Pregnancy, Parenthood & Playtime

There are so many choices when it comes to pregnancy, birth, and parenting. It is almost overwhelming for most first time parents, not just mothers. I can certainly say all the baby stuff we had with my first my husband was completely overwhelmed, and sometimes had no idea what some of the baby flair was for, or what half of it even did.

One of the biggest choices you will make happens before your baby is even born, but will impact the way that they are born, and that is where you choose to deliver your baby, and that is what I will talk about today.  There are several options for delivering your baby.
Some more popular than others, and some even unknown.

Hospital Birth
Birthing in the hospital is really the choice that most people make, because of course, that is what most people do and in many cases Moms do not know they have any other choices regarding their birth place.
Hospitals in a sense offer a “one size fits all” birth for most people. Their policies, and protocols really dictate the options you have, and the choices that you will be able to make. If you want to make an alternative choice, you can prepare to bump heads with the staff in most cases. There are some awesome hospitals out there, especially here in Connecticut that are not as difficult to deal with, but make sure you are educated about the hospital and their policies before you step foot in to give birth.
Ask around, ask other mothers about their experiences, ask the staff about your provider and their experience with them.
Investigate to ensure your experience is what you want it to be.
Many women have the need for hospital care because of high risk pregnancies, pre term babies, or other various medical needs, and for their care, the hospital is the best option.

Freestanding Birth Center
What a freestanding birth center is, really, is a home like environment with medical professionals (midwives) and medical equipment (to an extent) designed to handle natural births. If you are interested in having an epidural, or pain relief provided by medication, then a free standing birth center probably isn’t for you.  The rooms tend to look like bedrooms with glorious giant tubs for birth, and showers that can be used to help provide pain relief during labor.
This is a great alternative to a home birth if you are not comfortable with that option.
Connecticut currently only has ONE freestanding birth center, which is located in Danbury. The Connecticut Childbirth Center.

Homebirth
Most people are unaware, but home birth is a valid and legal option here in the state of Connecticut. In late 2009 I wrote an interview with a local Connecticut homebirth midwife by the name of Nancy Farr. In recent studies, home birth is shown to be just as safe as a hospital birth with a trained medical professional in low risk mothers. Which is often a concern to mothers or parents.

All options depend on what the mother would like, or envision for her experience bringing her child into the world. If you feel as though birth is not an emergency or medial event, home birth or a freestanding birth center may be the best option for you. If you would like medical interventions, medications, and the overall hospital experience, then clearly a hospital birth may be the best option for you.

As many know, in the upcoming year I have a lot of personal goals that I am working towards accomplishing. One of those goals is to become a childbirth educator to be able to offer reasonable childbirth classes for women in the area, and be able to schedule classes around my childcare availability. Which seems to be the most difficult these days.

But this summer, I decided to take the step to host a Passion for Birth Lamaze childbirth educator training here in Connecticut. Which is completely exciting, but what is most exciting about it all is the instructor I have booked!  The rather popular Robin Elise Weiss.

The Passion for Birth workshop is a 3 day course, July 30- August 1st going from 8am till 5pm each day.
In the end you will be a Lamaze Trained/educated childbirth educated.
To become certified you will still need to take the Lamaze certification exam, but this is the first step in the right direction if it is something you are interested in.

Space is limited, there are 14 slots open.

One of the hardest choices parents have to make today is what we feel is safe for our children, especially when it comes to medical choices. In recent years vaccines have become a very hot button issue for many with various different reports regarding their safety, ingredients, and connections to certain conditions such as autism.

To help local parents in Fairfield and New Haven Counties to learn more about vaccines, and their safety, Jenkin’s Chiropractic and Wellness in Milford has put together an informational talk on vaccines scheduled for March 2nd, 2010 with Dr. Anne-Sophie Calvez, DC. There will be talk about ingredients, reactions, and CDC reports on vaccine related injury in not only children, but adults.
This will be their second talk on the subject as their first drew in such a big crowd.

