Archive | March 2009

What to say to a woman in labor?

Mar30

I always encourage support people to speak from their hearts when being with a woman in birth–your words mean a lot when they are authentic to you! However, I also realize people would like a “head start” on some good things to say. While all women are different and have different preferences, my observation is that praise and love are good sentiments to express–“you’re doing so well, ” “you’re so beautiful,” “you’re so strong,” “I love you,” you’re amazing”–those kinds of things.

I recently came across this section in the Birthing From Within Keepsake Journal that gives some other ideas of phrases to get you started:

  • Soften around the pain (or pressure/contraction/fear)
  • You are stronger than the pain
  • Keep going
  • You ARE doing it
  • I love you
  • Breathe into it
  • See your cervix opening

I prefer “you are so strong” to the “you are stronger than the pain” suggestion. “You ARE doing it” is a very helpful response to the comments women sometimes make during labor such as “I can’t do this.”

Should You Attend Birth Classes?

Mar24

In my ideal world, there would be no need for women to take formal classes to prepare for birth—they would already feel confident and well-equipped for birth as a rite of passage.  Of course, we don’t live in an ideal world and the climate of fear and doubt surrounding birth in our culture, as well as the emphasis on medical intervention and technology, means that most women view birth with some degree of apprehension. Many women also express doubt in their own ability to give birth and fear and trepidation about the experience and their own abilities to cope with it.

Lamaze’s book Giving Birth with Confidence, recommends that you ask yourself the following questions when making the decision about whether or not to attend independent childbirth education classes:

  • Did you grow up believing that your body works beautifully? That its functions are normal, natural, and healthy in general–and in particular regarding childbirth?
  • Do you know and trust women who have given birth naturally and confidently?
  • Have you talked with a woman who had a baby with a midwife’s help?
  • Do you know other people who believe in the normalcy of birth and in women’s ability to birth naturally?
  • Will your birth site allow you freedom to respond to your body’s signals however you need to as you move through labor?

Pain, Power, & Accomplishment

Mar21

I love this section from Giving Birth with Confidence (Lamaze). It explores the role of pain in labor and its relationship to personal power and accomplishment:

The pain of labor, like most pain, is protective. Responding to pain with movement, including walking, rocking, and position changes, not only helps the baby rotate and descend through the pelvis, but also protects a woman’s body during the process. As the cervix stretches and dilates, oxytocin levels increase, and contractions strengthen and become more effective. As pain increases, endorphins are released that help women cope with the demands of the stronger contraction and the descent of the baby. Actively responding to the pain..then not only promotes comfort but promotes the progress of labor…Because the pain of labor is not associated with trauma, but is a part of a normal, physiologic process, it is sometimes compared to the pain associated with other challenging physical activities. Those who push themselves to climb the last hill, cross the finish line, or conquer a challenging dance routine often report feelings of euphoria and increased self-esteem. Researchers have found that women who experience natural birth often describe similar feelings of exaltation and increased self-esteem. These feelings of accomplishment, confidence, and strength have the potential to transform women’s lives. In many cultures, the runner who completes a long race is admired, but it is not acknowledged that laboring women may experience the same life-altering feelings. [Birth classes] help each woman find ways to meet the challenges of birth confidently and purposefully, and to discover her strength in birth.

The above explains very well why it is that I do what I do–I want each woman to have the chance to experience that transforming power, that sense of personal accomplishment, the increased self-esteem, and the euphoria of knowing “I did it!” I climbed my mountain, I ran my marathon…I gave birth to MY BABY!

Recent Articles

Mar21

I’ve had a fun month for publications. My Birth Lessons from a Chicken essay was in Midwifery Today and my Respecting the Birth-Breastfeeding Continuum was in International Doula.

Also, the International Journal of Childbirth Education has some of their issues available online now. The September 2008 issue has my Satisfaction with Birth article beginning on page 14. The June 2008 issue has my Celebrating World Breastfeeding Week & the Birth-Breastfeeding Continuum article and my sidebar WBW: A Simple Celebration beginning on page 15.

Comfort Measures & Labor Support Strategies

Mar14

From the book Special Women by Polly Perez. I thought this was a helpful, quick review of things to try when assisting a woman in labor:

“When assessing labor pain consider the following:

Remember ‘When in doubt check it out.’

Ask the mother the following questions.

What’s going through your mind

Is there something you are afraid of?

What do you think will help?

Tell me how you feel.

Encourage the mother to empty her bladder hourly.

Make sure the mother remains well hydrated.

