The "Business" of Birthing

Article Excerpt;

FACT

ALL families in the U.S. are charged newborn nursery charges, even if the baby NEVER leaves the mother's room. This "routine" charge amounts to about $1.3 billion dollars annually, for services that are NOT rendered. (I'm not quite sure why this doesn't constitute insurance fraud - billing for services not rendered.)

Midwife's Guide to an Intact Perineum

A wonderful, specific, description of the sensations a mother will experience as she pushes out her baby. Knowledge is power and when you know what sensations to expect during the pushing stage then you are less likely to be scared and thrown off by them when you do experience them.

What to do with the placenta?

Excerpt from article;

"In the United States, where most women give birth in the hospital, the standard procedure with disposing of placentas involves the care provider putting them in hazardous waste containers to be brought to facilities that bury them without much risk of contamination to water and sewage treatment plants. But some, whether they birth in hospitals, birth centers, or at home, have different intentions."

Vaginal Births after MULTIPLE Cesareans!!!

Swine Flu Alert

"U.S. health authorities have made pregnant women one of the highest priority groups for getting the H1N1 swine flu vaccine, but is it actually safe for pregnant women and their babies?"

Excerpt from the article

"Have You Had That Baby Yet???"

Here is a great website to send well meaning friends and family who keep checking in, to see if you have had your baby yet. :-)

Is it safe to eat sushi?

Excerpt from article -

Q. Are there people who are at high risk who should avoid fish?

A. Women who plan to become pregnant, those who are already pregnant or nursing, children up to age 12, elderly people, and anyone with liver disease or any other disease or condition that compromises their immune system should steer clear of raw fish.

It’s also prudent for those at high risk to heed the advice of the FDA and Environmental Protection Agency and stay away from high-mercury fish. The fish highest in mercury are shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish.

Castor Oil Inductions

Quote from the article -

Too many women have turned from saying ‘My doctor says’ to saying ‘My midwife says’. Take responsibility for your and your family’s health. It is fine to respect professionals but ask for references on everything you’re not l00 % sure of and use your internet to scope things out. There is so much crap that passes for science without anyone questioning it.

Pregnancy and the H1N1 Flu virus

Excerpt from article -

The package insert from CSL Limited for its Influenza A (H1N1) Monovalent Vaccine states:

"Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with the Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine or AFLURIA. It is also not known whether these vaccines can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman, or can affect reproduction capacity. Influenza A (H1N1) vaccine should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed."

Dr. Bill Sears shares his thoughts about the vaccine on his Web site, "Here is where we are flying by the seat of our pants, so to speak. The product inserts make it VERY clear that the 'swine' flu versions of these vaccines have NOT undergone any testing to demonstrate whether or not they are safe and whether or not they even work. They are relying on the fact that they are so similar to the regular flu shots that they should work just as well."(2)

The First Cut is the Deepest - What about circumcision?

A few blips from the article -

a 2007 study published in the British Journal of Urology International, saying: "Five locations on the uncircumcised penis that are routinely removed at circumcision are significantly more sensitive than the most sensitive location on the circumcised penis."

Circumcision is also said to prevent penile cancer. However, the American Cancer Society discounts the link between intact foreskin and cancer. According to their website, Cancer.org, "Most researchers now believe those studies [that showed a link] were flawed because they failed to consider other risk factors, such as smoking, personal hygiene and the number of sexual partners. … Most experts agree that circumcision should not be recommended as a way to prevent penile cancer."

Read the whole article for more great information on this very important, very delicate topic.

Science & Sensibility » Beyond Due Dates: How Late is Too Late?

Science & Sensibility » Beyond Due Dates: How Late is Too Late?

A Doula : The MUST HAVE for Expecting Parents

A Doula : The MUST HAVE for Expecting Parents

Pregnancy Nutrition - Part 1

Pregnancy Nutrition - Part 1

Ina May Gaskin Talks about Natural Birth Part 3

Ina May Gaskin Talks about Natural Birth Part 2

Ina May Gaskin Talks about Natural Birth Part 1

October 2009 Newsletter

A Better Beginning Oct Newsletter

Online, Contraction Timing Assistant

No more watching the clock. No more jotting down numbers. Now you can keep track of the duration and frequency of your labor contractions with the click of a button! You can then print out the results of your contraction patterns and hand them to your medical team so they can see exactly what has been going on with your contractions or, print off your results and put them in the baby book! Also available for the iPhone and iPod touch as well.

Delivery Room Football

Love this story about a father/physician, who adamantly refuses to let the hospital take his healthy, hungry baby away to the nursery "just in case." The dads role is supposed to be protector/defender during labor and birth, and this dad perfectly demonstrates that.

Belly Dance For Birth

You Have a Choice (A Short Birth Documentary) from Goodrich Creative on Vimeo.

