johncsnider

http://www.ounewsbureau.com/?attachment_id=4275 My friend Liz had a midwife during her first (of three) pregnancy. Her midwife explained to her that giving birth is like running a marathon . There is no way that you are going to have a good experience running a marathon if you just show up the day of the race and start running. If anyone has had a good experience doing this, keep it to yourself! I have ran and was glad that I trained. I hear from endless women who made little to no effort to prepare for their baby's actual birth. They planned for the nursery, the clothes, their diets, their maternity leave but completely left out the birth. I've heard pregnant women say "I'm just going to show up and get that wonderful epidural" or "my doctor is going to step me through it". I know no one in these situations who looks back on their experience as beautiful and being in control of their body. So here's the issue with those thoughts. That epidural is u...

The placenta of baby #2 I had heard of people eating their placenta after birth. Supposedly it is extremely common around the world and has been done for eons BUT it seemed weird and extreme! So the thought did not cross my mind (although my doula had suggested it) for baby #1. By the time I was pregnant with baby #2 I had learned about all of the positive benefits of consuming your placenta post-partum. It is really a miracle substance that prevents postpartum depression, stabilizes hormones and keeps your vitamins and minerals in balance. My midwife highly recommended it since I had been anemic and since my life was going to be extremely busy. Not only was I about to take a newborn home to a household with a 2 year old BUT, I was moving 2.5 weeks after the baby was born and leaving the country with the family the day after the move. It was a busy time in life. I heard about having my placenta encapsulated and that felt like a method that I could deal with. Popping a pill is easy. I...

J.B. is an American ex-patriot living in Kenya. She is the only person that I know who came into this world via home birth (one of five kids her mother homebirthed!) so she is very aware of birthing world.  I always post my favorite birth first so her second birth is first below. Her first birth was medically induced and ended in a caesarian also below and is the second story below. I love J.B.'s use of the bath to recharge herself during early and late labor. I had no idea about laughing gas during labor. Supposedly it is incredibly safe and effective during contractions but too much exposure by medical staff can be dangerous so it is not used in the U.S. Let me know if you have more info on it. **** J.B.'s Second Birth: A Laughing Gas VBAC  **** It was a beautiful, sunny morning.  I was getting ready to go to my acupuncture appointment, when I started to feel a strange feeling in my lower abdomen (aka. the part of my tummy that I could no longer see).  It...

H.H. in her birth story below shares how hard it was for her during the rough transition phase of birth not to choose the opiate that the medical staff was pushing on her. Thanks to her inner strength and the support of her doula and spouse, she was able to stick with her plan for a natural birth that resulted in a fast and easy delivery. **** H.H's Natural Birth **** So I woke up on my birthday August 22 with what I thought were contractions. I thought this is my birthday gift, the birthday of my first daughter.  I remember making a wish the year before blowing out my candles wishing for a new life and new chapters, well I got my wish, a new chapter was unfolding. My birthday was the day that I was to have my first prenatal massage, what a luxury that was. My husband picked me up from my massage and we went to an Italian restaurant for dinner where I had some of the most amazing pesto ravioli that I have ever had. It was a warm night and it was about an hour walk home. I felt good...

Below J.S. has shared her birth story with us. I applaud her for realizing that there was too much medical intervention that caused her to have a caesarian for her first birth so this is the story of her second birth. She followed her inner feeling that her body could do it and she did. Sadly she lives in a State that does not allow the type of birth that she wanted even though home births are proven SAFER than hospital births! **** J.S.'s Illegal Home Birth **** It was a Thursday. I had my 38 week appointment that morning.  Everything looked good. It seemed that we still had another  couple of weeks, which was nice, considering that was only the  second time I had met my midwife. Little did we know, I would  see her again in less than a day’s time. Our son would be born  before sunrise. His birth was the easiest part of this story. The pregnancy of my older son, about three years earlier, ended  with an unwanted and unwarranted c-section. Althoug...

When I was pregnant for the first time, a new mom was talking to me and shared the story of her beautiful and happy birth. I had always thought that birthing was a negative experience that you had to go through one way or another (except for the exception of my mom who had me drugless 30 minutes after entering the hospital). This friend loaned me some books and I began asking other moms about their experiences. What I found was that, the women who went into birthing well prepared and educated with all of their options were the ones who can out HAPPY with their birth experiences even if it did match their birth plan because they were empowered. This posting is the first of several postings where actual moms share their birth stories with you.  I am the first to share, so here are the stories of my first two births: **** My Second: The Easy Midwife Birth **** My second birth was easy (a relative term of course) and I admit it! It was also fun and exciting! Yes I was lucky but I set ...

