Archive | July 2010

Of Birth & Bugs

Jul31

I included this story as part of a previous post about how women learn about birth, but I wanted to share it as a separate post because it gets lost as side note in the other post:

Doula in Disguise?!

A powerful pre-birth lesson in my body’s wisdom actually came from an assassin bug (of all things!). Assasin bugs have very potent, posionous bites (and in some countries carry hideous diseases). During my first pregnancy, I was bitten multiple times as I slept by one of them. I had bites on my face (lip) as well as in a row on my arm. The bites caused swelling, ongoing stabbing pain, and joint aching (as well as intense palm-of-hand and sole-of-feet itching when they first occurred).

I turned this into a practice experience for myself in coping with labor—figuring that, like labor, this was something uncomfortable and out of my control, but that would eventually pass and that my body would take care of without my needed to actively do anything about it. The stabbing pain was also intermittent (like a pulse), so I thought that was good practice too. I practicing “softening” around the sensations and “being” with the discomfort. I reminded myself that my body knew what to do and that it would heal itself. And, guess what? It did. Each day as the bites healed, I would marvel, “look how much my body knows! Look what it can do without me even knowing what or how it is doing.” Of course, it took several days of stabbing and aching pain for this process to occur, whereas my first labor involved only 5 hours of intense sensation as well as several preceding hours of totally manageable sensation and my subsequent labors only involved 2 hours each of fairly intense sensation.

This experience in watching my body take care of itself using its own inherent wisdom was a potent (and unexpected) lesson for me in approaching my first birth. I learned almost as much from it as I did from the books I read and the classes I took!

Why Do I Care About Birth?

Jul29

Some time ago I wrote a post on the Citizens for Midwifery blog about medical control as acceptable, in which I pondered the question of why do we care about birth, if many birthing women themselves don’t really seem to care? Why do we make it any of our business what other women choose to do with their births? And, is it any of our business anyway?

Well, I’ve been doing some thinking and I made and shared a list of why I care on the CfM blog. However, I wanted to go ahead and share my reasons on this blog as well. This is why I care about about other women’s births:

  • Because women are suffering (birth trauma is real–see organizations like Solace for Mothers–and postpartum mood disorders are very common).
  • Because babies are suffering–late pre-term births are increasingly common due to induction, many babies experience at least some post-birth separation from their mothers (which is not their biological expectation), and many babies spend time in the NICU. Infant mortality rates, especially for minority babies, are higher than in other industrialized countries.
  • Because breastfeeding is suffering and thus public health is suffering (see my previous article on the birth-breastfeeding continuum)
  • Because the physical costs of our current birth model are high (morality and morbidity rates are higher than necessary due to high volume of cesareans and many physicians and hospitals do not practice evidence-based care–continuing to deny laboring women food and drink and continuing to use Cytotec for inductions for example).
  • Because the financial costs of our current birth model to society are high–birth is a multi-billion dollar a year industry. Some facts from CfM:
    • Over four million births in the US each year (26.4 births per 1000 women aged 15-44 years in 2004).
    • Second most common reason for hospitalization of women.
    • Care for mothers and babies combined rank 4th for hospital expenses.
    • Hospital costs for deliveries mounted to more than $30 billion in 2004. More than 30% of births by cesarean section. ranking seventh highest total on the “national bill” for procedures (over $17 billion per year).
    • Of all births, 99% take place in hospitals, 90% are attended by obstetricians.
    • Over 6 million obstetric procedures are performed – the most common category of surgical procedures.

The percentage of births paid for by Medicaid varies from state to state but can be as high as 50% or more in some states. Coverage by all insurers (Federal government, Medicaid, private, HMOs, etc.) varies; many will not reimburse for OOH births, and when midwives are covered, the reimbursement rate is only a percentage of the rate for physicians. We all pay for births, including unnecessary interventions and preventable complications and injuries, through our taxes, health insurance withholding, and individual policies.

  • Because women’s birth memories last a lifetime (see Simkin, Not just another day in a woman’s life).
  • Because women deserve better.
  • Because I know in my heart that birth matters for women, for babies, for families, for culture, for society, and for the world.

