Filed under: birth, homebirth, midwifery, video | Tags: asynclitic, baby's head is asynclitic, easy labor, natural home birth
Beautiful Natural Home Birth of Hudson James attended by a midwife. Katie’s son was asynclitic and needed assistance coming through the birth canal
Midwifery Today published the article by Valerie a while ago that presents very clear instructions on how to turn the baby’s head. IT WORKS. She has taught me the difference between intervention and intercession. We also use visualization, relaxation, talking-to-the-baby, pulsatilla ( for assisting the turn) and gelsemium ( for lips and rings). At a hospital labor support birth this past week, when the doctor announced that it was time for the pit and epidural, to see if we could “get things rolling” - I spoke to my couple. I told them that they had hired me to assist them with a natural birth, and that I was absolutely convinced that they could do this - as long as the baby’s head was lined up well. I told them that in other cultures there is no pitocin or epidurals - women do not have these as options - and yet they have their babies!! I told them that we are mammals - and that mammals have their babies. I told them that I had unwavering faith in a woman’s body’s ability to give birth. We adjusted the baby’s head ( in private) and the baby was born soon after.
At a labor support birth this past week, the midwife who came on call had heard me speak at an MT conference in Oregon a few years ago. She was very warm and friendly, and told me that I could “do this birth” ( by the way, I do not “do” births - I attend them, or assist at them, or help to “receive” the baby with the parent’s permission). I told her that it seemed necessary to adjust the head - she said “By all means please try! I have never done that!” Within a few minutes of the adjustment, the woman began to push and birthed her baby. It had been fifteen years since she had had a baby - the last birth had been a horror show with a “stuck” baby and a resulting forceps delivery - and she was 43 years old.
One last note. One of the women whom I attended had been at 7 centimeters for about four hours when I was called to her birth. Her cervix was swollen and not very giving. She had been told to pant and blow - not to push as it would further swell her cervix. The baby’s head was asynclitic. I adjusted the head, and told her to push - much to the dismay of those around me. This did not come from new-midwife uppity-ness or arrogance - but from my intuition - ” Just push, Kate - just push and lets see what happens.” Within a few moments, she was fully dilated. In some situations, a cervix that has been at 7 for that long probably wants to “go” just as much as the mom wants it too! It just needed the baby’s head more well applied to assist it in its final act of “disappearance”!
Filed under: midwifery | Tags: baby, Ina May Gaskin, midwife, midwifery, midwives, natural childbirth, natural childbirth blog, the farm
Filed under: birth, midwifery, video | Tags: birth video, free birth video, natural birth video, natural childbirth, natural childbirth blog, unmedicated birth, watch woman giving birth
Filed under: aqua midwife, birth, labour, midwifery, waterbirth | Tags: newborn, waterbirth, birth in water, midwifery, birth, natural childbirth blog, Cornelia Enning, birth blog, baby, labour hormones
A healthy baby is able to overcome the distance between uterus and motherly chest by its own strength if the conditions of its birth give it the opportunity. The baby itself gives the impulse to the mother to release labour hormones. In the water her body reacts faster and more easily.
In the stage of expulsion the baby repels itself with his little legs at the wall of the uterus while rotating through the birth channel. In the water the pelvic bones of the mother give way better. Born into the water, the newborn child paddles with its little arms in order to arrive at the chest of the mother.
The baby can already take up the first eye contact in the water with its mother. Water babies are born with open eyes. The transition of the fruit water to the bath water is like a restorative stopover on the birth way. The birth under water is one of the gentlest forms for a baby to see the light of the world.
Translated with permission from aqua-midwife Cornelia Enning’s website hebinfo.de
Filed under: aqua midwife, labour, midwifery, waterbirth | Tags: waterbirth, midwifery, waterbirth at home, woman giving water birth, aqua midwife, waterbirth in europe
Already since the beginnings of midwifery, bathing has been used as birth assistance during labour.. Similarly long, women report that they do not want to leave the warm water to give birth to their child on the bed.
Progressive midwives already began before approximately 15-20 years, to search for “alternative” birth methods and birthing positions, moved by the needs of the pregnant women. In due course of time water birth turned out to be the most gentle and popular. Water birth is one of the gentlest birth methods for mother and child: Pain reduction for the mother and stress reduction for the child.