If this is something that you may be interested in you can contact Jenkin’s Chiropractic to reserve your spot for the talk.
Seating for this event is limited, so it is suggested you call ahead of time to reserve your seat!
Contact Susan at 203-877-4198

Jenkin’s Chiropractic and Wellness is located at
97 Gulf Street
Milford, CT. 06460

In March there will be a National Conference regarding VBAC in America and I am sure this will take on and address the amount of VBAC Bans that are taking place nationally, even in our own state.  As much as I would love to attend, and had plans to go, unfortunately motherhood happens and childcare is unavailable for my boys during this 3 day mid week conference. Had this been a weekend event, I would not have had an issue.

But it is so important that VBACtivists make their way to this.  I think it is way more important than most are realizing.  This will hopefully help to change the tides and attitudes towards VBAC in our birthing community today. With the amount of illegal VBAC bans taking place nation wide, and the lack of access to women, this is truly becoming a crisis in maternity care.

It is no secret to educated women that VBAC is statistically safer than repeat cesarean sections and carry lower risks than a second major surgery, but with one third of all babies being born through major surgery, we are seeing a trend changing to the majority repeating that surgery for all subsequent births.  Right now 90% of all women have elective repeat c-sections, the vast majority for no medical reason.

So what exactly is NIH & this VBAC Conference?
March 8th-10th, in Bethesda, Maryland
the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Office of Medical Applications of Research of the National Institutes of Health will convene a Consensus Development Conference on Vaginal Birth After Cesarean.

They will touch on some very key issues such as :

• What are the rates and patterns of utilization of trial of labor after prior cesarean, vaginal birth after cesarean, and repeat cesarean delivery in the United States?
• Among women who attempt a trial of labor after prior cesarean, what is the vaginal delivery rate and the factors that influence it?
• What are the critical gaps in the evidence for decision-making, and what are the priority investigations needed to address these gaps?

• What are the short- and long-term benefits and harms to the mother of attempting trial of labor after prior cesarean versus elective repeat cesarean delivery, and what factors influence benefits and harms?
• What are the short- and long-term benefits and harms to the baby of maternal attempt at trial of labor after prior cesarean versus elective repeat cesarean delivery, and what factors influence benefits and harms?
• What are the nonmedical factors that influence the patterns and utilization of trial of labor after prior cesarean?

What happens at an NIH consensus conference?

• At the conference, invited experts will present information pertinent to these questions, and a systematic literature review prepared under contract with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) will be summarized.
• Conference attendees will have ample time to ask questions and provide statements during open discussion periods.
• After weighing the scientific evidence, an unbiased, independent panel will prepare and present a consensus statement addressing the key conference questions.

If you are unable to make it, they will also be offering an internet version, where you can watch live during the conference itself.
I will be doing this will chaotic kids in tow.

For information on registering, you can visit the conference website.
It is FREE!

I hope a lot of the awesome VBACtivists will be attending, I know so far that these awesome women will be there, so maybe just go for a chance to win such awesome advocates?

The Feminist Breeder
Jen from VBACFacts
Desirre Andrews, ICAN President
Kristin from Birthing Beautiful Ideas

I will be looking forward to all your reporting and tweeting!

I have often heard of mothers choosing their hospital based on where a certain Doctor, or Midwife delivers, and know nothing about the facility in general. Once in labor, or touring the hospital they may feel as though this really isn’t the place they want to have their baby, or while in labor they may want to do something, or use a labor tub, and there is nothing of that sort available to them.
I put together this post because I feel it is important that women know what kind of facility, as well as options their hospital or birth place provides before making the choice to deliver there.

