Educate Yourself About Birth

I really had to put some thought into today's post. Today's prompt for Jenni's blog every day in May is:

Day 8, Wednesday: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.

So this one is for the pregnant women out there. Whether is your first or fifth baby, this is still important.

Educate yourself.

That may sound simple, but you would be surprised how many women have had babies, or are about to have babies and are uneducated about their options and what's about to happen to them.

Part of being a doula is educating women about their options and how to help them prevent unnecessary and unwanted interventions from happening

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Did you know that your nipples shouldn't crack and bleed? A lot of women think this is just part of breastfeeding. Yes soreness will happen, and yes it might feel uncomfortable at first, but if your nipple is cracked and bleeding, that is a sign of a poor latch. Babies can latch on to each nipple differently too.

Did you know the longer you can breastfeed on one side the better the milk is for the baby? The milk gets fattier and is better for the baby, they will gain weight better and will be able to longer between feedings. Don't listen to this 10 minute on each side crap that some Dr.'s say.

Did you know that a lot of hospitals have wireless monitoring systems? You can get monitored while being out of that bed.

Did you know that when you sign the consent form for an epidural it says in most of them that your Dr. can then do more medical procedures without telling you? Read the consent form when touring the hospital so you know what you might be agreeing to, before you're all crazy in labor. This is how a lot of Dr.'s give episiotomies without telling you.

Did you know that pitocin, the drug they use to induce you, creates a different kind of contraction than your body naturally produces? It causes stronger, longer, and closer together contractions. I know a lot of women get induced at 38 weeks, but natural gestation can go up to 42 weeks. Waiting until your body goes into natural labor and doing things to help to keep your labor from stalling can make a huge difference in your experience and in your baby.

Did you know that the baby actually releases a hormone when they're ready to be born, and that's what puts your body into labor?

A plug for doulas, did you know that having a doula at your labor statistically makes your labor shorter, and lessens the amount of interventions you might have?

And most of all, if you want a natural birth, please prepare yourself, don't just say "I'll see how far I can go" That's essentially saying you'll use pain medication. If you want a natural birth, preparation and techniques need to be involved.

Educate yourself, talk to your doctor about your options to make sure they're supportive, and write a birth plan so it's clear what you want.


Linking up with Rolled Up Pretty

First Birth As A Doula

Since I became able to attend births as a doula a few weeks ago I've had the opportunity to attend two births.

The first birth I ever attended was for the sweetest family. They are just the calmest, most loving couple I know. They were scheduled to be induced for their third birth. With less than a week before the scheduled induction they were so kind to invite me to come to their birth.

As part of being a doula, you have pre birth meetings with them, to go over their birth preference plan, their fears, their ideals, and to educate. I met with this sweet mother a few days before her scheduled induction. We had a great meeting and it was good to get an idea for the type of birth she was wanting. I had taken work off on her scheduled induction date a few days away.

But in the way of most births, she went into labor in the wee hours of the morning, just after meeting with me. She is pretty much a rockstar and labored at home for hours. She text me when they were heading to the hospital. She was already a 7! (great for her, but sad for me since I have to be with the mother from a 4 on for it to count for my certification). I wasn't sure if they'd still want me to come, but both her, and her husband were so nice and still wanted me there. I left work as early as I could and made it there just in time for her to finish dilating. She had to have a spinal done since her epidural didn't work. She was so brave and allowed 3 nursing students to attend her birth. She said later, that the extra positive reinforcement was really helpful.

Once she started to push the nurse told her to tuck her chin to her head and push (Grrr, this is not the best way to push, since a lot of the force goes to your head, causing it to turn red, or purple, thus they call it purple pushing) After she pushed like that for a few times the nurse left to page the doctor again and I quietly reminded her to push with her throat open, like we had talked about. The nurse came back in and the mother started pushing with an open throat and BAM that baby was down there and crowned in just a few pushes. The nurse said stop pushing! and paged the doctor again. Well, while we were all waiting she had another contraction and little girl came out all on her own and was caught by their wonderful nurse.

Their little girl was beautiful and healthy, and had some great hair. I was so glad that I was able to be there. They took her baby off to get warm and see if it helped her lungs and left the mother alone in the room for up to a half an hour multiple times, so I was able to just sit and talk with her for a while, it was wonderful. It was amazing to see that the things I learned and suggested helped. They helped her get her baby out quickly, and they helped her establish breastfeeding quickly. That was SO cool to me. Like wow, they really do work!

Stay tuned for the story of my second birth as a doula.

*This post was made with permission from the mother

Doula

Hi, my name is Sam and I spent this entire weekend becoming a trained doula.

What's a doula you ask?

A doula is a trained birth attendant who provides continuous support to the mother, the baby, and the partner to help them attain a positive birth experience.

It is amazing the statistics, of what a difference having a doula at your birth makes. You're less likely to request any form of pain medication. You're less likely to have unwanted interventions (epidurals, episiotomy, c-sections). And the best part? You're stastically likely to have a shorter birth.

• If you're going for a natural birth, the knowledge and support that a doula can provide can help you get that birth that you want.
• If you're going in for an induction, and therefore need an epidural, a doula can help you feel apart of your labor, as many woman feel like their birth experience was taken away from them when they can't feel anything.
• If you're going in for a C-Section, if a doula is allowed in the room she can provide support to the mother while husband watches the birth, and explain what is going on. If she's not allowed it the room, she can provide support to the mother while the husband is in the nursery with the baby, helping a mother process through her birth.

I'm so passionate about birth and relearning to trust in our body's ability to give birth. I'm passionate about teaching and involving the partner during the birth to allow the couple to bond even further.

I learned so much and so excited to offer my services to women for very cheap or free as I work towards my international certification.

So if you know anyone in the Salt Lake area who's pregnant and would like a doula, e-mail me and let me know!