Experience of many years and scientific investigations on the procedures of water birth prove today free of doubts that the water birth is absolutely harmless for mother and child . Everyone can easily understand, which special and intimate relationship the unborn child has to (fruit) the water, which is his home for the first nine month.
In water, births works with the so-called dipping reflex which closes the bronchial tube of the newborn waterproof. A newborn child inhales for the first time only if its (face) skin has no more contact with the water.
Women who gave birth to their child in the water, say in the most cases that they had a beautiful and gentle birth experience. Beyond that the water birth has also “medical” advantages: frequently the birth precedes somewhat faster, fewer pain medication is needed, and the number of episiotomies (dam cuts) and dam injuries (tearing) is smaller. This can be traced back to the relaxation and pain reduction which is experienced in a warm tub bath.
The modern birth assistance permits women to decide how long they want to enjoy their birth bath. Each woman can get the advantages of the water before, during and after birth. A water birth designates the baby’s birth of the under water.
From Aqua-Midwife Cornelia enning’s website hebinfo.de
Photo by B. Baltimore
Filed under: aqua midwife, baby care, birth, empowered childbirth, homebirth, midwifery | Tags: waterbirth, midwife, waterbirth at home, waterbirth midwife, waterbirth Europe, waterbirth Germany, Cornelia Enning, waterbirth contact, aqua midwife
It is a great pleasure and honor for me to announce my new series of translations from the website of aqua-midwife Cornelia Enning from Germany. Her work is admirable. If you have any questions or are interested in her services, feel free to contact me:
For direct contact with aqua-midwife Cornelia Enning:
Keplerstr. 16, D-75417 Mühlacker
Telefon: 011-49 (07042) 15536 FAX : 011-49 (07042) 950945
Cornelia Enning has been a licensed midwife in Muehlacker, Germany since 1972. She has been doing homebirths/waterbirths since 1975. She received a B.E. in psychology and pedagogy in 1972 from the University of Berlin. She has been doing homebirths and waterbirths since 1975 and is the founder of the German parents association “Wasserbabies.”
Cornelia is editor of the quarterly Wasserbaby-Post and author of several books about waterbirth at home and in hospitals. She directs the German Federation of Aquapaedagogik and instructs parents in water training for newborns. In addition, she has taught waterbirth midwifery to more than 4000 midwives and obstetricians. Cornelia has two adult children and one granddaughter.
Filed under: birth, birthstories, empowered childbirth, homebirth, labour, midwifery | Tags: birth stories, birthstories, birthstory, easy labor, easy labour, empowered childbirth, homebirth, homebirth stories, labor, labour, laughter in labour, midwifery, natural childbirth, natural childbirth stories, natural childbirth story, painfree labor, painfree labour, unmedicated birth, womencare
“She danced and danced throughout her labor. No noise, no fuss, just intense concentration and dancing. After many hours she looked up at me with a puzzled expression and said: ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ I asked if I could check her, and when she opened her legs, the baby’s head was crowning.
I told her that was why she felt that way, and she began to laugh, and laughing, birthed the baby into my surprised hands. Her partner took pictures: a baby born en caul to a laughing VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) mother. We must witness, talk story, tell the good stories to counteract our culture’s horror of birth. It is possible to birth in peace and joy.”
-Anne Stohrer, M.D. in Compleat Mother magazine, Winter, 2000
“I noticed that whenever Judith would laugh at something, she’d have a very good rush [contraction] right afterward, which would dilate her cervix a bunch more. So we all sat around and had a good time talking with each other, and after a few more rushes I checked Judith again and found that she was fully dilated and ready to push the baby out.”
-From Spiritual Midwifery, by Ina May Gaskin
“Even though I was still on my hands and knees, my hearing suddenly became very acute. I could hear Gordon on the phone in the next room: Glenn? This is Gord. Could you ask Elly to come over. I think the baby’s coming. You think the baby’s coming? I echoed to myself.
And suddenly, I laughed. I could not help it - the man’s hesitation struck me as funny. I laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.Suddenly, I was looking down a tunnel the long way around, as if a telescope inside me - that was somehow outside me - was turned backwards. As I laughed, the baby’s head popped out. I tightened my pelvic floor muscles and, turning my head, noticed Gordon at the doorway.
