Protect Birth

I am struck, today, by how hostile the environment of giving birth is becoming in my home state. Not only struck, but saddened, confused, and downright pissed off.

This summer I have had one client already leave the state to give birth because she felt like her chances of having a natural birth in the hospital here were slim to none. I have another client whose due date is evermore impending still undecided on her birth plans because she is a VBAC mom and her choices are, well zero.

Having a VBAC in Mississippi is becoming next to impossible. One hospital in the Jackson metro area has banned VBAC’s and I feel sure more will follow suit. Not only this, but the ONE doctor I trusted to refer my clients to for hospital births has become owned by the insurance companies. He doggedly pushes the AFP test and is cracking down on VBAC moms. The newest policy I’ve heard in place is that he requires an epidural catheter to be in place as soon as mom is in the hospital laboring. Doesn’t have to be active, but the needle must be inserted and ready to go.

I am appalled that women are being forced to choose to travel out of state in order to have the birth choices that are rightfully theirs. Even worse, there are women who are limiting their family size because they are afraid of having to fight simply to give birth!

For a while, the birth climate in Mississippi was looking up. Today I am wondering what it will take for us to have the rights and choices we deserve. As a woman who fought to get what the birth I wanted and fought to give that to other women, I am forced to consider how much worse can it get before it gets better?

What if every woman with a scar across her belly stood up and said “NO MORE!” What if every woman with a virgin womb stood up and said “You will NOT tell me how to birth the children yet to enter this body!” What if every woman with milky breasts, crayon colored walls, stained shirts, and tangled hair said “I am in charge of my births!”

Would “they” listen? Would the men who decided we needed them to interfere in the birth process to begin with hush us back and “tsk” at our silly cries for attention? Or would they sit, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, and stare at the brazen revolutionists they’ve made us become?

I hear all of the abortion debates, “Get your laws off of my body!” and “It’s a baby, not a choice!” Why don’t I hear the birth cries, “Get your laws out of my uterus!” or “It’s MY baby, MY birth, MY body!!”

I’m screaming it. I’m screaming it to anybody that will listen.

Are you?

I was reading a post this morning on a spiritual forum. The poster was talking about the current negative state of our world and said something interesting: war cannot be ended by war. Now, I personally am extremely supportive of our troops and of the concept of freedom. I do not say OUR freedom because we are not free anymore, anyone who thinks we are is sadly deceived. Anyway, I digress. Without debating the morality of war, I have plenty of thoughts about, or at least around, her statement I’d like to get out.

I believe what she says. War cannot be ended by war. Just like in parenting, you cannot teach a child not to hit by hitting them, aka spanking. In examining the state of the world, though, I am inclined to agree that our negativity and negative energies play a large part in the violence and negative events. But, I believe that our negative energies begin much earlier in life.

A labor assistant I used to work with loved the saying “Peace on earth begins with birth.” Even though I have never had much for hokey little rhyming sayings such as that one, I happen to deeply agree with it. We talk about a world without violence and war, without crime where people’s rights are truly respected. How can we ever expect this to happen, though, when we begin so many lives with violence?

Babies across the globe are violently pulled from their mother’s womb without reason. They are brought into the world by force and on days they did not choose. We schedule our babies birthdays around convenience, like we are planning a party or something. We treat our new lives as if they have no consciousness, as if they are unaware.

Now, I know there will always be situations where babies have to be born by force. I understand that fully. But, the cold, hard truth is that the majority of babies this is happening to is happening out of convenience or fear instead of necessity. I believe with everything that is in me that until babies are treated with respect not only after birth, but before and during, then our current state of affairs will not begin to turn around. Until the majority of births are gentle and the minority are not, then there will never be a different world. Imagine a world where babies are birthed by confident women in secret places without cold instruments surrounding them and even touching them. Imagine babies who aren’t pulled on as they enter the world, who do not breathe blood from their entranceways being cut through surgery or episiotomies. Imagine a world where each baby is immediately held by his or her mother, to smell her and breathe her in.

I know what you’re going to say. We’re talking about babies, who cannot do anything for themselves. How could a baby change the world? But, babies are only babies for fleeting moments in time. These babies will grow up and be our country’s leaders - our world’s leaders. If we continue to teach violence and the violation of their rights at birth, how can we ever expect them not to carry this into adulthood? Peace on Earth really does begin with birth.

Here are some things I wish EVERY woman knew about birth.  Whether she’s having a baby or will never have a baby.  Birth comes with the innate quality of the feminine, and I am of the belief that anyone who possess the feminine should take a responsibility for birth.

