Wisdom and Births

Over the weekend I attended the labor of my first HypnoBirth mother. Labor progressed at home for quite some time before arriving at the hospital at 100% effacement and 3cm dilation. This mother was amazing, so calm and in control - I really experienced how to be present for a woman and to affirm her strength in labor. First, I think I may love HypnoBirth! When I met this particular family they were taking the childbirth education classes and shared how much they were enjoying the philosophy of centered and empowered birth. I was excited to experience something new! At our prenatal visit they let me borrow the book and I devoured the first half in two days. HypnoBirth is based on the understanding that birth is not inherently painful and it is fear that leads to tension within the body and the experience of pain. Mothers spend a little time each day envisioning a peaceful, gentle, and fulfilling birth while preparing for the physical demands of labor using breathing exercises and rel...

"The first intervention in birth, that a healthy woman takes, is when she walks out the front door of her home, in labour. From that first intervention, all others will follow". ~Dr. Michael Rosenthal - Obstetrician       “You are a birth servant. Do good without show or fuss. If you must take the lead, lead so that the mother is helped, yet still free and in charge. When the baby is born, they will rightly say: ‘We did it ourselves!’ ~from the Tao Te Ching "If I don't know my options, I don't have any." ~Diana Korte     "All over the world there exists in every society a small group of women who feel themselves strongly attracted to giving care to other women during pregnancy and childbirth. Failure to make use of this group of highly motivated people is regrettable and a sin against the principle of subsidiary." ~ Dr. Kloosterman, Chief of OB/GYN, Univ. of Amsterdam, Holland     " Pregnancy and birth knit womankind ...

Since when did the birthing vagina lose it's privacy?!? In the United States, the majority of births occur in the hospital where women are EXPECTED to deliver their baby's in the lithotomy position; which is extremely counterproductive to pushing and I think we would all agree it's uncomfortable and unflattering. How humiliating the traditional hospital birth must be for some women who have kept their sexuality within the confines of their relationships and bedroom, but now their most intimate body part is exposed during a more or less "unflattering" event. Some women even experience a level of embarrassment or anxiety when it comes to topics relating to, or issues with, their vaginas. From early childhood we are trained that our genitals are "private parts" intended only for ourselves and those we love and trust. We spend years functioning with this knowledge and it becomes a part of what we believe to our very core. Then we are expected to set di...

We know, without any doubt, that women have been providing emotional, physical and experiential support to other women in labor throughout much of human history. We now have a plethora of research to demonstrate the beneficial effects of continuous, knowledgeable labor support, such as that of a Birth Doula. However, in our hearts, we don’t need the research to acknowledge the ease we feel when others are present to support us in a time of powerful internal and external struggle and growth. During such monumental transitions and experiences it is important to have supportive, nurturing, and knowledgeable witnesses and this is the service of Doula care. A doula, Greek for a woman who serves , is a caregiver who is present to provide continuous emotional, physical and informed care especially to the mother, but also to her partner and/or family . According to DONA International’s Code of Ethics, “the doula’s primary responsibility is to her clients… the doula should promote the general h...

When I first knew I wanted to break into the birth world I had no idea of where to start. I researched every profession and pathway I could find and chose to become a birth doula first. I decided to go with DONA International because of their strong evidence-based position on the positive effects of continuous labor support, the well-known names that founded the organization, and the fact that it is an international organization and I may decide to live and practice outside the U.S. someday.  I began with the required readings and finished these before purchasing my packet. In March 2010 I took the DONA International doula training, which entailed two full days of hands on birth learning with about 15 other very passionate women in the basement of a doula trainer's home. I felt exhilarated and empowered by my birth doula training and I was ready and determined to conquer the birth world. Within two months I found a Bradley Childbirth Education class that I was able to sit-in on for...

A supportive, no-nonsense approach to informed childbirth in any setting; a hospital, birth center or at home. Cook and Christensen have compiled 12 “secrets” for natural childbirth encouraging women to understand the powerful and spiritual process of birth and to be truly informed when it comes to birthing in any setting. I am thrilled this book is hitting the birth market and I have high hopes that the bold captivating title, with the promise of learning 12 natural childbirth secrets, will contribute to the movement back towards natural, holistic birth. Each chapter addresses one of the “12 secrets for natural childbirth” and provides a wonderful compilation of research based information, advice from well-known experts in the field, and a wide variety of positive and encouraging birth stories. Among the first pages, readers will find professional advice from Christine Northrup, M.D. and Margaret Christensen, M.D.; addressing a common fear- based model of birth and encouraging women ...

I have long been flabbergasted by the number of hazardous, toxic and even questionable chemicals used on babies or in baby products. Even chemicals with an unknown level of effect on the developing body systems shouldn't be used; the mantra for baby products should be "harmful until proven safe". To make matters worse, not only are there a number of harmful chemicals in items baby's gnaw on, but there are numerous chemicals in products that are used daily on the most sensitive areas of a baby's body, such as diapers and wipes. Some of these chemicals include: Phthalates - male reproductive system disorders Fragrance (may also contain phthalates)- hormone disruptors, common allergen PEG/Ceteareth/Polyethylene compunds - absorbs easily through skin, possible carcinogen Parabens (all kinds) - estrogen mimicking preservative potentially contributing to reproductive, endocrine and developmental disorders  ... and this is just a part of the list The first place I lea...

The techno-medical management of birth is pervasive. I struggle to understand the origination of some obstetrical interventions, such as the immediate (or quick) clamping and cutting of the umbilical cord. The umbilical cord develops between 3.5 and 8 gestational weeks and sustains the baby throughout the pregnancy and even in the minutes after birth by transferring nutrients and oxygen to the fetus from the placenta and carrying fetal waste away. The transfer of nutrient rich and oxygenated blood continues after birth and is important for all babies to receive, but particularly important for babies that are slow to start breathing on their own. I recently watched a youtube video of a Grand Rounds lecture from M.D. Nicholas Fogelson ( AcademicOB/GYN ) about delayed cord clamping and the importance of this as a standard of practice in medicine. He gives an excellent presentation and discusses several large well-executed research studies in which the evidence for delayed cord clamping is...

It was once a common thought among some (often more western) cultures that children didn't feel pain before the age of 3, or if they "felt" the pain, they didn't remember it so it didn't matter anyway. This belief has persisted throughout many, many generations and our current medical model of care often manages to ignore the important fact that unborn and newborn babies DO feel pain. As for "remembering", we may not be able to recollect the things that happened to us in our infancy, but that doesn't mean they aren't a part of our unconscious thoughts, foundational behaviors, and cellular memory. An article from Science Daily addresses recent research about painful procedures being performed on newborns in ICU's (this article is addressing research conducted in Paris, but our procedures are very similar), particularly how many procedures newborns undergo and that some of these are performed without any pain medication. It is important to kno...

For my first blog I would like to return to my interest in Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology (PPN) and how our current medical model of managed care can often negatively impact the optimal trajectory of human development. This topic is extensive and this blog was originally very lengthy, but I will keep this to a PPN introduction and more detailed thoughts about obstetrics and PPN will follow later. Prenatal and perinatal research has demonstrated that a baby is conscious and aware during the prenatal period and that they  experience the mother's internal and emotional states. In the womb, babies are learning about themselves and the world around them through information obtained using their five senses as well as through the transfer of chemical messengers, such as hormones, in the shared maternal blood. Emerson (1998) discusses the long-term detrimental impact of many medical interventions on both the physical and psychological well-being of babies and reminds us that the mother...