Conference Blessings

Jul27

This past week, I attended my first CAPPA conference (this one was in Charlotte, NC). I’ve been a member of CAPPA since 2004 and the thing that first attracted me to membership was the FREE annual conference. Now, six years later, I finally took advantage of going to one! I think it will be an annual tradition for our family 🙂 On the closing day of the conference, the MC asked us to consider how we had each been “blessed” at the conference this year and then to turn to the person next to us and share how we had been blessed. I thought of several things right away:

  • Meeting people face-to-face that I previously only had online contact with. There is no substitute for in person contact. It was great!
  • Attending Barbara Harper’s presentation on “Leave Well Enough Alone: Natural Third Stage.” It was VERY good. I also particularly enjoyed Andrea Sharpe’s presentation about empowering teen mothers and Barbara Hotelling’s “Your Body has the Power to Give Birth.”
  • Winning a birth bracelet from the Birth Behind Bars booth. They had an interesting project going on where you could submit a tip for the upcoming book 101 Ways to Support a Woman in Childbirth and have a chance to win a bracelet (as well as to get a nice purple “For the Love of Birth” lanyard for your name tag too). I love to win stuff and the bracelet is pretty 🙂
  • The between-session contacts and conversations. In addition to learning good information from the actual sessions, there is no substitute for the conversations that arise during breaks in the day—I met several really wonderful people just accidentally this way and I had some good, in-depth conversations about teaching methods and resources that would have been impossible to have if I’d only attended the sessions and then gone straight back to my room.
  • Being in an environment with 300 other women who also believe that birth matters.

With Barbara Harper

With Barbara Harper

The Future

Jul26

I enjoyed reading an article called “The Future of Midwifery” by Judith Rooks and Kitty Ernst in the December 1999 edition of the IJCE (another find from the previously referenced big binder of back issues). The conclusion of the article was as follows:

It is said that the best way to predict the future is to create it. Creative forces come from our souls, our beliefs, our values, our moral and spiritual strength, and from the scientific evidence available to us at any given time. If we are to meet the challenges ahead, each of us must weigh authoritative pronouncements and popular opinions against the available scientific evidence, temper it with our own beliefs and values, and chart a course drawing on our collective moral and spiritual strengths. Change is often shaped not only by what we do but by what we do not do. The future of midwifery and our children’s care in childbirth is in our hands today. To be silent is to speak. To do nothing is to take action. (emphasis mine)

Sometimes it seems as if I am saying the same things over and over and trying to reach people who may or may not want to be reached. I found the above quote a good reminder that continuing to pursue change in birth practices is a worthwhile endeavor.

Opening for Birth

Jul24

Some time ago, I bought several large binders of back issues of The International Journal of Childbirth Education (ICEA‘s publication). The December 2001 edition of the IJCE contains an article titled “The Pelvis Revisited” by Elizabeth Noble. An interesting article overall, I particularly enjoyed the language of the section titled Opening for Birth:

“Birth is what women do. Women are privileged to stand in such power! Birth stretches a woman’s limits in every sense. To allow such stretching of one’s limits is the challenge of pregnancy, birth, and parenting. The challenge is to be fully present and to allow the process because of inner trust. How can women find their power, claim it, and stand firm in it throughout? The vertical position comes again into prominence. Women must ‘stand up’ for what they want and ‘on their own two feet’ by refusing to take their birth ‘lying down’! Being upright is essential for pelvic power–psychological strength, pelvic mobility, gravity’s assistance, pelvic pump efficiency, and the hygienic downflow of bodily fluids.”

In the September 1999 issue, the article “Belly-Dancing Through Pregnancy: A Way to Give Birth and Not Be Delivered” by Gaby Mardshana Oeftering caught my eye. In it, she also addresses the needs to build inner trust and to open to birth through physical movement and an active approach to birthing:

“Women expecting their second or third child don’t necessarily need this [traditional prenatal classes]. They are looking for a way to relax, find their inner selves, and get better acquainted with their bodies, their babies, and the process of birthing. When allowed to move during childbirth, many women instinctively start moving their pelvis in hip circles which are typical of belly-dance…All soft and gentle belly-dance movements are beneficial to pregnant women; for example, hip circles, the various hip-eights, and hip rocking. The rule is: all horizontal movements relax the uterus; vertical movements excite it. Physically speaking, all these movements strengthen and mobilize the pelvis and the legs and train the pelvic floor. They also activate deep abdominal breathing…the hip movements demand a lot of attentiveness and body awareness. On a mental level, this leads to better consciousness of tension and relaxation—a body feeling that is needed during birthing.”

