Thursday, November 19, 2009

Birth Plans

A Birth Plan - How do you plan a birth?

A birth plan is actually an outline of your expectations provided by you to the healthcare professionals who will attend you during your labor and who will attend your infant after birth. Birth plans should be simple and straight forward and are easier for the healthcare providers to follow when kept to one page. It is a good idea to put together a birth plan for your doctor or midwife and a different plan for the nurses at the hospital. Your doctor or midwife should put your birth plan in his/her records, and discuss it with you throughout your visits with him/her; and the nurses plan can be given to the nursing staff when you pre-register at the birth center.

“There are too many unknowns, too many variables, to make predictions about how exactly your labor will go. Women can’t possibly know whether they’re going to have a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am six-hour labor or a grueling forty-hour labor affair with relentless back pain. The long menu of unknowns facing each woman at the end of her pregnancy makes planning ludicrous.” (Peggy Vincent, Baby Catcher)

It is important to note that birth is not some sort of family event that can be “planned” down to the last detail; there are too many variables and unknown factors. A woman can not know whether she is going to have a wild two hour precipitous labor or a long 32 hour marathon. Some women think that a birth plan is a description of their ideal birth, the birth they want. This type of planning most often leads to disappointed expectations. As a doula I have learned that when it’s over and done with there isn’t a mom who isn’t surprised by some part of her labor or birth, no matter how many times she does it. In fact I think the more babies a woman has the more she approaches labor with the nervous realization that she doesn’t know what to expect.

Having your baby your way is mainly a matter of putting together the right ingredients and trusting the recipe to turn out as it should, 95% of the time it will. The birth plan is one of those ingredients.

Labor and Birth:
· I expect to have a labor free of drugs and medical interventions.
· I expect the nursing staff to be respectful of me by not offering drugs as pain relief, but rather physical and emotional support would be appreciated.
· I expect that I will have freedom of movement during my labor and that my time on the EFM will be minimal.
· I will be accompanied in labor by my husband, mother, sister, and doula.
· I expect to use many different labor positions and request the use of the birth ball and birth stool during my labor.
· I expect to use a warm bath as a coping measure during active labor and transition.
· I expect to be free to choose which position I am in when I deliver my baby.

Post-partum:

· I expect to hold my baby after birth for as long as I like free of interruptions.
· I expect there to be minimal staff in the room during and after delivery and that those who are there respect my family by keeping the mood quiet and peaceful.
· I expect the lights to be dim when the baby is born.
· The baby care can wait for several hours while I and my family become acquainted with our new baby.

Friday, October 16, 2009

A Water Birth Story

The Gentlest of Gentle Births

Savannah’s birth was beyond anything I ever thought birthing a baby could be. She was born in a warm tub of pure water, about the most gentle and serine way possible. You might cringe at the thought of a baby being born in a tub, but actually it is very safe and much gentler on the mother and baby.


How did all this come about? Well, it started with my first child. He was born at home with my midwife, Liz. But I was not as educated, as I should have been, and when it was all over; there were some things I wanted to change. First, I wanted the pushing stage of labor to be as short as possible without any pressure, burning sensation, or tearing. I wanted to have more energy so I would be able to be in charge and in control birthing my baby.

So, I started reading some books. “Gentle Birth Choices” by Barbara Harper made the biggest difference for me; it opened my eyes to water birth. The more I read and thought about it the more I wanted to try it. So, needless to say, when I got pregnant with Savannah, I was thrilled to give it a try.

I went into labor about an hour after my regular weekly check up, where Liz had determined that I was dilated to a five. My labor was very irregular, so I questioned if I was really in labor or not. After about two hours I knew. My contractions got very close and I had to work hard to stay relaxed. During those two hours I had been in the tub, but chose to get out because I needed to have more movement to help my labor progress. But for the last 30 minutes or so I got back in, allowing the warm water and it’s buoyancy to reduce the pain.


 At this point my contractions were very close and I think I was going through transition. I still thought I had a long time to go because just an hour before my midwife had checked me and I was only at a 6. It’s at this stage of labor that I think most women begin to doubt weather or not there going to make it, transition is a very difficult part of labor. This was no exception for me, I began to doubt weather I would be able to make it, I was wrong, within 30 minutes of getting in the tub my midwife came over to check the baby’s heart rate.

 She looked at me a little strange and asked to check me. She just smiled and said your baby’s here. What? She was right, I reached down and just an inch or so up the birth canal was my baby’s head. All I had to do was push her out, but I felt no urge to push. (I think being in the water eliminated my urge to push, because it is a very low gravity environment, and there isn’t any real pressure on the perineum.) Liz helped me by applying pressure on the perineum and in one easy push Savannah slipped into the warm water of the tub, water that had been her home for 9 months. I birthed her myself; gentling gliding her through the water till she surfaced and I laid her next to my breast. It was wonderful. I had never dreamed I could have such a lovely labor and delivery.


