBAC
Nothing gets my ears perked up and my excitement stirred than chatting about birth. To be even more specific about what really gets my juices flowing are discussions surrounding VBAC births; vaginal birth after cesarean. It might make more sense to know that I am a labor and delivery nurse by trade and a mommy at heart. I get the pleasure of escorting new little souls into this life each and every shift and participate in someone’s best day and, unfortunately, sometimes their worst. I work at a Portland-area hospital and we see everything from the most natural, “normal,” labor and delivery patient to the most tragic, life-threatening situations; needless to say, it is a very special, very dynamic job and I am blessed to be a part of it. [...]
The Only Due Date Calculator You Need
I’m happy to have found a “due date” calculator that actually sets proper expectations for women. It gives you a safe range of dates in which you can expect your baby to be born and explains why our current cultural thinking around due dates isn’t helpful.
“One of the biggest obstacles to natural birth is misunderstanding your “due date.” A due date does not mean there is only one safe day for your baby to be born. It is meant to establish a range of time that your baby is mature and safe to be born. Because modern obstetrics narrows this to a specific day, unnecessary interventions, like inducing labor, come into practice.” [...]
Why Consider A Natural Birth?
I often think back to my first prenatal yoga classes when the teacher, who was also a doula (something I’d never heard of at the time), introduced the idea of natural birth. I guess I had always assumed that I would have my baby in the hospital, most likely under the spell of an epidural or other drugs that would make the experience entirely bearable. In fact, I don’t think anyone I personally knew had had a baby any other way, unless by accident. The only pregnancy book on my shelf at the time was “The Girlfriend’s Guide to Pregnancy” which, as funny as it is, would have me believe that one might die if she actually felt a single contraction or was made to “room-in” with her baby during the remainder of her hospital stay. Thank heavens for my prenatal yoga instructors! [...]
VBAC Less Risky Than Multiple C-Sections
The National Institute for Health issued a report this week titled, Vaginal Birth After Cesarean: New Insights. The report presents evidence to support the choice of a trial of labor (TOL) as a safe option for women who have had previous c-sections.
The conclusion of the report states, “Each year 1.5 million childbearing women have cesarean deliveries, and this population continues to increase. This report adds stronger evidence that VBAC is a reasonable and safe choice for the majority of women with prior cesarean. Moreover, there is emerging evidence of serious harms relating to multiple cesareans. Relatively unexamined contextual factors such as medical liability, economics, hospital structure, and staffing may need to be addressed to prioritize VBAC services. There is still no evidence to inform patients, clinicians, or policymakers about the outcomes of intended route of delivery because the evidence is based largely on the actual route of delivery. This inception cohort is the equivalent of intention to treat for randomized controlled trials and this gap in information is critical. A list of future research considerations as prioritized by national experts is also highlighted in this report.” [...]
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Getaway Retreat Weekend Class
Birth Journey Prep will be hosting a weekend retreat childbirth education class June 11–13 in Twin Lakes, ID. A full bed and breakfast package PLUS our complete childbirth course with Stephanie Nobles and Terri Young teaching. More information is below. You can sign up on the Birth Journey Prep website. [...]
Prenatal Pilates and Birth Education
I have been reminded, once again, how lucky we are here in Spokane to have so many passionate, smart, skilled and caring people working to educate and empower the women in our community! I recently met Elizabeth Jones, a local Pilates instructor and physical rehabilitation specialist who has focused much of her career on working with pregnant women. As we began talking, something Elizabeth said captured my attention. “Society has lost interconnectedness with families and with birth.” I was drawn to this statement because it encapsulates the core reason that so many of us (midwives, doulas, educators, etc.) do what we do. We are trying to reconnect women and families to the importance of birth in our lives. Elizabeth Jones does this by providing women a way to stay in good physical health while preparing their bodies and minds for birth. [...]
Deaconess Women’s Clinic: Part 2
In my recent interview with Catherine Shields, one of the certified nurse midwives at the Deaconess Women’s Clinic in Spokane, we talked about the things that make the clinic’s practice unique in our area—especially for women who wish to have a natural birth in the hospital. This article contains her answers to many of the questions that pregnant women should ask of their prenatal care providers. It also bears witness to the loving heart of a self-proclaimed “Old Midwife” who has seen it all and lives for the opportunity to guide mothers through the most important experience of their lives. [...]
