Talk Birth

This morning as I was brewing my coffee, I overheard that the Today Show was going to be doing a segment on home birthing. I ran to the television immediately to hear what they had to say on the topic. The first words I saw written on the screen were “The Perils of Midwifery”. Perils? Was this going to be an entire session lashing out at midwives? I was already disgusted, and quickly re-evaluated whether or not I wanted to watch the piece. But I continued on. Then they referred to home birthing as “extreme birthing” because there would be no drugs, and no doctors. How can one refer to something that is so normal and natural, something women have done from the beginning of time (with midwives) as extreme (Click here for full article on “A Short History of Midwifery”)? This is not to say that there is not a time and place for a doctor or a hospital when it comes to childbirth, especially with high-risk pregnancies. In fact, most women choose to birth in a hospital setting. It makes them feel safer, and that is understandable. But we now know that home birthing, in a low-risk pregnancy, is just as safe as a hospital birth. continue reading »

Unlike what you see in the movies, only a very small percentage of women have their water break spontaneously as the first sign of labor.  Most often, your water will break naturally while in labor, possibly during a strong contraction.  It may happen early on, it may happen towards the end, and in rare cases, the baby may actually be born in the bag of water.  Having your water broken artificially by an OB or midwife, also known as an amniotomy, is one of the most common medical interventions performed today.  A long, thin instrument with a hook on the end is inserted into the vagina, and through the cervix, to tear the amniotic membranes open.  The hope of the medical provider is to speed up your labor through this procedure.  But is it really working?  Is it really making labor faster?  Is it benefiting anyone?  Studies are saying no. continue reading »

Putting together a written birth plan is an important way to communicate with your care providers about the exact kind of birth you wish for.  If you are planning a hospital birth, you don’t want to be expending your energy while you are in labor fighting with the nurses because what you want might not be what they want.  They have some protocol that they generally follow as a part of their job, so they may want to do certain procedures as a sort of “default”, not always as a “necessity”.  You may or may not agree with some of this, so it is up to you to plan ahead!  Another great thing that comes out of putting a birth plan together—it requires you to do research!  With a higher level of informed consent, you will be more confident in your decisions.  So, where do you begin? continue reading »

Several studies have shown very promising, positive outcomes from births when a doula was present. Women tend to report a greater satisfaction with their birthing experience, labors are generally shorter, the birth usually has fewer complications, pitocin is less likely to be used, the need for pain meds/epidurals is lowered, the incidence of c-sections are reduced, lower rates of post-partum depression are reported, and the mother is more likely to breastfeed.  With results like these, shouldn’t everyone hire a doula? continue reading »

When you plan a vacation, you do all of the research on the best hotels, dining, attractions, etc.  When you set out to buy a new car, you want to know the details like gas mileage, safety, and all of the possible options the car may include.  What about when you become pregnant?  No one wants to hurt their bodies or their babies, and we all wish for the safest birth of a healthy newborn. Yet, many women are still subjecting themselves to unnecessary medical procedures that may actually be hurting their bodies, their birth, their babies. continue reading »