Good Reasons To Avoid Being Induced

Sally's last entry was so fun to read that I don't want to overshadow it by posting too soon again, but I also just couldn't wait to share this intriguing article on why babies need to stay in until the last possible moment. Just look at the difference in brain development during the last stages of pregnancy! Babies are not just adding weight at end. We all know that the time in the womb is so important and how avoiding prematurity is so critical! But this article shows how even more important it is than many realize, to avoid being induced!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122999215427128537.html?mod=article-

Birth Conference as personal study

I get emails from Sarah J. Buckley. She is an MD who has experienced homebirth, and author of Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering, which the Logan Library will be getting next month.

Anyway, in her latest email, it was announced she will be presenting a post-conference workshop on Undisturbing Birth at the Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health in San Francisco in April. So I checked out the website for the conference. There are going to be some wonderful sessions!

Now I'm not even considering attending. But it's like reading the seed catalog in winter - all fun, no mud. Well, not that attending a conference is like getting muddy, but you know.

I love to read about sessions to get an idea of what people are doing to improve birth in the world. I love to read about people and their passions. It's inspiring. I love to read their words, especially if there's a website or book to turn to for more!

For example:

Simple Tools

Karen Strange

This presentation will explore the sequence of events that occurs spontaneously throughout the process of labor and birth. Consideration will be given to the ancient and inherent wisdom that is reflected within birth's unique embryological template. The integration of modern science and technology into the experience of birth will also be addressed. Attendees will learn the significance of humans as mammals and why this matters. The presentation will contemplate a mother's mental and emotional state and the impact it creates on the baby's brain, nervous system, and especially, temperament. Most importantly, emphasis will be given to situations in which things do not go as planned and how to make repair. Focus will be placed on making sense of the unexpected, telling the story, pacing, attunement, love and empathy.

Teaching Adults How to Understand Babies Judyth Weaver This experiential workshop will teach simple exercises that can be used to assist adults to learn more about the child's experiences-from the inside out-somatically as well as emotionally and intellectually. The more fully teachers, therapists, medical professionals, parents and other adults understand the situation of the child, the more sensitive and connected they can be to those children. They can communicate more intuitively and coherently with children. Playing roles of baby and adult in turn will give participants understandings and skills that can support health and communication during pregnancy, can set the temperament for the passage of birth, promote empathy, build healthier connections and bonding with the newborn, and develop sensitive interactions that support relationships into childhood and beyond. These exercises can be used to teach adults to become more attuned to children, help children of all ages to repair and resolve traumatic experiences, and help adults understand their own past traumas and how to repair and resolve them.

and:

The Holistic Parenting Program: Preconception to Birth & Beyond

Julie Gerland and Francois Gerland

Discover this unique and dynamic new program that unites scientific discoveries and ancient wisdom in its approach to accompanying and empowering parents to prepare themselves from soul to cell to give their best to their child right from the start of parenthood. Participants will discover the importance of achieving emotional safety and experience transforming limiting core beliefs and subconscious programming by connecting with the powerful archetypal inner parents. In this interactive and experiential workshop participants will learn why and how parents-to-be achieve their optimum health in harmony with Nature and the importance of conscious conception, prenatal bonding, Hypnobirthing® natural childbirth preparation, and holistic infant bonding. The Holistic Parenting Educator certificate is a two-year training. This workshop is open to everyone.

Fragile Beginnings: Supporting Parents in the Tender Taking In Period Phyllis Klaus There is new knowledge of the importance of skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding in the first hours after birth, both of which contribute to maternal-infant bonding and the creation of secure attachment. Patterns laid down in this early period have far reaching effects. Parents will benefit when caregivers understand the profound and changing needs physiologically and psychologically of the infant and parents in these first hours. New data will be presented to describe the delicacy of this period. By understanding the infant's and parents' physical and emotional experiences and the elements that interfere with positive experiences including traumatic birth, separation, unresolved distress, past abuse, marital conflict, losses, and so forth, caregivers can reduce the interruptions and heal the unresolved traumas to re-create the lost ideal experience.

Doesn't that sound like something interesting to ponder, even if you never read their book or attend their sessions?

This one is rather intriguing:

Painless Childbirth

Guiditta Tornetta, Certified Doula, BA, CCH

Painless Childbirth is a nine-step guide empowering women through the miracle of pregnancy and birth. It emerges from the relationship between three elements: the nine months of pregnancy, the fetal development during these nine months, and the nine chakras that reflect the nine basic aspects of our mental, physical and spiritual well-being. Each chakra embodies a 'basic human right.' Once we own our basic human rights, we can then shepherd our children into this world painlessly. Pain is associated with something gone wrong. By contrast, childbirth is a natural event with a known positive outcome. While labor can be intense, usually a contraction lasts just one minute. What we must do is learn how to manage that one minute-one minute at a time. This is not another breathing technique but a shift in consciousness. To obtain a painless childbirth we need to shift the birth paradigm from "Labor is happening to me," to "My baby and I are working together to finally embrace each other in the outside world."