Water birth is truly the most gentle of gentle births; the water creates a comfortable holding environment for the mother and a warm, safe, and familiar environment for the baby. Everything I had read proved to be true in my case, and I am so happy to have been able to experience labor in this way. I hope that through my experience other women will choose this kind of a birth. My experience goes to show that there are options for having easier birth the natural way.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Natural Birth Ingredients

In order to have good natural birth experience there are many factors that must come together in harmony to make it possible in today's hospital environment. The best place to start is by educating yourself, most women today know very little about the differences between a truly natural labor and birth, and the standard medical labor that doctors often portray as natural. Having your baby your way is mainly a matter of putting together the right ingredients and trusting the recipe to turn out as it should, 95% of the time it will.

Below are the ingredients you will need to make a good natural childbirth, collecting these ingredients and putting them into practice is the best way to get the birth of your choice. Once you have put these ingredients together just sit back and relax, there is no use worrying about things that are out of your control.

Ingredient 1: Belief and Confidence:



Belief... in your ability to give birth to your baby in your own unique way, trusting in your body's ability to give birth, tuned in to your intuitive sense, an inner wisdom that guides you.

“Many women’s early conditioning makes them believe they are unable to give birth normally, when women realize that their bodies know how to give birth and that their babies know how to be born, they gain confidence. Only then is gentle birth a possibility” Gentle Birth Choices, by Barbara Harper.

Confidence... that birth is a normal and natural process and that your body was designed to safely deliver your baby into your waiting arms. Confidence that birth is not inherently dangerous, anymore than being pregnant, sleeping, or eating is.

“Women’s bodies have a near-perfect knowledge of childbirth; it is when their brains get involved that things can go wrong. Women must have confidence in the intrinsic intelligence of their own body in order to find their own unique ways of dealing with labor.” Gentle Birth Choices, by Barbara Harper.

Ingredient 2: Labor Support




Besides your own belief and confidence in your self you need only a guide, a calm and experienced woman, who can help the struggling you “along the rocky paths of Laborland.” Your labor support must be calm, reassuring and most of all you need to be surrounded by people who trust in your ability to give birth. When you are surrounded by confident and calm labor support you will be able to trust yourself, your body, your partner, your baby, and this process of giving birth.

Ingredient 3: No Time Constraints

“A gentle birth is not rushed. The baby emerges at its own pace and in its own time, received into the hands of those who love and recognize it for the divine gift that it is. A gentle birth respects the mother’s pivotal role, acknowledging that she knows how to birth her child in her own time and in her own way, trusting her instincts and intuition. In the words of one such mother, “I instinctively trusted my body and its ability to birth my baby. I just knew I could do it. I felt the energy of the birth moving through me, and I just let it happen. I was so incredible.” Gentle Birth Choices, by Barbara Harper

Ingredient 4: Reassuring Environment



Most of the circumstances of a natural labor and birth are up to fate. Creating the right birth environment is up to you. Give birth surrounded by peace of mind and comfort. Here are a few ways to create a peaceful and reassuring birth environment–

Quiet…in a quiet distraction-free environment a woman is able to stay centered within herself, and more likely to shift into a more instinctive level of concentration or consciousness that will enable her to labor spontaneously. Ideally a baby is best welcomed into a quiet place, a safe place, an environment free from bright lights and jarring loud noises.

Freedom to Move…the worst possible position for laboring and giving birth is the lying-down position. Dr. Roberto Caldeyro-Barcia, has stated: “Except for being hanged by the feet, the suspine position is the worst conceivable position for labor and delivery.” Movement during labor gives a woman control of her body, and removes her from being a patient upon whom birth is performed and empowers her to become a women giving birth. 

Relaxation...A women’s ability to remain relaxed and maintain her sense of humor is the best predictor of a positive birth experience, even if there are difficulties. It’s important to keep an open mind as to how the birth will actually proceed. Flexibility is essential, because in some cases medical intervention may be necessary.

Concentration...A women in labor shifts into a deeper level of concentration; she removes herself from concepts of time. In the words of one such mother...

“During each contraction I concentrated on relaxing every mussel in my body, I breathed deeply. I went deep down and listened to my body, I did whatever felt comfortable. I labored for many more hours than my memory can account for. I was in such a deep concentration most of the time that I wasn’t aware of what was going on around me. I can’t remember much about what was going on around me during those times of concentration, but I know that the room was dark and quiet, and very peaceful. I felt the comforting presence of my husband and mother. I was lost in the magic of birth. I didn’t fight the contractions instead I welcome them as the source and power that would bring my baby into my waiting arms.” ~ Natural Birth Mom

Gentle Babies

How Gentle Birth’s make “Gentle Babies” 

Dr. John Grover commented, “I noticed immediately that babies born in this peaceful, twilight atmosphere seemed calmer and more alert than those I had delivered in the past. After awhile the nursery nurses began to comment, ‘Ah, you’ve brought us another gentle birth baby!’ Without having to point out the fact. When I asked them how they could tell, the reply was ‘Oh, most babies are either asleep or crying most of the time; yours look about more, they seem to follow us with their eyes.’”