1.  Almost EVERY woman is capable of having their baby 100% without intervention.  Now I don’t mean 3 our of every 4 women here, I’m talking about more than 9 out of every 10.  More than 90 - 95% of women, if left alone in labor, require absolutely no outside intervention.

2.  Most of the time when you hear (or say as the case may be), “Well if i hadn’t been at the hospital, me or my baby would have died” it isn’t true.  More often than not, when an intervention is required in a birth, it is in response to another intervention that has been used.  For example, a baby’s heart rate plummets and fails to recover during a contraction and mom is rushed in for an “emergency” cesarean.  Good thing the good ole’ doctor was there…right?  We won’t mention that the mother had been given pitocin, had her water broken, and was confined to bed for nine hours before this happened.  Oh, and she had an epidural.

3.  Having a natural birth has absolutely nothing in the world to do with your ability or inability to tolerate pain.  Birth is a different kind of “pain”.  It has a distinct purpose and is not constant.  The powers that be were smart enough to design it that way because the dura mater of the spinal cord wasn’t created as a pin cushion.

4.  If you have been so unlucky to have experienced a birth in which your epidural did not take or didn’t work completely, let me first say I am so very sorry for you.  That is not intended with any hint of sarcasm either.  But please, please do not think what you experienced is anything comparable to a birth where no medications have been used.  You have experienced far worse.  Let me explain why.  In a natural labor your body creates endorphines which act as natural pain relievers.  These wonderful little substances increase in production with each rise in the intensity of labor.  The harder and faster the contractions, the more endorphines you get.  But the minute outside pain relievers of any kind enter your body, endorphine production halts.  So any pain your feel from that point on is magnified.  Again, I’m so very sorry for you.

5.  In a natural birth everything works perfectly.  It takes a very important and very delicate coctail of hormones for birth and bonding to happen exactly as it was designed.  Here’s my favorite instance of that: immediately following birth mom’s body releases HUGE amounts of oxytocin (the love hormone) and even greater amounts once she begins breastfeeding.  This hormone induces a state of euphoria.  I promise no drug in the world feels better than this hormone.  At the exact same time, baby’s body releases catecholomines (stress hormones).  The end effect of this hormone coctail is a baby who needs and wants its mother desperately and a mother who is completely in love with her infant and has eyes for no other human being on Earth.  How amazingly simple and yet beautiful at the same time.

6.  Here’s a few things that make contractions tolerable: moving around in labor, education in pregnancy, relaxation and calm in labor, knowing and remembering that you have HIRED your birth attendants (doctor, nurse, midwife, doula) and YOU are the one in control, low interference from outside sources (procedures, hands, lights, noises), belief in your body and ability by everyone around you (including the professionals).  Remember, that’s only a few.

7.  You have complete right, protected under law, to refuse any and all procedures for you and your baby.

8.  Don’t automatically assume your birth professional is recommending an intervention or procedure because they truly believe it to be best.  Sometimes it is simply the way they were trained and they are not comfortable stepping outside their comfort zone.  A great example of this is inducing women before 40 weeks pregnancy.  Doctors and midwives alike have made this a terrible practice, and I’d be willing to put money down that most of them have never experienced a postdates pregnancy.  They were trained that something terrible happens after 40 weeks and therefore baby MUST come out before.  With that, on to 9.

9.  Due dates are anybody’s best guess, EVEN with ultrasound.  Babies decide when to initiate labor, that is their job.  There isn’t a switch in there that goes off at 40 weeks of pregnancy and all of a sudden everything stops working.  Nutritionally sound mothers can continue to be pregnant for as long as necessary, until baby decides it’s time.  No baby ever stayed in forever.

10.  Nutrition is hands down the most important part of pregnancy AND birth.  Be realistic and be honest about what you’re putting into your body.  Protein is super important, it is the foundation of a healthy, well-formed, and well-attached placenta.  So eat lots, as in 70-100 grams daily.  Eat salt, but not table salt.  Use sea salt or kosher salt and eat it daily in your food to your taste.  Consume enough water, 64 oz. daily is minimal.  The optimal amount is  1/2 of your body weight in ounces.  (Ex.: a 165 lb woman needs roughly 82 oz. a day).  And spread your water out through the day.  Otherwise you will simply pee out what you’re taking in.  Include a good serving of leafy green veggies daily.  Eat a salad if nothing else.  The last thing is eat a colorful variety of fruits and veggies: blue, orange, red, yellow.

Now I don’t expect this to convince everyone to have a natural birth.  Life just doesn’t work that way, no matter how capable I completely believe and know each woman to be.  These are just things I wish I could make into a pamphlet and distribute to women the world over.  Honestly, there’s so much more, but you guys would be reading for days.