Participants will be able to:

1. Learn nine-steps to painless childbirth and gain a perspective of ancient and lingering fears related to giving birth.
2. Help clients see the relationship between the nine months of gestation and the fetus's development thereby encouraging more communication between mother and child.
3. Acknowledge that thousands of women are experiencing painless childbirth and teach other women to do so as well.

Intended Audience: Health Care and Mental Health Professionals-Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced

(be careful googleing Guiditta's name - it's also the name of someone who made a movie/book about Playboy!)

Hope you enjoyed these ideas!

Painless Childbirth Guiditta Tornetta, Certified Doula, BA, CCH Painless Childbirth is a nine-step guide empowering women through the miracle of pregnancy and birth. It emerges from the relationship between three elements: the nine months of pregnancy, the fetal development during these nine months, and the nine chakras that reflect the nine basic aspects of our mental, physical and spiritual well-being. Each chakra embodies a 'basic human right.' Once we own our basic human rights, we can then shepherd our children into this world painlessly. Pain is associated with something gone wrong. By contrast, childbirth is a natural event with a known positive outcome. While labor can be intense, usually a contraction lasts just one minute. What we must do is learn how to manage that one minute-one minute at a time. This is not another breathing technique but a shift in consciousness. To obtain a painless childbirth we need to shift the birth paradigm from "Labor is happening to me," to "My baby and I are working together to finally embrace each other in the outside world." Participants will be able to: Learn nine-steps to painless childbirth and gain a perspective of ancient and lingering fears related to giving birth. Help clients see the relationship between the nine months of gestation and the fetus's development thereby encouraging more communication between mother and child. Acknowledge that thousands of women are experiencing painless childbirth and teach other women to do so as well. Intended Audience: Health Care and Mental Health Professionals-Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced

~s~

Midwives Deliver

LA Times Article, Dec. 24, 2008

Midwives Deliver
America Needs Better Birth Care, And Midwives Deliver It
Jennifer Block, Author of Pushed Birth

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-block24-2008dec24,0,2046506.story

~J~

"High-risk" homebirth in England

This is just another short story that illustrates how different the "official" line about homebirth is in the UK. This woman had a c-section her first birth, and planned to have a homebirth the second time around. That's not so shocking - that happens in the US, too. What's interesting is that they used the same health care system both times around. When she went into labor with her planned homebirth, she "called the labour ward," and a midwife came 'round.

In the mother's words:

"All it needed was time, good support, a relaxed environment and a lot of maternal effort! I've experienced both ends of the scales. Last time I made a complaint about my midwife, this time I couldn't praise them enough. Good supportive midwives are the key to a good birthing outcome."

Wow.

~s~

"Pregnant women are urged to give birth in their own homes"

True or false: "Pregnant women are urged to give birth in their own homes" is a real, honest-to-goodness news story.

True!

This news article ran in the Scotsman last week. Here are some highlights:

"MOTHERS-to-be are to be encouraged to stay away from hospital in an effort to more than double the number of home births in the Lothians.

"It is thought that avoiding long trips to and from the maternity units – including the sometimes hectic dash to 'get there on time' -- – will make the experience of giving birth more relaxed for many women.

"There has been a gradual increase in the popularity of home births in recent years,... Health chiefs hope to see that number rise to closer to 400 in the coming years, or five per cent of all births.

"A maternity services management team dedicated to arranging support for home births already exists.

"Gillian Smith, director of the Royal College of Midwives in Scotland, said: 'The number of women who have home births in the Lothians is already much higher than the Scottish average, and it shows that NHS Lothian already does really well in showing women that they have a choice.

"'To get that up to five per cent would be really something, and it's all about letting women know that they have the option if they want to.'"

That's just so totally and completely from the "official" stance here in the States, I don't even know what to say.

On a completely different note, while poking around the Scotsman, I discovered that Alexander McCall-Smith's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency has been made into a BBC tv movie! I can't wait to see it!

~s~

Some Afternoon Light Could Help Your Baby To Sleep Better

This was an interesting article. Don't we all sleep better when we've had some sun?

"According to a study [published in the Journal of Sleep Reasearch (2004) 13: 345-352] of 56 infants between 6 and 12 weeks old, daylight, which dictates sleep patterns by affecting human circadian rhythms, may be the key to better sleep. Those infants who were the best night sleepers were exposed to significantly more light in the early afternoon than poor sleepers. Needless to say, a baby's tender skin should not be exposed to bright sunlight without proper protection." Great Life May 2005

J