· The First Breath…The first breath can be gradual or abruptly painful, depending on when the umbilical cord is cut. By keeping the newborn attached to the umbilical cord while it is still pulsating, the transition to breathing with the lungs is gradual and gentle. The baby moves from being breathed for to breathing alone.


· Bonding…The newly emerged baby is immediately placed on the mother’s waiting arms, receiving immediate skin-to-skin contact with mom. Newborns of non-medicated, awake mothers are significantly more responsive at delivery. If free from medication the newborn’s first response after birth is to move into a quiet but alert state of consciousness.

· Breastfeeding…Breastfeeding contributes to a baby’s emotional life as well as its health and well being, but it can also increase the mother’s sense of well-being and give her an immediate sense of her ability to mother. Skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding for at least the first hour after birth has many benefits including increased milk supply, helping to stop bleeding, and most importantly welcomes the newborn child into a peaceful and loving environment, and lays the groundwork for becoming a deeply bonded family.


Natural Birth and the Family

The Psychological Effect of Natural Childbirth

The Effect on the Mother




Years after having a child, women remember if they felt in control or out of control when giving birth; if they were treated respectfully and felt validated; if they felt ignored, put down, or inadequate; or if they felt deprived of choices. They remember each negative or positive word spoken to them. A negative experience can cause wounds that sometimes never heal.

Many women and most young girls think of birth as an illness that is bloody, sickening, and painful. Most women do not learn of the wonder and mystery and sweaty, intense power of birth, they don’t learn of the physical, emotional, and spiritual connection that is possible when women let go of their fear-based desire to disassociate from their bodies. Natural birth as described is very beneficial to the mother. As a woman this experience has the power to leave her feeling empowered by her own strength with a heightened sense of self worth. As a mother this experience has the power to lend confidence in her ability to care for and bond to her child.

It is important to note that women who do not or can not labor naturally will not love their babies less, any good loving mother can and will bond to her infant, but there is a measured advantage to birth naturally.

“My birth had been the most self-empowering experience of my life. I loved my labor, believe me, I loved it. It was the hardest work I have ever done, but the greatest satisfaction came out of that work. It was everything I had hoped for and more, so much more. I hope that every woman will dig deep down into her body and pull from it the power to birth her child by the sweat of their own brow, that she will not insist upon the mind-body separation of drugs and cheat herself out of this self discovery called birth.” ~ Natural Birth Mom

The Effect on the Father



Father’s who witness the power of birth as it is displayed in its natural form often feel a heightened sense of pride, and honor for the mother of their children. These natural birth fathers sense the wonder and power of the mother of their child as she labors to bring their baby into their waiting arms, by being apart of this significant life experience the father becomes deeply bonded to his wife and baby.

This feeling of pride and gratitude for the mother follows the father into his role husband, in the words of a natural birth mom, “for the first few weeks after the baby was born my husband looked at me different than before, he was almost giddy with excitement as he recounted to friends and relatives our family birth experience. I felt so loved and appreciated as he would boast about how awesome I was through it all.”

Studies have shown that men who participate in the pregnancy and birth of their children feel greater ties of responsibility for the welfare of their infant. They sense the helplessness of the baby, and view their primary responsibility as protector, and provider for their child.

Effect on the Baby



Babies seem to come prepared to meet their parents. Their mothers are extremely familiar to the infant at the moment of birth, her smell, her touch, her voice, are all familiar to an infant of only a few second old. Most babies also recognize the voice of their father and are curious to look at and interact with both of their parents.

Natural birth helps to facilitate this important bonding time because it usually results in the baby and mother having more energy to interact with one another. Natural birth moms generally have an endorphin high after giving birth that last for several hours, the same period of time that un-medicated infants are in their awake and alert state. This time of heightened senses and excitement is enhanced by the experience and elation of having passed through labor and birth naturally.

Birth and Family Bonding



It is important to state that what takes place during and shortly after the birth of a child may be the starting point for building the foundations of secure attachment and independence between children and their parents, but it is not the only component of bonding. The thrill of starting off successfully certainly can enhance one’s expectations about being a parent. But it is not the only source of energy that creates attachment.

Even parents who have lacked early contact with their infants after birth generally become bonded to their babies. Human beings are highly adaptable, and there are many routes to attachment. Some see the experience of birth as the most influential moment of life for the baby and the mother, and often for the father. Although birth is highly significant, it is not an isolated experience, a number of factors, converge to shape these few hours and determine their influence on the development of the family.

A Natural Birth Story

My Search For Birth Wisdom
And Our Family Centered Birth Experience


When you find knowledge in life that lightens your life in some way the natural impulse is to share it with others so they might experience the joy as well. The birth of our first son was the most powerful experience of my life. I hope that my experience will help teach those of you who will be having families throughout the coming years. This birth story starts long before I went into labor. I was pregnant while my husband and I where going through a job change and had no medical insurance. Out of necessity more than anything I went to a lay midwife for prenatal care. At the time we were unsure if we would have insurance to pay for the birth of our baby, especially with how expensive hospital birth is, this lead us to look for other options.