Imagining how ludicrous I must have looked, reared up on my haunches with a baby’s head sticking out of me, I laughed again. This time, the baby simply fell out into Gordon’s out-stretched hands.”
-From “They Don’t Call it a Peak Experience for Nothing,” by Ruth Claire (Mothering, Fall 1989)
[unassistedchildbirth.com ; Photo by John Carleton]
Filed under: empowered childbirth, labour, midwifery, podcast | Tags: natural childbirth, painfree labour, midwifery, midwife, homebirth, Ina May Gaskin, hospital birth, pregnancy, birth, mothering, painfree labor, family, radio show, baby talk, naomi wolf, misconceptions, leonard loparte, leonard loparte show, wnyc radio, wnyc radio show
What a great show! Listen to the Leonard Loparte Show with Ina May Gaskin and Naomi Wolf.
Ina May talks about her experiences and gives great tips on birthing, midwifery and labour! She talks about big babies, dancing in labour, eating during labour, ability of women’s body, how she learned the “Gaskin Maneuver”, due-month vs due-date and much more. Very wonderful. I am overjoyed with this her talk. Don’t miss it!
And Naomi Wolf, author of “misconceptions” talks about her experience giving birth in an American hospital.
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2003/03/07
If you have problems hearing, try download these realplayers:
Filed under: homebirth, labour, midwifery, video | Tags: homebirth, homebirth video, homebirth video sharing, midwife, watch woman giving birth at home, woman giving homebirth
The mother from the vdieo shares her thoughts on natural childbirth:
This is the birth of my third child, Sage Darian on Christmas morning (the other two were also homebirths, vids in the way!)
My midwife, Susan Lees, delivered all my babies and her presence during my Christmas Eve labour and Christmas Morning birth was awe-inspiring. Thank you, Sue!!!!
No mother would ever put her unborn child at risk.
As a homebirther of 3 myself, it was imperative to me that my pregnancies were monitored very closely by my midwife and my OB. Only once all physical birthing conditions were right and we were all confident that the births would run smoothly, did we finalise our decisions to homebirth.
Once labour commences, the midwife is called and she in turn calls the OB to put him or her on stand by. Initial communication with the midwife is telephonic until such time that you feel you need to have her there. For some people it’s in the early stages of labour, for some it’s later. That is entirely a personal choice.
Throughout the labour the midwife is doing cervical checks and monitors the heartrate of the baby with a doppler RELIGIOUSLY. If the midwife AT ANY STAGE feels that you are not dilating and that in turn could place stress on the foetus, then she will call the OB and tell him/her that you are on the way to the hospital STILL IN EARLY STAGES OF LABOUR BEFORE THE BABY IS IN DISTRESS. This often ends in a C-section if the mother was not dilating.
Back to homebirths: Once you are 10cm dilated, and the baby is on the way down, there is no turning back. A C-Section (hospital) is no longer an option. The baby is now in the birth canal and it is now you and your primitive instinct that is going to push this baby out. Your body knows EXACTLY what it needs to do (even if your mind doesn’t) and once again the baby’s heart rate is monitored closely.
The birthing position is also one of personal choice. The body adopts a position it feels most comfortable in.
The midwife at hand (all midwive’s are registered nurses and have done many many hours in labour wards)has all the necessary equipment with her should she need to intervene with the birth. Some midwive’s at homebirths also have another midwife to assist them.
All instruments etc are sterilised in the same manner in which they would be in a hospital and NOTHING is left to chance. We choose to birth our children at home, not because we are ANTI-DOCTOR, stubborn and stupid, we choose to birth them at home because it is very important to us that our children arrive onto this planet NATURALLY as intended, into an environment that is calm and overflowing with love.
The labour process is also one that requires TREMENDOUS focus and will power, so you should be in an environment where you feel most comfortable and at ease. For some this is a hospital and for some it is at home, surrounded by one’s loved ones.
“In a sincere effort to catch complications early and produce healthier babies, medical science has changed the atmosphere surrounding birth from one of a circle of loving support around laboring women to one of space age technology in a laboratory setting.
Though technology can save lives in a crisis, the routine use of technology can interfere with the normal birth process”
Hospitals are for people who are very ill, why would you want to birth your precious child into an environment like that if you don’t have to ??