My Bradley® Babies

Publish at Scribd or explore others: How-to-Guides & Manu Books Fiction water natural

Choosing a Childbirth Class

Choosing a Childbirth Class

Publish at Scribd or explore others: How-to-Guides & Manu free training

How I came to choose natural childbirth

“Give me the drugs when I come in the doors!” That was my usual comment as a teenager when the subject of childbirth came up. I had always considered myself a wimp when it came to handling pain. I have always had a history of pretty severe period cramps and always needed to call in sick to work, pop a few pain pills and basically become part of the pattern on the couch upholstery for at least one whole day, otherwise I would end up in the floor, doubled over, moaning like a…well I don’t know what I was moaning like but it wasn’t pretty. So to even think about going through childbirth without the assistance of pain killing drugs…forget it!

I wouldn’t be able to tell you the exact moment that I began to re-evaluate the way I thought about childbirth because it didn’t happen that suddenly. My family has always been sort of “alternative” as far our approach to the way we deal with our bodies. Unless we had a broken bone or needed surgery of some kind we just didn’t go to the doctor. We would seek out & use more natural modalities to assist our bodies to do what they needed to do. My grandmother on my mother’s side is a certified nutritionist. One of my aunts was a midwife herself & had all four of her boys at home, one of them delivered by her husband I believe (who is not a midwife). Another aunt had all four of her children at home and my sister who has Down’s Syndrome and should have been in & out of the hospital all her life with serious health issues has not been in and out of said hospitals thanks to a natural approach to the maintenance of her health. So, as far as dealing with the flu, lowering cholesterol or having babies, my family usually takes the less traveled road of natural treatments. As long as I can remember I have always been surrounded with people who trusted in the body’s ability to do what it was created to do as long as you gave it the proper nutrition from the proper sources & the proper stimulus & support from its environment. So, maybe that is where my re-evaluation of birthing approaches truly began, from my weird family.

As I got older, I realized more and more that my body was extremely sensitive to all kinds of things; dust and animal dander in the environment, dairy and a long list of other foods that I won’t bore you with, as well as things I received in the hospital as a child during my childhood struggles with asthma. As I began to learn more about how my body reacted to these things and why, I suppose at some point I began to question what the effects of the pain killing drugs they administer during childbirth would be, not only in my body but also in the bodies of my unborn babies. The more I learned, the less I wanted to have a “pain free” birth in a hospital. I no longer joked about wanting the drugs but I also didn’t think that I could handle it without them, sort of a catch 22. I felt stuck and honestly a little more than slightly afraid.

And then came my answer! At some point before I got married I heard about water birthing. Again I can’t remember when or where exactly I was introduced to this idea, but I was intrigued at once and it made total sense to me. Taking from my experience of my monthly struggle with Aunt Flow I just followed the logic of water birth from there. When I didn’t feel good in body I wanted only two things. Number one, I wanted to be at home and number two, getting in the bathtub & soaking in warm water helped immensely more than anything else I ever tried. So, when I was introduced to the option of water birthing the logic just made sense to me and was very appealing. In childbirth all the same organs are involved as when you are menstruating so if water helped with the one it must help with the other. So, I decided that I wanted to have a home water birth when I got pregnant which was still down the road a bit because I wasn’t even married yet.

When I married my husband, at some point before or after the wedding (again I can’t remember) as we discussed having children I told him that I wanted to have our children at home and I wanted to have them in the water. He was not very familiar with either childbearing mode but said, “You’re the one that has to have them so you can do it wherever and however you want to.” I thought he was very accommodating.

I actually hadn’t read much about water birth till after I got married. I knew how it worked fundamentally but had never heard any stories of water births. My head was just following the logic of using water for childbirth and then I read my first book about water birth. It was, Choosing Water Birth: Reclaiming the Sacred Power of Birth by Lakshmi Bertram. The only way it was available to me at the time was in electronic form through our library’s web site and it was a fabulous book! She shared in detail about the four water births of her children and she wrote with such clarity and tenderness about her experiences that my heart was also now fully engaged in the water birth experience. As I sat at the computer reading her stories and looking at the beautiful pictures I knew for certain this is how I wanted to birth my babies.

I have gone on since that time and followed my head as well as my heart regarding how I wanted to birth our children. In 2006 our daughter was born at home, in the water and in 2009 our son was also born at home, in the water. Both times my husband was right there in the water with me and got to help bring our babies to the surface and into the world. So from the time our daughter was born, until now and here after, I’ll pass on the drugs, thank you, and please, have the birthing tub ready. I can’t imagine doing it any other way!

Stephanie Neher, Kasson, MN

birthmomma@kmtel.com

www.bradleybirth.com?n130
(507) 634-7498
This article originated from

http://bradleybabybloggings.blogspot.com/