My sister, who was also pregnant and without medical insurance, was using a midwife for the home birth of her child, She was an inspiration to me of sorts, I thought at first that she was crazy to have her baby at home; she assured me it was safe. It was because of this that I began to ask the question “if home birth is safe, than why do we have hospital birth?” I started to research the history of obstetrics, and how the modern way of birth fits into the old fashioned way. I read everything I could get my hands on books written by conventional doctors, and books written by midwives. It was a search for answers about our modern way of birth. I found the knowledge that empowered me with the ability to make some educated decisions about what kind of birth I wanted.

All that I knew at the time about labor and birth was what I had seen portrayed on TV and talked about very briefly about by my mother. I just could not imagine having birth like that. Lying on a delivery table or even in bed on my back, screaming at my husband "you did this to me!” As I read my first book about pregnancy and birth, written by a conventional medical doctor, I read terms I had never heard before, procedures done routinely in hospitals that I had not known were even part of birth. Terms like episiotomy, epidural, forceps, and vacuum extractor. I remember sitting in my mother’s living room reading this book when I came across the part about episiotomies, my eyes popped out of my head and I said to my mom, “They don’t really do this do they? To every women?” My Aunt and my mother confirmed that with all of their births they had had an episiotomy. I laugh at my ignorance then, I don’t know exactly what I thought birth was like, I just assumed I’d have a baby the way nature intended, whatever that was. I couldn’t understand why birth so complicated?

My midwife gave me a book to read entitled A Midwifes Pregnancy and Childbirth Book: Having Your Baby Your Way (McCartney & Van Der Meer). This book talked about labor more as I hoped it would be. I was most relieved of course when I read that episiotomies were not necessary, as are most of the procedures done in hospital birth. I began to envision how I wanted my labor to go, I wanted to do it natural without all of the medical interventions that are so routine in hospitals. I began to understand why my sister was having a home birth, and why a home birth may indeed be safer. It only made sense to me that we must have the ability as women to labor naturally; after all, women have been doing it for centuries without epidurals. The more I learned about natural childbirth the more convinced I became that there was no other way for me.

As I studied I felt the truth of what these women were saying, deep down I felt a great excitement for my own opportunity to labor, and bring this long awaited baby into the world. I wanted the birth of our first child to strengthen our marriage and bring us closer as a family. I read enough to know that birth by its very definition is not a medical condition. I learned about the birthing methods of midwifery that make it possible to cope with labor pain without drugs, even experience birth pleasantly. Reading about labor eliminated some false impressions, and medical myths. For instance the necessity of having a baby in the hospital, and that all labor is horribly painful. I read a complete history of Midwifery and Obstetrics in order to better understand why we have hospital birth. And although I came to believe that home birth is not dangerous, I also came to appreciate the safety we have gained because of modern medical knowledge.

When my husband and I moved to South Dakota I was eight months pregnant. As I contemplated having a home birth I learned that lay midwifery is illegal in most states, lay midwives who attend home births in South Dakota can be prosecuted for practicing medicine without a license. We decided we did not want to involve someone else in an illegal activity. I found that our community had two hospitals, with birth centers. I toured both hospitals and to my surprise and satisfaction they had comfortable and homey birthing suites, and wonderful nursing staffs. There was still one very important missing link to getting everything I wanted; I couldn’t find the right caregiver. When I first asked if there were any CNM’s in the area the nurses at the hospital told me no. I just asked anyone I could who they thought was a good doctor. I visited with a few doctors that made my toes curl and one unparticular who told me, after I presented my birth philosophy to him, that he had no doubt that once I was in labor I would be begging for drugs, as all women do.

I was becoming concerned I wouldn’t find a doctor with the right philosophy about birth. I had decided on a doctor when I got a call one day from a woman who said “Some of the nurses at the hospital told me you were looking for a Midwife.” She then began to explain that she was a midwife who had just graduated from a midwifery school; she asked if I was still interested and I said “Of course”. She was a blessing to our family, she was essential to us achieving our birth goals, and I could not have been more grateful. She was a constant labor support for me throughout my labor and birth, along with my husband and mother. Not one moment two late I had put together the ingredients for the birth of my choice, and I only had a month until I would deliver

My midwife, Lisa gave me a book to read called Gentle Birth Choices: A Guide to Making Informed decisions, written by Barbara Harper, R.N. This book touched and inspired me the way no other book had it was a book about the power and spirituality of birth. She writes of having gentle birth, what a wonderful word, gentle. "A gentle birth begins by focusing on the mother's experience and by bringing together a women's emotional dimensions and her physical and spiritual needs. A gentle birth respects the mother's pivotal role, acknowledging that she knows how to birth her child in her own time and in her own way, trusting her instincts and intuition. In turn when a mother gives birth gently, she and everyone present acknowledge that the baby is a conscious participant in his or her own birth. The experience empowers the birthing women, welcomes the newborn child into a peaceful and loving environment, and bonds the family."

