Midwife & Lactation Consultant
For some birth stories, check out these websites below. They feature all kind of birth - at home, in the hospital, in a birthing center, with midwives and doctors, as well as natural births, births with pain medication, birth with interventions, and Cesarean births. Enjoy the beautiful variety!
For a hospital birth, whether or not a midwife can administer pain medication depends on what kind of pain medication we're talking about. For a home birth, it depends on the midwife. Read the article from Choices in Childbirth to get more information:
Can A Midwife Administer Pain Medication? By Barbara Sellers, CNM
It happens! Babies are breeched and babies flip to the head down position. Occasionally they stay in the breech position. Ideally, baby flips! If your baby is in the breech position and you need to get them to flip, these are my recommended resources:
Spinning Babies: Breech Babies - very informational and detailed - recommend reading it all the way through
Prenatal Chiropractic Visits - ask me for a recommendation, based on where you are
Acupuncture - ask me for a recommendation, based on where you are
Good luck!!
Such a fascinating article! Excerpt below, and definitely head over here to read the article from Midwife Thinking in its entirety, as well as watch the videos.
Here are the bullet points from the article on treating a newborn with respect:
"A humane approach to welcoming a baby to the world
Whilst in some cases it is not possible, I believe that we should aim for all babies to have the opportunity to:
Ever since I became a doula, I've been fascinated with the concept of fetal positioning. With my background in dance and yoga, and my interest in alignment, optimal fetal positioning is right up my alley when it comes to birth! A baby that is positioned well can make for a smoother birth. How does a baby get positioned well? Some of it relates to the mother's physical structure, and some of it is related to lifestyle. The good news is that during pregnancy, there are daily and weekly exercises that women can practice to encourage balance. What if you are about to give birth and haven't practiced any of these exercises? You can rest assured that most babies do turn in labor, if they haven't rotated into the optimum position already. And some babies just make their entrance in whatever position they want to be in, regardless of how "optimal" it may be.
Interested in learning more about Spinning Babies? This is something I cover with my clients during their prenatal sessions. In addition, you can also watch the parent class, available on DVD or as a download. Visit the site here to purchase: http://spinningbabies.com/shop/
Many of my birth doula clients - whether they are planning a natural birth in a hospital or birthing center, or birth with medication, or a home birth - want to create a birth plan. One hospital in NYC (NYU) provides a fairly succinct birth plan template, which is great, however I don't know many other hospitals that do provide a template. You can find some templates online, some simple and some that are pages and pages long (which I don't recommend). The image above is of a new one that I came across and thought I'd share - link below. Enjoy!
https://thebestseasonofmylife.wordpress.com/2015/08/20/a-downloadable-visual-birth-plan/
I love this article! Read the full text here.
Excerpt below:
"The problem with saying “It doesn’t matter how you give birth” is that if women take that to heart, they may not take the time to educate themselves on their choices or vet potential providers to find the right fit since the birth process doesn’t really matter anyway. Empowerment starts with women educating themselves on the childbirth process and understanding that they are the drivers of that process. Birth attendants are primarily experienced navigators who know what to do if inclement weather hits or if the car breaks down. They should not take the wheel unless there is truly no other choice.
Childbirth is the likely the hardest, most overwhelming thing a woman will ever do, so of course those experiences matter. If you walk away from your birth feeling powerless, that’s important. No matter how your baby ultimately enters the world, how you experience birth and how empowered you feel throughout the process does matter. Let’s stop telling women that it doesn’t."
Seriously! As a doula, I support my clients' personal choices. Only each woman can know what is right for her when it comes to choosing a birth location, a care provider, and what type of care she would like to receive. There are so many different ways to give birth, which is wonderful, because there are so many kinds of women!
I love this quote from this recent article that explains some of the current controversy going on in the birth world:
How and where and whether someone has a baby is, by and large, every bit as personal as the business that led to conception in the first place.
Isn't that the truth?
Read the full article here.