Posted in Birth Thoughts, active birth, birth, evidence based care, maternity care, normal birth, tagged active birth, birth, evidence based care, maternity care, normal birth on February 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
From Janet Balaskas’ classic book, Active Birth:
“When birth is active–
There is less need for drugs.
Discomfort and pain are less.
The uterus functions better, so artificial stimulants are not usually necessary.
Labors are shorter.
The supply of oxygen to the baby is improved.
There is less need for forceps or vacuum extraction.
The secretion of hormones that regulate the whole process [...]
Posted in birth, birth education, maternity care, normal birth, tagged birth, normal birth, birth education, maternity care, labor on February 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
My previous post about a good experience and a healthy baby as well as reading a relevant section in the wonderful new Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy & Birth book I’m reviewing made me want to post about this topic. There are a multitude of common procedures that are overused in hospitals and that when used [...]
Posted in babies, birth, birth education, giving birth, maternity care, mothers, tagged babies, birth, birth education, giving birth, maternity care, mothers on February 20, 2008 | 1 Comment »
As you may have read in many blogs in the birth world, ACOG issued a press release this month opposing the choice of homebirth for women. One of the quotes towards the end of the release, “Choosing to deliver a baby at home, however, is to place the process of giving birth over the goal [...]
Posted in birth, birth experiences, giving birth, normal birth, tagged birth, birth experiences, normal birth on February 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
There are four factors that research have found to make the greatest contribution to your degree of satisfaction with your birth experience (experience or not of pain isn’t one of them!):
Having good support from caregivers.
Having a high quality relationship with caregivers.
Being involved with decision making about care.
Having better than expected experiences (or having high expectations).
According [...]
Posted in active birth, birth, birth classes, birth education, tagged active birth, birth, birth classes on February 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Your uterus is a powerful muscle and will actually push your baby out without conscious or forced effort from you–at some point following complete dilation your body will begin involuntarily pushing the baby out. Many women experience the unmistakable urge to push as an “uncontrollable urge”–but, in order to feel that uncontrollable urge, you often [...]
Posted in breastfeeding, tagged breastfeeding on February 13, 2008 | 3 Comments »
I just read some cool news about a recent discovery that there appear to be stem cells in breastmilk!
A quote from the article:
“The point is that many mothers see milks as identical – formula milk and breast milk look the same so they must be the same. But we know now that they are quite [...]
Posted in Resources, tagged breastfeeding, childbirth education on February 8, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
La Leche League International has completely redone their catalog–the layout and appearance have received a stunning makeover and the result is a beautiful new “pocket guide” called “Breastfeeding Guide: tips & products.” So, instead of being a catalog, it is actually a helpful little booklet first and a catalog second (the products come in the [...]
Posted in Birth Thoughts, definitions, tagged active birth, birth, evidence based care, maternity care, normal birth on February 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The short answer is no, you do not “need” an episiotomy. Women rarely (if EVER) actually “need” an episiotomy. An episiotomy is a surgical incision made in the perineum to enlarge the vaginal opening as the baby’s head is being born. This procedure is rarely necessary and you should ask your care provider how often [...]
Posted in Resources, Tools, tagged birth, normal birth on February 4, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I recently discovered there is a free pdf book available from the World Health Organization called Care in Normal Birth: A Practical Guide. The booklet is very research oriented, so while it is great for finding evidence based information, it is not “light” reading for every day use! It is directed towards birth professionals.
Posted in Resources, tagged birth education, labor support on February 4, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Eating is important during early labor to keep up your strength and provide you with energy for your work. Many women find that they naturally no longer wish to eat once in active (serious) labor. Eat small portions of easily digested foods that you know that you like and that sound good to you at [...]