The words of her book spoke to my soul, and I knew that what she spoke of was the way it was meant to be from the beginning. To take away from a women the opportunity for her to do this sacred work by the sweat of her own brow, is to deny her the greatest joy and fulfillment in her life’s purpose. The words of Barbara Harpers book solidified my confidence to trust myself; it was because of this book that I wasn’t nervous going into labor. I just knew I was prepared, I had the confidence to trust myself, and birth from within. My midwife told me to just keep an open mind, “no labor is a book labor” she said, she was right. My water broke in early labor before my labor really got going. It was five o’clock in the morning, I screamed when I turned the light on in the bathroom and it looked like there was blood everywhere. My mother woke to my screams and came quickly into the bathroom, she calmly said, “it’s your water, it broke.” “But why is it red?”

Because the fluid was red with blood I went into the hospital right away. One of the doctors in Lisa’s office did an ultra sound because the blood in the fluid was a concern to them. They saw no obstructions, but wanted me to stay in the hospital just in case there was a problem they couldn’t see. So I ended up at the hospital a lot sooner than I needed to be. Lisa was patient and we just waited while my labor got going. Kevin and I walked and walked the halls trying to get my contractions to intensify. For eight hours my labor just wasn’t doing anything. I kept thinking, “I want to go home, I’m here to soon, my body isn’t ready to be in labor”, but one of the downsides of hospitals is that procedures wouldn’t permit me to leave because my water had broke.

About one o’clock that afternoon Lisa talked to me about using pitocin (artificial induction or augmentation drug) to get the labor going. I was not happy about that suggestion, I told her everything I’d learned about pitocin, and all of the other interventions that using it would lead too. I told her I would not let pitocin ruin my chance of having the labor I wanted. She told me she knew what I was talking about, but she assured me she would not use it as most doctors do. She told me she would start the dosage out very small, and increase it very slowly. She promised me that I would still be able to walk around, bath, shower, and do what I wanted. She said that she would watch the pitocin closely, and hopefully once the labor got going a little more we wouldn’t need it anymore because my hormones would kick in. With quite a bit of discussion and persuasion I agreed to try it. I believe Lisa managed the use of the drug very prudently because to me the contractions seemed to progress at a natural pace, and in a few hours or so I was making encouraging progress. I remember feeling happy that my contractions were getting stronger and that I was dilating. I was glad that the contractions were finally more difficult for me. I knew that harder contractions meant we were closer to having a baby. There was a defining moment in the steady increase of intensity, when I told my husband to turn off the TV, I needed it quiet to concentrate and it was at this point that we got down to the business of having a baby.

I didn’t try any of those distraction methods to cope with my contractions; I didn’t want to focus on something outside of myself. During each contraction I would concentrate on every little mussel in my body, I would start in my forehead and go down to my toes telling myself to relax this place or that. When the contractions got more difficult Lisa helped me with this relaxation technique. I breathed deeply, none of that pattern breathing, I just made sure I was breathing steady. I did just what Barbara Harper had written about, I went deep down and listened to my body, I did whatever felt comfortable. What I don’t remember about those many hours I labored tells me the most about my labor, it wasn’t like I was passed out or anything, but I labored for many more hours than my memory can account for. I was in such a deep concentration most of the time that I wasn’t aware of what was going on around me. I would flow in and out of this state, I think at times I was in another place, and yet I was right there, and then the contractions would intensify and I would come out of myself seeking comfort from someone nearby. We would try a new position and then I would relax back into concentrating through the contractions. I can’t remember much about what was going on around me during those times of concentration, but I know that the room was dark and quiet, and very peaceful. I felt the comforting presence of my husband and mother. I was lost in the magic of birth. When I would feel myself loosing my control I would say to myself don’t fight the contractions welcome them as the source and power that would bring my baby into my waiting arms.

When position changes and concentration didn’t work and I wasn’t coping with the pain, I went into the bath. The water was the best pain relief, in the water my whole body could relax and I didn’t have to concentrate so much to get it that way. I remember the first time I was in the tub, I was laughing and talking with my mom and Lisa. I felt very clam and relaxed in the water, it was interesting how my legs and arms floated in the water totally relaxed as my very large belly contracted into a hard round ball. I could feel my contractions, but the pressure was centralized in my abdomen and I didn’t have pain seeping into my legs, back, and shoulders as it did out of the water. When I got out of the bath I felt refreshed, I was a new women. After awhile of working through my labor in the hands and knees position and rocking in the rocking chair, I decided to get back into the bath were it wasn’t so much work.

The second time in the bath it didn’t relax me nearly as much as before, after a while I began to quiver and moan. Lisa came in and I was on the verge of tears, in my mind I was thinking if the pain is this bad in the water, I don’t know if I can do it anymore, for a fleeting second I thought what if I need drugs, but then I pushed the thought away and cried out to Lisa and my mom “I can’t do this anymore!” Their presence and reassurance was enough to give me the strength to get out of the tub. As I stood up and leaned on my mom I felt this tremendous feeling, and I said to her “something's happening...SOMETHINGS HAPPENING.” As I walked to the bed I felt the urge to push, and Lisa said go ahead Steph just push if you feel like it.