Encourage the mother to relax her voluntary muscles in her buttocks, thighs, abdomen, and pelvic floor.”image016

Also consider trying these positions during birth:

standing

swaying

lunge

squat

kneeling

leaning

side-lying

slow-dancing

hands and knees

rocking

sitting

dangle

supported squat

sitting on  a birth ball

Another Healthy Mother/Healthy Baby Quote

Mar12

Since my previous post just touched on this issue, I wanted to share another quote. This one is from the Winter 2008 issue of Midwifery Today in an article titled From the Homefront to the Frontlines:

“Although the popularly desired outcome is ‘Healthy mother, healthy baby,’ I think there is room in that equation for ‘Happy, non-traumatized, empowered and elated mother and baby.'”

I completely agree!

Birth & Apples

Mar10

What does birth have to do with apples? Well, I read two things this week that made me think of both apples and birth. First, in an Ode magazine editorial that was about “apples and entrepreneurs.”  The editor introduced me to the word “pleonasms” –used to refer to words that contain unnecessary repetition. He was discussing apples, “after all, what’s an apple that grows without chemicals? It’s just an apple. If any kind of apple needs a modifier, it’s the kind that isn’t grown organically. Those we should call ‘chemical apples'” (instead of labeling the other an “organic apple”). Of course, I immediately thought of birth. I was considering how we have to use the terms “natural birth,” “normal birth,” “organic birth,” “physiological birth,” “unmedicated birth” and more. Taking a cue from this Ode editorial, what is a birth that isn’t interfered with? Just a birth. In theory, the other phrases we use are pleonasms like “organic apple.” (Same with “breastmilk,” actually. Our own species-specific milk should not need a modifier…)

Still related to apples and birth, but moving into another area, I have a particular interest in “good birth experiences” and how mothers tend to get very valid and real emotions dismissed with comments such as “at least you have a healthy baby.” Or, they face insinuations that they are “selfish” for caring about a good birth experience (the assumption being she somehow cares more about “the experience” than “the healthy baby”). I have already explored this subject in an article for the International Journal of Childbirth Education in Sept. 2008 and also in this post, but I loved this explanation in The Big Book of Birth when addressing disappointment over having a cesarean birth: “…in cases where a mother feels disappointment because the birth didn’t go as hoped, it is like saying to her, Well, at least you got a healthy baby and dismissing any other emotions or experience. It is not helpful because the expectation was not to not have a healthy baby–the expectation was to have a vaginal birth. It is comparing apples to oranges since there were two separate individual hopes: one the joy of a baby, the other her experience of bringing that baby into the world. The apple being the healthy baby we all want and usually bear, the orange being what we hope for in our trials and tribulations on the way there.” (Or, the orange being our “good birth experience.”)

More About the Three P’s of Birth

Mar7

Some time ago I wrote a post about the commonly used “three P’s” of birth. The P’s most often referred to are the Powers (contractions), the Passage (pelvis and soft tissues), and the Passenger (the baby). In my post The Three P’s I came up with some different P’s that could be used instead–both P’s that help and P’s that hinder birth. In reading The Big Book of Birth recently, I came across another section about the three P’s. She uses: Patience, Practitioner, and Partner as the three things we need in labor:

“Everyone involved in labor needs a lot of patience….Partners need to stay focused on the laboring woman and often need just as much assurance that things are going well…Practitioners need patience because every woman’s body does this ever so slightly differently…”

She goes on to explore the role of the Practitioner and how while the primary role is clinical care for mother and baby, women “also need respect and reassuring language for their body and their experience. This has a profound impact on how we experience labor. If we feel undermined, ignored, violated, discouraged, condescended to, or made to feel stupid or as if we have not been acting in the interest of our baby…this tends to skew our entire perception of the day our child is born.”

Similar to posts I have made before about the role of fathers at birth, she emphasizes that the role of the Partner is important primarily because “our partners…[who] know us so well, are often the most valuable person in the room when it comes to ‘being there’ for us.”

Breastfeeding with Comfort & Joy Book

Mar6

One of my fellow birth bloggers, the fabulous Kathy of Woman-to-Woman CBE is celebrating her 100,000 hits with a giveaway. She is giving away a copy of the new book Breastfeeding with Comfort & Joy, which looks like a real treasure. I hope I get a chance to read it someday soon. Kathy also has a review of the book on her site.

Speaking of fun blog giveaways, the Hypnobabies blog is also having a giveaway (I’m late posting about it though–it ends tomorrow, so hurry up!). Their giveaway is for a Hypnosis for an Easy Pregnancy CD. I know several Hypnobabies educators online and they have such a wonderfully positive and affirming perspective about birth. It is really exciting and refreshing.