Filed under: baby care, midwifery, postpartum care | Tags: natural childbirth, midwifery, homebirth, hospital birth, umbilical cord, when to cut the umbilical cord, when to clamp the umbilical cord, placenta, lotus birth, newborn care
The World Health Organization states (Care in Normal Birth: A Practical Guide) “Late clamping (or not clamping at all) is the physiological way of treating the cord, and early clamping is an intervention that needs justification.”Dr. M. Jeffrey Maisels says “If the cord is not clamped, the placenta gives the infant the equivalent of 20 cc of blood per kilogram of body weight within these first 3 minutes. This placental transfusion in the normal infant is equivalent to the amount of blood given to an infant in profound shock.
When cords are not clamped early, the third stage of labor is one-third shorter and the total mean blood loss after delivery is substantially less than when cords are clamped early. This might be because when cords are not clamped, the placenta is allowed to give up its volume of blood. It thereby contracts and separates more easily from the uterine wall.
It is wise to think of the placenta as one of the baby’s organs. What rational human being would even consider amputating a live organ when waiting just an hour or so will cause it to expire naturally?
What you can do: If you are planning a hospital birth, discuss with your physician your wish of delayed clamping. Most medical practitioners are not educated about the function of the umbilical cord after birth, and you may end up having to do some education in order to see that your baby gets the best care.
Regardless of their rules, you have absolute legal right to say what does and does not happen to your baby. You need to make your wishes clear and if your doctor is unwillingly to assist your needs, you may want to re-evaluate your choice of a physician.
This issue is easier to handle when having a home birth, but be sure to make your wishes clear to your midwife. Do not assume that the cord will not be immediately clamped. And of course if you are having an unassisted birth, you need only do what you choose! [www.gentlebirth.org]
What is Lotus Birth? Lotus birth is the practice of leaving the umbilical cord uncut, so that the baby remains attached to his/her placenta until the cord naturally separates at the umbilicus - exactly as a cut cord does - at 3 to 10 days after birth. This prolonged contact can be seen as a time of transition, allowing the baby to slowly and gently let go of his/her attachment to the mother’s body.
[Photo by Dr. Cornellius]
Filed under: midwifery, video | Tags: natural childbirth, homebirth, Ina May Gaskin, sphincter law, the farm, hospital birth
Midwife Ina May Gaskin talks about natural childbirth — and “sphincter law.” Filmed at The Farm, Summertown, Tennessee USA, September 7, 2007.
Filed under: labour, midwifery | Tags: bonding, natural childbirth, natural childbirth benefits, natural childbirth books, natural childbirth techniques, natural childbirth vs medical childbirth, natural methods of childbirth, newborn, pros natural childbirth, separate newborns from their parents, sheila kitzinger, supporting natural childbirth, tips for natural childbirth
“As we prepared her for the delivery we continued to coach her through the pushing. Tanya became totally involved in the process. Pushing required all of her energy and she became absorbed with effort. Although I had to prepare the sterile table, I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she worked. I was fascinated by the birth. It demanded my total consciousness.
Tanya was purposeful. She listened to all our instructions. I saw her mature into a woman in a few moments. She put all of her strength into delivering her baby. As the head was born, I hold her to pant so that it would be born gently. Even though this is difficult to do, she performed beautifully. The baby was born slow and gracefully. Tanya’s hand instinctively went out to bring her child to her breast.
When everything was over, we brought Tanya’s mother back to the recovery room. She held the baby and all of her earlier fears melted into pride. She was proud of her daughter who had given birth in a way she thought was impossible. And she was proud of her first grandchild. Her eyes glowed with joy as she held him, and Tanya looked on with maternal pride. I left all three of them together to bond.”
From “Diary of a Midwife- the power of positive childbearing”
by Juliana van Olpen-Fehr
Beautiful book, I recommend to read it. Reality, facts and feeling. Thank you, Juliana.In her book “Diary of a midwife- the power of positive childbearing”, Juliana van Olpen-Fehr shows the realities of childbirth in the US by telling us about her life and experience as a mother and midwife.
Filed under: midwifery | Tags: homebirth, midwife, midwifery, midwives, natural childbirth
“Any woman who has had a midwife care will tell you that it is not just a question of what a midwife knows and how clever she is that matters, but who she is as a person. Research on woman’s birth experiences reveals that it is the quality of the relationship between a woman and her midwife that is the single most important factor in being able to look back on birth as a satisfying experience.”