When I felt the urge to push it was like a tidal wave, a powerful force that I had no control over. I was actually relieved to be able to push with the contractions, to grunt through them, that to me was much easier than having to concentrate on relaxing my whole body through a contraction. With the pushing I didn’t have to relax and my mind shifted from the pain to feeling my baby pass into this life. I felt this feeling of success like I had done it and I knew it wouldn’t be long before I had my baby. I pushed and pushed clenched in my mother’s arms. My mother was this great strength to me; it was as if her strength came into my body through her arms that enfolded around me. I didn’t know how long I had been pushing, but I was getting tired, Lisa said “Stephanie reach down and touch your babies head,” at first I thought “No…How Gross” and then almost in the same moment I said to myself “Yes, he’s there” as I felt the top of his head, it was soft and warm, and I could tell I was so close. My husband said later that after I touched his head I became wonder women and just gave a really big push and pushed his head out.

When Teddy was placed on my tummy I looked down at him and the joy that filled my heart cannot even be expressed. I just said, “he’s so beautiful, he’s so beautiful” through the tears. I really couldn’t believe how beautiful he was, he had a perfect complexion, he had no blood or mucus on him he was white and smooth and round. He had a huge head and I remember the nurses being surprised that I had pushed such a big head out without an episiotomy and very little tearing. The birth had been one of the most incredible spiritual experience of my life, I was filled with pure love for my perfect, beautiful baby boy. It was truly the most empowering moment when I realized that I had done it, that I was strong enough. I did have the ability to birth my child in a gentle, natural way.

So when I say I loved my labor, believe me, I loved it. It was the hardest work I have ever done, but the greatest satisfaction came out of that work. It was everything I had hoped for and more, so much more. It was everything I had imagined it would be and everything I hadn’t imagined it would be. It was through those incredible feelings that my passion was fueled. Ever sense my focus has been to help other women have the confidence in there own inner wisdom, the intuition to make their births, their own. I know that the reason my labor was as wonderful as it was, was because I was prepared. It takes so many things to come together in harmony to be able to labor in that truly unique way. I want to help women to educate themselves, prepare their minds and bodies, and seek out the right labor support. I want each woman to bring her children into this life in love and peace, and by the power of her own body. I hope that every woman will have this powerful, life changing experience called natural birth.

The birth story of Stephanie Morgan, written by Stephanie.

Labor Support

The Doula’s Labor Role


“It is an age-old scenario, women helping women give birth. It was intended that way, every woman should have another woman at her side helping her, loving her, and supporting her through labor.” (Mothering the Mother) Doulas are trained to provide continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to you and your partner before, during and after childbirth.

The Feminine Connection during Labor

The doula also offers the "female" connection, a same-sex empathy much like the identification men have with other men in a time of crisis - like soldiers on a battlefield. They assist you during labor with relaxation, breathing, message, verbal encouragement and other comfort measures. They also work with your partner, encouraging his involvement and creating an atmosphere of teamwork and trust.

The feminine connection during labor is powerful, in the words of a natural birth mom, “My husband’s presence was very important to me, but mostly I wanted the women. I was standing at my bedside surrounded by my sister, my aunt, my mom, and my midwife. I snatched brief glimpses of the knowledgeable loving women I had come to love and trust. Mom rubbed my calves. Stephanie stood at my side, and with each contraction I pushed my face against her cheek and rubbed, rubbed, rubbed. Tammy rested her hands on my shoulders, whispering words of encouragement. I pushed standing at the bedside, leaning into the wall of women, sure wherever I flung myself, they would support me.”

This connection between women during labor can leave a husband feeling left out, after all birth is women’s work, and there are times that he feels useless. If he understands that this female connection feeds his wife’s strength to bring their child into the world, he can comfortably watch the incredible intuition of women working together to accomplish a miracle.

Father’s
The Father’s Labor Support Role


The doula does not and can not replace the father in his essential role in the labor and birth of his baby, and the comfort and welfare of his wife. This is most evident in the adverse effects women who labor without the support and loving commitment of the father experience. They are more often inhibited by worries and self-doubt, distraught over being alone, and suffering from a desperation that comes naturally to any woman who faces alone the enormity single parenthood.

The most important thing a father does for the mother is what he does long before she is in labor and long after the work of labor is done. A women who is in a loving committed relationship, who knows that she isn’t going into motherhood alone has nothing holding her back, and is less inhibited and has less fear about becoming a mother. She will feel empowered to reach deep inside herself and open up to release her baby into a secure world.

The father's presence during the labor is also very important. Women are often unable to engage the labor and work through it when they are separated from their husbands. As a married couple, mother and father need to be close during the labor and birth of their child. Labor and birth is unlike any earthly experience that a couple will share, it strengthens the marital bonds in a magical and unique way, and it forges a lasting tie that will aid parents in the nurturing and rearing of their children.

Father's need not feel replaced by a doula or midwife, there just is no possible way a doula can give to the mother the assurance that the father gives his wife year after year as they love, support, and parent together. Father’s just need to understand simply that their wife is in need of many different types of support in labor, and the more loving and experienced support she has the easier her labor and birth will be for both her and the baby; what father does not want that? Instead of turning to drugs for that extra help, your wife may find more wisdom and fulfillment in turning to experienced and reassuring women to help guide her through labor. This is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of wisdom.