Recently, I feel myself intrigued by the possibilities of working with these women—those who are on their second or third pregnancies and who are seeking to “go beyond” traditional birth class information (that often assumes first baby status). I know that I, personally, have wanted new, fresh, inspirational birth information during each of my pregnancies—labor and birth 101, stages of fetal development, or even labor support and comfort measures isn’t “enough” for me anymore (and wasn’t after my first baby). The desire to honor the pregnancy experience, prepare for the birth experience, and to work with psychological and emotional elements of childbearing are still very much present though! I envision doing a series of “pregnancy retreat” type of things or other types of workshops that “go beyond” and help second, third, or fourth time mothers to spend some dedicated,special attention to each pregnancy and birth experience in a personally enriching and rewarding way 🙂

An Encouraging Thought…

Jul19

Some time ago I read the book Teaching Natural Birth. In it, the author shares this thought about the importance of teaching families about birth:

“We are not ‘hobbying’ or ‘playing house.’ We do this not because we like people or like babies, but because there are earthshaking issues involved in the way our culture is giving birth and raising its children…We are playing for keeps and the stakes are high. We are professionals. We matter. Always and indescribably.”

I do not view my birthwork as a “hobby.” I view it as my career/profession. I have noticed a tendency of people outside the “birth world” to look upon it as a hobby however. Reading this quote was a nice reminder that this work is important!

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding & Nursing Johnny Depp

Jul19

I’ve already shared this all over Facebook, but wanted to mention it here too because I’m that excited 🙂 Quite some time ago the authors of the newest edition of the LLL classic, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, contacted me to see if they might include a partial version of my essay “Nursing Johnny Depp” (previously published in Literary Mama) in the book. Of course I said YES! The Womanly Art has been published since 1958 (that is more than 50 years) and it thrilled my little heart to be a tiny, tiny piece of that world-changing history. I have six copies of the WAB (different editions—including two of the old blue-covered editions) and so what a bonus to have another copy, but this time with my own voice within it. The book was released on July 13 and my copies have arrived in the mail. The excerpt of my essay was actually used as the introduction to the “Nursing Toddlers” chapter of the book and I feel proud to be part of it. (I was also humbled to see my name in the acknowledgments section, since, seriously, I really did hardly anything.)

I first read the WAB when I was pregnant with my first baby in 2003. This newest edition is updated with a very contemporary feel and an engaging style. One of the things I like about it is that it is so practical and a lot of the suggestions are very simple (yet, not necessarily obvious). It is written in the mother-to-mother support format that is the hallmark of LLL and the very core of the organization. I like that the book includes personal experiences from a variety of mothers as well as all kinds of suggestions based on what, “some mothers have found.” Those are the kind of suggestions a new breastfeeding mother needs—not advice or directions or orders or “prescriptions,” but information about what other mothers have found helpful—she can then take what works for her and her baby and leave the rest. Love it!

Giveaway! The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal

Jul14

The giveaway is now closed! Elizabeth Baer was the winner. Congratulations!

In 2008, my mother-in-law bought me The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal for Christmas. When I got this book, I made a commitment to myself that I was really going to DO the book, instead of just reading it, tossing it aside, and gobbling down the next one on my stack. So, I did. It took me about 4 months or so to work through it in this way, though it is actually laid out in a 12-month format. The subtitle is “How to Reclaim, Rejuvenate, and Re-Balance Your Life,” which is just what I felt like I needed! I found it an inspirational, insight-provoking, and enriching journey. Since this time, I have re-read/re-worked through sections of the book many times, as well as recommended it to many other women as one of my favorite resources for balanced living.

As a funny little side note, when I first started reading the book, I had a lovely little leather bound fancy notebook to do the journaling/reflective exercises in. I discovered I was never doing them—it never felt like the right time. Then, I bought a Pirates of the Caribbean notebook at Wal-Mart featuring a large photo of Orlando Bloom on the cover and lo and behold, I started doing the journaling exercises in it and finished the book right up! I had to laugh at myself—Hark! I have found thee, my muse, and thy name is Orlando Bloom (especially in rakish, unbuttoned-pirate-shirt attire!)

The author of the book, Renée Trudeau, offers several other amazing resources that I regularly enjoy: I participate in a free monthly teleclass based on the book (I love these calls—sometimes I have to work really hard to carve out the life space to attend, but I’ve NEVER regretted making it happen), I subscribe to the e-newsletter, and read her thought-provoking blog. Associated with the teleclass and book, is a nurturing “Live Inside Out” Facebook page.

I’m absolutely delighted to host a giveaway for a copy of the book The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal. There are several ways to enter:

1. Leave a comment with your favorite tip for self-renewal.

2. Become new fan of Talk Birth on Facebook (and leave a comment here telling me you did so that I know to count your entry).

3. Become a new fan of Live Inside Out on Facebook (and leave a comment here reporting this).

4. Blog about this giveaway on your blog or post a link to your Facebook page (and let me know about it).

The winner of the giveaway will be drawn next Tuesday at noon via random number generator!