Joy Szabo: Don’t Roll Over and Take it

Remember this mom who traveled hundreds of miles to have a VBAC after her local hospital banned them?

ICAN interviewed Joy Szabo about her choices and her feelings, and she shares some very good advice.

Joy Szabo: Don’t Roll Over and Take it

Breastfeeding on Children's Television

What do you think?







I heard about an episode on Mr. Roger's Neighborhood that showed different ways that babies eat, including breastfeeding. Unfortunately the video has been removed from youtube due to copyright issues, but here is a short snippet of a video of it:

Delayed Cord Clamping is Best for Babies

Delayed Cord Clamping Should be Standard Practice in Obstetrics

The photo to the left is of my 9 year-old son cutting his newborn brother's umbilical cord, at least 30 minutes after birth. The placenta had been delivered and wrapped in a chux pad and placed at the baby's feet while I held him and we bonded before cutting the cord. It was very peaceful and nothing felt rushed or hectic. Notice that the cord is white because there isn't any more blood going through it at that point.

The article above discusses clinical findings that support delayed clamping of the umbilical cord after birth. I've read other books and articles on the subject which have supported this as well, and with all three of my un-medicated births we waited to cut the cord. From what I've read, it generally takes 8-20 minutes for the umbilical cord to stop pulsating after birth, and it's best to wait until the pulsating stops before clamping and cutting the cord. This is because there is vital blood being pumped from the placenta, through the cord, to the newborn, and early clamping can rob the baby of this precious blood and potentially cause problems. I'm happy to see more research being done on the subject.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

"For the majority of my career, I routinely clamped and cut the umbilical cord as soon as it was reasonable. Occasionally a patient would want me to wait to clamp and cut for some arbitrary amount of time, and I would wait, but in my mind this was just humoring the patient and keeping good relations. After all, I had seen all my attendings and upper level residents clamp and cut right away, so it must be the right thing, right?

"Later in my career I was exposed to enough other-thinking minds to consider that maybe this practice was not right. And after some research I found that there was some pretty compelling evidence that indeed, early clamping is harmful for the baby. So much evidence in fact, that I am a bit surprised that as a community, OBs in the US have not developed a culture of delayed routine cord clamping for neonatal benefit."

Blogging Meme - Tag, You're It!

I don't normally play blogger games, but a blogging friend of mine has tagged me in a "meme". This meme asks bloggers to share three of their favorite, newly discovered blogging reads in an effort to share great content.

I was tagged by Bump2Basics and I'm tagging The Beginning of Motherhood, I Love Junk Mail, and The Girl is a Mom.

And now for 3 newly discovered blogs I follow:

Public Health Doula - I enjoy this blog for really good statistically accurate information about pregnancy and birth. The author is a doula who supports natural birth and is currently working on a Masters of Public Health Degree.

Enjoy Birth Blog - This is a really fun one to follow. The author is a doula and Hypnobabies instructor. I love her positive spin on all things related to birth and babies.

this mom life - A friend of mine recently started this blog about home birth and motherhood. She is also the creator of Bring Birth Home, a website devoted to educating women about the safety and beauty of home birth.

Have fun blogging!

Why a Doula is Better Than Your Best Friend

This article by Birthing Hands of DC on facebook is really good! It discusses why sometimes family and medical staff are not enough support or the right kind of support a woman needs in labor and birth.

Why a Doula is Better Than Your Best Friend

In my own experiences I've found what this woman writes to be absolutely true. I've had some friends tell me "I don't need a doula. My husband is a great labor coach, and he is all I need." My response to that is that my husband is a fantastic labor coach as well, but it always helps to have another set of hands and an unattached, unbiased, knowledgeable person there to support me.

Thinking Out Loud Re: Breech Babies

This topic has become very important to me since giving birth to a breech baby last year, and I'd like to share some of my thoughts on the subject with anyone who cares to read.

Laws in many states require that mothers whose babies are in a breech or transverse position be under the care of a physician and give birth in the hospital. In cases in which the mother is planning a vaginal birth, this usually means a change in plans and a scheduled c-section. If the mother is planning a home birth with a midwife, this means changing her care to an OB and planning a hospital birth (again, most likely a cesarean section).