Husband Coached Childbirth


The husband coached childbirth movement was a revolution in a time when few fathers where even present for the births of their babies. Dr. Bradley developed his method when at the completion of a birth the mother through her arms around his neck and said, “thank you, thank you, I love you!” He was disturbed by this and realized it would be better for a women to throw her arms around her husband instead of her doctor. He developed a birth education course designed to teach fathers to be “all the labor support their wife would need.”

Though a well meaning idea, and though no education is wasted, we may have done fathers a disservice by convincing them that they could be everything their wives would need to cope with the demands of labor. Many fathers have since described there disappointment and feelings of failure, when their training didn’t pay off, or their natural childbirth goals were thwarted.

The natural role of father, which is primarily a role of provider and protector to his wife, can be the very reason he experiences feelings of failure when the entire labor support role rests on his shoulders. It is not easy for the father to watch his wife in pain as she labors and births their baby. It is his natural instinct and a expression of his deep love and concern to want to end her pain in some way, and often the more he tries to help her the more discouraged he becomes because it seems that his efforts do little to change the fact that she suffers still. To complicate matters husbands instinctively desire to fix what is wrong, to move any obstacles out of the path of his wife that she may comfortable pass by. This protector instinct is at odds with natural birth because no matter how fervent a desire he has to remove her from pain and danger it cannot be done.

What father’s really need to know is that they have already done so much for their wife by committing to her, loving her, supporting her, and trusting her ability to birth their baby. He needs only to stay near her, love her, and trust her. Women in labor have an intense need to feel the presence of the father near them, knowing that he is there is comforting and puts them at peace. If a father understands that what his wife needs most is mothering from a wise and experienced woman, he can comfortably watch the incredible intuition of women working together to accomplish a miracle.

Midwife
The Midwife’s Labor Role


Midwifery is not a new trend in childbirth, long ago in a land far, far away, natural childbirth wasn’t so foreign a concept as it has become, and women wouldn’t have dreamed of being able to have a baby any other way than the one God created. The midwife’s view of birth reflects the natural history of human birth in this world. Midwifery respects birth as a natural process, and midwives are very careful not to intervene with a process that works perfectly 95% of the time.

The Caregiver you choose is very important because that person’s biases, beliefs, habits, attitudes, and training will affect which route your childbirth experience takes. A nurse-midwife if often the perfect choice for a woman who perceives pregnancy as a natural event rather than an illness, and who seek a birth that is allowed to proceed without undo medical intervention.

Midwifery Model for Maternity Care

CNM’s are registered nurses who have experience in labor and delivery as a R.N., and then go on to receive a two-year degree in Nurse Midwifery. In general Nurse Midwife’s have a particular view of Pregnancy and labor that is very different than most doctors. The Midwifery model of maternity care includes ideas such as–
  • Women are able to give birth safely in a supportive atmosphere of mutual respect.
  • Pregnancy and birth are not generally a serious medical condition but rather a normal and beautiful process,
  • Mothers work in a spirit of cooperation with their midwife to accomplish their goals.
  • Nurse Midwife’s emphasize preparedness for their patients – through nutrition, exercise, and childbirth education.
  • Midwives take more time to listen to a mother’s concerns in prenatal visits, so that women don’t feel they’ve been rushed in and out to accommodate a fifteen-minute time slot.
  • Midwives tend to provide more constant labor support compared to doctors who only attend the delivery of the infant.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Home Birth

Home birth is controversial mainly because of ingrained cultural norms that leave women asking, "If home birth is safe, why do we have hospital birth?" The answer is not an easy one, when I asked myself this question it led me to a very thick book in the reference section of my local library and before I knew it I was browsing through a thousand pages of history on the obstetrics profession, from dark ages to modern ages. Needless to say the Obstetrics community in America has grown up under unique circumstances into what we know today, and we are one of the only industrialized nations in the world with nearly every mother giving birth in the hospital. In many European countries 20-40% of women still give birth at home.

Our American medicalized childbirth has not served the natural birth mom well and more and more women have left the hospital in search of the comfort and autonomy of home. Recently I read an articled title, "Home birth: The wave of the future". I chuckled as I thought that home birth is more a relic of the past, but I certainly hope that home birth which was once the only choice will in the future be a routinely accepted birth option.

It is my belief that home birth is a safe birth option if a women in good health is cared for by well trained midwives throughout their pregnancies and throughout labor and birth. As a doula I am struggle to do my job in our current medical system, almost every hospital regulation hinders the natural birth process and the system regularly fails women who desire a natural birth. I work hard to prepare women for births that in our medical system are realistically not possible. Many natural birth advocates like myself find that home birth is the only truly natural birth option.