First you need to decide what is important to you for your birth experience. Is moving around and remaining mobile and out of bed a priority?  What about the readily available option of a labor tub, shower, or a birth ball? Hospital options, as well as policy may limit these options for you which is why I start by finding out the policies and protocols of the hospitals, so essentially the rules the hospital will make you abide by while under their care.  Of course as a patient you have the right of informed consent and refusal meaning you can refuse anything they offer or any of their policies, but if you do not want your birth experience to turn into a battle, you may just want to find a facility more suited for your specific needs.

Second is learning what kind of thing you do have available to you. Do the labor and delivery suites have birth tubs, showers, birth balls, radios, tv’s or what ever other options you feel as though you need to make your experience what you desire.

Third, and most important in my eyes personally is finding your hospitals statistics for common birth procedures. Cesarean sections, episiotomies, augmented labors, inductions, epidurals, and other types of intervention. If you do not with to have a surgical birth, I would stay away from a hospital with a high cesarean section rate. These statistics will and do impact how you birth, and the type of physicians they have on staff.

In Connecticut it is not easy to find these statistics, but if you check out the Hospital Statistic Page on the Connecticut Maternity Care Worst to First page, there is a list of a couple of the statistics for the time being while the ladies from Worst to First battle to obtain the rest.

Continuing the Birth Organization of the Week, we are going to highlight DONA this week. Also known as Doulas of North America.

DONA is an International organization of Doulas, they provide membership, educational resources, and training to women across the world who are interested in supporting women in a labor environment. Started in 1992, they have been dedicated to serving women for nearly two full decades, and have built a name in the birth community for education and exceptional birth professionals.

Part of DONAs mission is :

We would like every woman who wants a doula to have one. We also want doulas to be well prepared for their important role. Our mission is to provide training and certification opportunities for doulas of varied cultures, educational backgrounds, ethnic backgrounds and socio-economic levels. Also, we aim to educate health care providers, the public and third-party payers of the benefits of a doula’s presence during childbirth and postpartum.

For more information on DONA you can visit their website.

I have been sitting on this article for about a month now trying to think how I would go ahead and review it, and pass along the information that it contains in a way that doesn’t come off too radical since most know I am not the biggest fan of c-sections, especially after having not one, but two myself. While I like to include my own personal opinions in my writing, I also like to include factual information which has helped me to form my opinion. I am not just some radical that spouts off random nonsense.

So, without any further wait… I will share an article that was published on January 11th, 2010 regarding elective cesarean sections, and their safety. When we look at the word elective, when it comes to medical terms it often means for no medical reason. Most do not know this, but the majority of scheduled repeat cesarean births do fall into this category, unless there is a real underlying medical condition that may have caused the need for cesarean birth, or some type of complication from the primary cesarean section that made subsequent surgical births necessary. Medically necessary c-sections are not what is being discussed today, or written about in this article.

The Scientific American Article includes a statement from WHO, also known as The World Health Organization and discusses that surgical births, while they may be growing in popularity around the world are simply not the safest option for mothers and babies.

“A new report from the survey, which was published online today in the medical journal The Lancet, found that in Asia—in both developed and developing nations—cesarean section births only reduced risks of major complications for mother and child if they were medically recommended. Elected surgical deliveries, on the other hand, put both at greater risk.”

“Cesarean section should be done only when there is a medical indication to improve the outcome for the mother or the baby,” the authors of the report concluded. Common reasons for a recommendation for cesarean delivery included a previous cesarean section, cephalopelvic disproportion (when the baby’s head cannot fit through the mother’s pelvic opening) and fetal distress.”

Which is something we are seeing in growing numbers in The United States. In Connecticut alone, the number of repeat cesarean sections is over 93% leaving the number of women who go on to have a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) at a small 6%.  But why are so many women making the choice for these elective surgeries? I mean, having major surgery is no walk in the park by any means.
One of the reasons is the lack of information and education about repeat cesareans, complications, and the REAL risk factors of VBAC.
Other reasons are liability for Doctors or even hospitals banning VBAC all together, leaving women with little or no options but birthing at home if they wish to have a natural birth after having a surgical birth previously.

