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Health & Fitness

Know Your Childbirth Options

Stoney Creek juniors and seniors find out it's never too early to learn about Peaceful Birthing!

INCREDIBLE!  My husband Will and I had the opportunity to share some of what we know about birthing babies peacefully with about 30 juniors and seniors at Stoney Creek HS. I am jazzed! What a great way to spend a Thursday morning.   A big thanks to teacher Melissa Mathies for sharing her Child Development class with us.

We entered the room to see welcoming faces. Some students had car seats with 'babies' in them, alerting parents when they need attention. One student wore an empathy belly. Cool!  I have had a long time dream to share with students that birthing a baby is normal.......is natural......it is a normal, natural function of a  women's body. 

Today my dream came true.  I have felt passionate to share this information with young women and men to help them on their journey of discovering about birth, when the time is right for them!) I believe that how and where we give birth is a personal choice.  No one can tell YOU the best way for YOU to give birth.  I also believe that birth can be joyful and personally, the best experience in my life.

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The class has been studying pregnancy and birth.  We started off asking students to give us a few words that come to mind when they think of childbirth:   pain, fear, excited, long, hard…….

This did not surprise me.  It’s probably how a lot of us think about birth.  But this was a room filled with people who had never birthed a baby………there is no way that they have personally experienced birth to be painful, fearful and long ….this is proof of how most Americans view childbirth and pass these stories on.   Other areas of the globe have much different perspectives and expectateions of what childbirth is.   A favorite quote of mine from Dr. Grantley Dick-Read, English author of ‘Childbirth Without Fear’, “No other natural bodily function is painful, and childbirth should not be an exception”.

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As I was reflecting on our time at Stoney Creek……..I thought even more people than high schools students might benefit from this information:

  • Discovering the best place for you to birth; hospital, birth center or home.
  • Discovering the best professional to birth with; Obstetrician, Certified Nurse Midwife, Direct Entry Midwife, and receiving support from a Doula and also a Childbirth Educator.
  • Dr. Dick-Read’s premise…..normal bodily functions; heart pumping, lungs breathing, stomach digesting are not painful.  Pain is expereienced when there is a problem;  heart attack, ulcer – pain is the way the body signals that something needs attention, that there is fear or stress present.
  • Knowing that our body will birth easily when free of fear…..when
    our flight or fight system is not triggered. 
  • Visualization helps with birth.    Our body responds to what we are thinking.  Thinking positive mental thoughts of our body, our baby and of birth make the process smoother and easier.
  • Endorphins are released when we are relaxed and happy.  Endorphins are 200 stronger than morphine.
  • Just as with yoga, breath is essential for comfortable childbirth.  Discovering that the Mind/Body connection iswhat controls childbirth is a key component to good birth.
  • Entering into birth educated and prepared will bring the most satisfying
    outcomes.

It is important to educate yourself about the basic fundamental beliefs and training of the professionals we hire for our births.  Who do we feel most comfortable with?

Obstetrician:  Physician – completed residency in OB & GYN.  Proficient at surgery.  Tends to use medical management to support birth.  Most often supports birth in a hospital setting. 

Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM):  Center for the Childbearing Year in Ann Arbor tells us that CNMs are credentialed through the American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM). They are RNs with additional Masters-level training in midwifery. Nurse midwives can attend births in hospitals, free-standing birth
centers, and homes, though they are primarily found working in hospitals.  All midwives tend to believe strongly in the normalcy of birth, woman-centered birth, non-separation of mom and baby, the benefits of water immersion for pain relief, use of the upright position to support normal physiology, freedom of movement in labor, and breastfeeding.

Direct Entry Midwife (DEM):  Direct-entry midwives may attend homebirths
or out-of-hospital birth center births. Typically they work with low-risk, healthy women who desire a normal, non-medicated birth. A complete homebirth or birth center service package should include prenatal care, attendance at your labor and birth, and postpartum care, with phone consultations as needed.

Direct-entry midwives may participate in a national certification process through the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM). A midwife who has completed experiential skills training and passed the NARM exam earns the Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) credential.

Doula:   A Labor Companion.  The word "doula" comes from the ancient Greek meaning "a woman who serves" and is now used to refer to a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; or who provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period. Studies have shown that when doulas attend birth, labors are shorter with fewer complications, babies are healthier and they breastfeed more easily.

It is also important to understand your options of places to birth.  Where do you feel most comfortable and supported?

Hospital: 

  • Medically managed – standard protocols are IV, External Fetal Monitoring (EFM), epidural/narcotics, Pitocin
  • Higher medical intervention rate
  • Usually encouraged to labor in bed
  • Best for high risk pregnancies

In-Hospital Birth Center:

  • No routine IV’s or External Fetal Monitor (EFM)
  • Low medical management.  Low medical intervention rate.
  • No option of epidural/narcotics/Pitocin
  • No High risk pregnancies
  • Follows medical protocols set by hospital.

Freestanding Birth Center: 

  • More freedom from protocols.  Lowest medical intervention rate.
  • No IV’s ,No EFM,  monitored with Doppler, low medical management
  • No option of epidural/narcotics/Pitocin
  • No High risk pregnancies

 Homebirth:

  • Trained midwives with medical supplies, oxygen etc.  Lowest medical intervention rate.
  • No IV’s, No EFM. monitored most often with Doppler, low medical management
  • No option of epidural/narcotics/Pitocin
  • No High risk pregnancies

As I am finishing this Patch blog post, I received a card in the mail from Stoney
Creek’s Child Development Class:

“You Guys were great!  You helped me with my future plans!”

“It was a very relaxing thing to hear that birth can be relaxing.”

“It was very cool and interesting and it gave me a new perspective.”

“It was good to see a real life example.”

“Changed my whole view on all the different ways of birth.”

The dream has come full circle – thank you students….. perfect ending to a perfect day.

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