All too often in America pregnant women are viewed as being in need of serious medical attention throughout pregnancy, labor, and birth; they are not viewed as experiencing a relatively common, normal, and natural life experience. This philosophy flies in the face of reason and human history; women have bodies made for this work. The statistics of home birth bear this out. Less than 5% of home birth mothers aided in labor by a midwife end up with a C-section, while the national average for cesarean sections in nearly 30%. Though some of this discrepancy can be explained by the fact that midwives do not often oversee the care of high-risk patients it does not account for the total discrepancy. Three in ten American women end up delivering by cesearean section, while only one in ten are due to known complications prior to birth, such as premature labor or Preeclampsia.

Midwives are generally the care giver at home births, and they generally practice a very different type of maternity care than Obstetricians do. This is due in part to their unique training in the natural processes of birth left to proceed naturally without so many external interruptions, but it is also a philosophical difference in the way they view birth from the get go. In Peggy Vincent's book, Baby Catcher, Chronicles of a Modern Midwife, she illustrates this difference by relating a conversation she had with a doctor in which he stated that "normal birth is a retrospective diagnosis, no birth is normal until after the fact. All births are complicated until proven otherwise" a medical philosophy that treats every birth as a medical event in need of medical treatment. Though the attitudes toward natural birth among many doctors today are changing, the standard operating procedure in hospitals today still make it very difficult for women who want to have a perfectly natural uninhibited birth to reach that goal.


This is why many women have chosen to stay home and have their babies in their own environment and in their own way, aided by the support and wisdom of midwives. At home they are not thwarted in their desires by the constant fetal monitoring by machines, instead they have the loving hands of a midwife ever present, who can closely monitor the labor and the infant while creating a gentle and reassuring environment that helps the mother to labor undisturbed by hospital intrusions. At home a women is not impeded in here labor progress by hunger as she may be in the hospital when she is told half way through a long and difficult labor that she cannot eat, a practice that is wholly foolish, as the denial of food can lead to greater fatigue and put in motion events that may cause the infant to be taken by cesarean. At home a woman is free to move, dance, moan, yell, and do whatever feels natural and helpful to her as she works through her own power to labor her child into the world.

When weighing your options for a natural birth, it would be worthwhile to explore the home birth options in your state and community. Home birth options vary widely by state and community. There are many places though who have an active home birth community of experienced midwives and doulas who can aid you in your birth. It is a peaceful and rewarding experience worth having if you are able to put it together. Below are some considerations to help you in determining whether home birth is for you. Home Birth Pro’s and Con’s There are many advantages to doing things the old-fashioned way. Having your baby born in the comfort and privacy of your own home can be warm and wonderful. There are also some risks and disadvantages that should be considered carefully before you make a decision.


Advantages Of A Home Birth
If a woman is healthy she is considered to be “low-risk”, meaning there is no reason to assume that the birth will be anything but normal, she is a good candidate for a home birth. Women considering a home birth should be carefully screened to determine the safety of such a birth. Planned home births are safe; some people think they may even be safer than the hospital. In the Netherlands, where about 40% of the babies are born at home, the rate of prenatal mortality is one of the lowest in the world.
  • For some women there own turf is the most comfortable place to deliver.
  • The whole family is near. This is a comfortable setting for siblings to be a part of the birth in a non-threatening way.
  • The home is quiet, comfortable, and familiar; powerful in helping a laboring woman to relax.
    A home birth allows the most individuality and flexibility.
  • At home, you can avoid the often-routine interventions practiced in most hospitals that often impede the natural progression of labor.
  • The cost of home birth is less.
  • There are no admission policies.
  • You feel free to move around, eat, and drink if you please.
  • There are no uninvited doctors or nurses, your privacy and the privacy of your family is never disrespected.
  • Drugs are not used.
  • Your labor is more likely to progress naturally without interference.
  • The baby won’t be taken away from you after birth; and the first moments of your baby’s life are not stolen by the loud clamoring ciaos of the deliver room.
Disadvantages of a Home
Birth Women choosing a home birth should have no heart disease or diabetes and no family history of genetic disorders. Multiple births, breech births, and premature births can be attended by some very serious life threatening complications, because of this a mother should carefully considered the risk in these situations. Even if a woman meets all the medical criteria for a home birth, there is always the chance that a problem will arise that cannot be dealt with at home; she may have to be moved to the hospital in the event of an unforeseen complication. For this reason a women should live a reasonable distance from the hospital.
  • You may not want to be moved to the hospital during labor if there are warning signs of maternal or fetal distress.
  • Emergencies are more stressful in the home birth setting.
  • The move to a hospital can be upsetting to parents both because it signals problems and because plans for a special and personal birth are now so radically altered.
  • You may feel nervous waiting for your caregiver to arrive and prefer to have the responsibility of getting yourself to the caregiver on time.
  • You may feel uncomfortable about having your other children around or nervous that they will hear you shout or scream, even if they are kept out of the mother’s room.
  • Even though home birth sounds good, you may feel it’s too unconventional or that it seems somehow unsafe to deliver at home. This uneasiness may slow down your labor.
  • At home you won’t have the 24-hour hospital care at your beck and call. You might find this especially helpful after the baby is born.

The advantages and disadvantages of home birth differ from woman to woman, and from family to family, but for those families seeking the most natural and gentle of births for there family, home birth is a safe option that should be considered.