The article then goes on to say the number of cesarean sections have reached “epidemic levels”… Makes you stop and think.

“But these risks have not necessarily been absorbed into popular, or even medical culture. The rates of cesarean section procedures are on the rise in many countries across the globe, the authors report, and in some countries they “have reached epidemic proportions.” Among the nations studied, China had the highest rate of cesarean sections that were performed without medical indication—11.7 percent; the overall rate for the facilities studied had a rate of 1.9 percent.”

Also included :

“Surgical childbirth also requires more resources than a natural vaginal delivery, the authors note. Especially in countries where money, medical practitioners or proper equipment is more limited, unnecessary cesarean sections can drain resources away from those cases in which it can improve the chances of a healthy mother and baby.”

Meaning more money, medical resources, time and effort.

While I know my measly blog post about it is not going to change the world, I hope that the increasing number of articles in medical journals will help to make a change in the birth climate of The United States, we are in such a desperate need for huge change to help lower our maternal mortality rates, and by lowering our cesarean section rate, that would be a great start!

I was thinking about this for the past couple days, in correlation with the “What Do I Really Need?” Posts…

So I thought I would put together MY top 10 must have items for making it through parenting with your sanity!

1. A Baby Swing – I had so many sleepless nights before I got the guts to put my oldest into the swing, I thought at first he was just way too small, or the swing swung way too fast, even at the lowest setting there was. He loved it, and as a result of that we used the swing again for our second child, who couldn’t sleep anyplace else but the swing! I think a swing is a total MUST HAVE!

   

2. Baby Carrier!  A wearable one at that. I heard some horror stories of those Baby Bjorn type carriers and their connection to hip dysplasia, so instead of investing in one of those where the baby is supported fully by their crotch, we got a Mei Tai baby carrier. They are made by several different companies, but my #1 choice is a company called Baby Hawk as pictured above. As the baby gets older, the carrier can also be used on your back.
   
3. Lasninoh, better known in our home as “boob cream” but it is a complete life saver for breastfeeding mothers!

   

4. Stroller, but not just any kind of stroller!  The Graco Metro Lite series. Not only are they MUCH lighter than most strollers, and travel systems, they are easy to use, don’t take up a ton of trunk space, and overall are amazing. I don’t think I will ever go back to any other kind of single stroller but this one!  They are also available for travel systems including the infant carseat.

   

5. The Arms Reach Co-Sleeper!  We got this for our second child to help with midnight feelings, and still have him in our bedroom, and it works awesome, is well made, and we are still able to use it and he is almost 9 months old. It doesn’t take up a lot of room, it folds down easy for storage, and overall promotes the reduction in the risk for SIDS by co-sleeping!

   

6. Boppy!  But above all the naked boppy!  And separately buy the removable covers. Not only is it awesome for nursing, but it dubs as so many other things as your baby gets holder, including a great way to help your little one sit up. The reason I recommend the covers instead of the covered boppy’s is because the removable cover makes life so much easier for washing!

   

7. Glider!  I can’t tell you how many nights I slept in one of these while rocking my little guys to bed and being far to scared to put them down in the co-sleeper or crib fearing they would wake up. Not only are they comfortable for mom, but they can be used for other things in the long run. Ours has become part of our living room furniture now.

   

8. Baby Bouncer!  A total life saver, easy to bring places or take out of town for vacation as something to help entertain your baby!  I can’t tell you how many times ours made the trip to grandma’s house, or where ever we were going to be camping out for the night!
   
9. In the case you are using bottles, I highly recommend the Born Free BPA free bottles. They are awesome!  It is all we use in our house, they also help reduce gas in your little one. I will never go back to using any kind of bottle again after using Born Free!

   

10. Bumbo!  The bumbo has become a total lifesaver for our family. We use it for everything from a feeding chair to an activity tray with the optional tray you can buy. Also it makes for an easy chair to bring place with you, especially when going out to eat.