In the movies it seems like a woman goes into labor, runs to the hospital, lays on her back and then has her baby. In reality, most women have an early labor that lasts for hours (and often days) in which it is in their best interest to stay home and work through their labor before going to the hospital. So what do you do at home?  Well a good birthing class will teach you what to do during each stage of labor and delivery. Most importantly, birthing classes give moms and partners the self confidence that they need and the tools to empower themselves. I am sure that most of you reading this are looking for a natural un-medicated birth and a good class will teach you how to be in control of your body and not experience "pain." There are several options that you should investigate to see what is the best option for you. image: www.123rf.com ronen Doula For my first birth, I had a doula who came to our home and gave my husband and I private birth preparation classes. ...

image: http://www.freeimages.co.uk What is a birth plan? A birth plan is a list of what you want during labor, delivery and postpartum. It is helpful for you to sit down and decide on what decisions you want made in advance so you are not having to make spur of the moment decisions in between contractions and no details will be forgotten.  During my first pregnancy, I had so much to learn and found it useful just to read through the options that my doctor never told me about. I became very educated by just researching what those options meant! Free birth plan template. This one is really good from Earth Mama Angel Baby:  http://www.earthmamaangelbaby.com/free-birth-plan Should I create a birth plan? During my first pregnancy, my doula had me review all the birthing options. She was adamant about me not being too set on a fixed "birth plan" because she wanted me to be flexible and not get too disappointed if my dream birth did not happen. Since my doula was at my side the ...

I had no clue what a doula was. Then two moms both raved about their doula. As soon as my husband heard the other husbands rave about their doulas, he was sold and instantly made me call her and hire her. The story that got me was the couple that went for the cessation with a breach baby. Of course that was not in their birth plan but they said that the doula kept them both calm and turned it into an embracing and positive experience where it would have been horrifying without her. I had a doula for my first birth and she was priceless.   And of course she shared her wonderful pregnancy tea recipe with me! I will speak more about her when it is my turn to tell my birth story. For my second birth, my midwife told me not to have a doula because she (psychic or really talented?) predicted how fast my labor would be and told me that as soon as my contracts started, I needed to run to the hospital and that she would be at my side the entire time! It was true! Here is some information ...

image: www.openphoto.net Adrian van Leen This is a recipe for pregnancy tea that my doula, Karen Kelly (now a midwife!) shared with me.  I ordered the individual dried herbs from  Mountain Rose Herbs and there were enough to last through my multiple pregnancies and several gifts to other expectant moms. It is much more cost effective than buying store bought pregnancy tea bags, you know that you have fresh organic ingredients, and you know that it is the right combination of herbs. This mineral rich tea is also a great tea for labor, after birth and lactation! Pregnancy Brew Ingredients 8 parts Red Raspberry leaf  3 parts Alfalfa herb  3 parts Peppermint leaf  2 parts Nettle leaf Simply add in 1 to 2 tsps of the premixed herbs to 1 cup of hot water. And let it steep for 5 to 10 mins. Sweeten with raw honey if you desire. Drink daily from 16 weeks on! Red Raspberry leaf used as a basic herbal foundation for all female organs and problems. decreases profuse ...

Here is the stereotype: Back in the old days, women used midwives and almost always gave birth at home (true).  Then modern medicine came along in the 20th century and doctors provided a supposedly healthier way of giving birth in hospitals. Now we are in the 21st century and only crazy hippies would use a midwife so they could give birth at home without medical support.  THIS IS SO WRONG!  GET THIS OUT OF YOUR HEAD NOW! Don't get too comfy with your OB. One of the most common things that I hear from women is that they love their pre-pregnancy OBGYN so they stick with that care provider because they feel comfortable.  Or they know one friend who just gave birth with an OB so they use that doctor.  Although this makes sense to these moms, I challenge all of you pregnant moms to look at the data and hear the birth stories of women on both sides of the caregiving spectrum. Lower your chances of a cesarean by using a midwife! The World Health Organization says that ...