Why?

This blog post explains in detail about breech babies: Breech Presentation: Risks and Options.

There are ways to try to turn a breech baby into a favorable position before birth. My blog post above describes some of these, and there is also an excellent online resource called Spinning Babies that gives great information about breech babies and how to attempt to encourage a fetus to turn into a vertex (head-down) position. Sometimes the baby moves on its own or with help and the mother is able to plan a normal vaginal birth. Sometimes however, the baby stays breech, and the mother must seriously consider her birthing options at that point.

A recent study was done which found that the risks of c-section outweigh the risks of vaginal breech delivery: C-Section Not Best For Breech Birth. The study states that vaginal breech delivery is the preferable option of birthing breech babies, and that doctors should be trained to support women in this option.

The sad truth is that doctors are no longer trained in vaginal breech delivery. With cesarean section becoming more widely used, it has become the common method of delivering a breech baby. Unless you have an older doctor who has had experience with vaginal breech births, your doctor is likely unqualified to support you in birthing your breech baby if you want a vaginal birth. With many midwives, however, the skill of vaginal breech birth is still being taught and passed down.

The laws however, do not support the evidence. Automatic transfer of care of breech babies, in my opinion, should NOT be required. I feel the laws should allow for the care provider and the expectant parents to make an informed choice in how to birth their baby.

As explained in my blog post above, there are different types of breech presentation and some are more risky than others. For example, a full-term baby in frank breech position is the best candidate for a vaginal breech birth, and a woman with a baby in this position should be given the option of vaginal birth with a provider who is skilled to support her. This could be a midwife or a doctor, as long as he or she has the proper training, and depending on the woman's preferences and choice of birth place. If the baby is a stargazer (looking upward) there is a great risk to the spinal cord if a vaginal delivery is attempted, and experts agree that a c-section is warranted. These are just two examples of breech presentations.

Transfer of care should be a case-by-case decision based on the precise presentation of the baby. A woman should be informed of her options of attempting to turn the baby, as well as the risks and options associated with her infant's presentation and all proposed methods of birth.

This may not be a realistic expectation with current trends, but I hope that in time changes can be made. If doctors are not trained in their regular curriculum about breech birth, then perhaps additional training should be made available to those who are interested in learning and offering the service to their patients. This training should be evidence-based and consistent, and available to midwives as well. Perhaps a certificate could be given, such as with CPR and NRP (neonatal resuscitation) training. Ideally, it would be a requirement for all birth care providers, as basic as any other training they receive.

Baby Mamas (Put a Sling On 'Em)

More about baby wearing and slings

wrapyourbaby.com

Men At Birth - First Male Doula Certified by DONA

"Keith Roberts is unfazed by the attention given him as the first man to be certified as a doula by DONA. He has has spent over 30 years in the field of holistic care, specifically focusing on pregnancy massage therapy and birth support for the last fourteen. The prenatal massage work he does was a segue to following one mother right into labor where he found expert massage therapy was extremely beneficial to her in labor. She was the first of fifteen more mothers he supported in labor before he determined to pursue certification as a doula."

Men At Birth: Yes, He's My Doula

This is a really interesting article about a male doula, and how he feels his support in labor is so helpful. The article also lists some really good advice for expectant parents.

Your Life Matters

Power in Birth

For me choosing unmedicated birth is partially a matter of control. When I was in labor with my first child I felt completely out of control, helpless. The hospital staff were telling me what I should do, and since I didn't know I had other options, I fearfully complied. I gave in to the epidural because I felt I had no other choice, and I couldn't handle the pain in those circumstances. I felt I had somehow failed for giving in, but I couldn't see how I could have done any differently.

The more I learned and the more support I sought, the more I was able to claim my own power and take control of my birth experiences. I feel powerful when I give birth without medication. I would rather feel everything, from the most intense pain to the unbelievable ecstasy of birth, than to be numb to the whole experience. There's nothing that compares to it, and being able to master the kind of control you have in birth is a monumental accomplishment. It's a beautiful balance of control and submission, and once you experience that you are never the same person again.

Birth has also been very faith-promoting for me, as I put my faith in God, and He is the one I trust to guide me in the process of working with my body and my baby. It's not about pain.