Also, women who choose to have a medicated birth need some tips too.  Labor at home for as long as possible.  Remember that saying yes to one intervention doesn’t have to mean saying yes to all of them.  Demand you hold your baby immediately.  Everything they have to do right after birth can be done with you holding the baby.  Send your partner with your baby for all nursery time, tests, or procedures.  Most importantly, don’t use the absence of pain as a excuse to not participate in labor.  Remember you have a baby in your body making the most important journey possible, his or her entrance into the world.  Likewise, you are experiencing one of the three times in your life as a woman that literally changes who you are.  After birth your chemical makeup is never the same.  So, don’t be a passenger in your birth even if you are numb from the waist down.  Find ways to be present and experience the experience.

Birth has taught me some of my greatest lessons in life. My others, not surprisingly, have been learned through love and parenting. But today, today I want to talk about birth.

Since I started birth work in 2002, I have come to view all naturally occurring things in the world through the eyes of birth. I look at butterflies and think of birth, I look at trees and think of birth. Everything has a beginning, and all beginnings are a birth. Something I figured out almost instantly doing birth work is that we live the way we are born. And why wouldn’t we? Our entrance into this world is the first imprint on our consciousness. As hokey as it may sound, we spend the entire rest of our lives trying to recreate this first imprint in some way or another.

Because I am adopted, I didn’t know anything about my own birth until a little over 5 years ago. Then I found out that my biological mother had to push a long time with me and I just wouldn’t be born. Then I decided to come and came all in one fell swoop, so quickly that the doctor almost didn’t catch me. Now, ask anyone who knows me well and you’ll find out I’m eternally late, and I am incapable of making a quiet entrance. I always arrive with a gust of energy surrounding me. Likewise, I go through life in much the same way. I procrastinate to the point of it being scary, then at the last minute, I frenzy it done.

Some things about birth simply cannot be changed. Some babies will make whatever entrance they are going to make, we cannot control that in any way (nor should we want to). But why on earth do we feel the need to control so much about welcoming a tiny soul into our lives? When did birth become so unnatural that we feel the need to rush into the gloved hands of the doctor and the monotonous sound of the machines that go beep at the first sign of a contraction?

We must protect birth. Because we live how we are born. Because peace on birth begins with birth. Because babies are incapable of protecting themselves. Because it’s time we took our power back. Because birth is the most powerful healer in our realm. Because She-Ra woman power really does exist. But mostly…

Because birth is sacred…

The absolute most important part of pregnancy is nutrition. It isn’t often that pregnant women who are seeing an OB are taught the facts about prenatal nutrition. Now, let me state first off that I do not blame this entirely on the medical profession. The fact is that doctors are taught about it either, and what they are taught applies to the non-pregnant body. The pregnant body is much different, and therefore has different nutritional requirements.

Teaching pregnant women what to eat is about 70% of what I do, followed by about 20% therapy, and 10% acual birth work. That is how important nutrition is when you’re pregnant.

First, I will give you a general overview of why nutrition is so important in pregnancy, next I’ll give you the basics of how to eat and explain why each point is so important, and finally I’ll give some tips on how to meet these guidelines. Nutrition in pregnancy is the foundation of not only mother and baby’s health, but also a term pregnancy and an easy labor and delivery. The body systems of the fetus all begin to form in the first trimester. This is also the time that the placenta is formed and becomes attached to the wall of the uterus. Without nutritional backing, none of these things can be completed - at least not well.

The main foundation of eating well prenatally is protein. Protein helps the placenta form, attach, and stay attached. It also keeps swelling to a minimum. Another thing not well known is that pregnancy diseases like Toxemia, Pre-Ecclampsia, and Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension (these are the most well-known) are all primarily nutrition based diseases. Which means, with the correct nutrition, these things don’t happen. Here are the basics w/ explanations:

1. Protein - you need 80-120 grams a day. Now many midwives differ on this thought, but on a whole we all agree it is important. Some say around 70 grams daily. I have personally seen better results with the higher amount of protein, as long as the sources are quality. Make some quality decisions on what to eat throughout the day and this is easy to achieve. Protein has also been shown to make bouts of early pregnancy sickness either less or eliminated altogether. Here are some good quality sources (these are just a few) of protein to include in your diet:

Pinto Beans - 44 g per cup
Chicken - 30 g per breast
Cottage Cheese - 26 g per cup
Ground turkey - 20 g per serving
Peanuts - 19 g per half cup
Turkey Sausage - 15 g per link
Tilapia - 15 g per serving
Kidney beans - 14 g per cup
Almonds - 13 g per half cup
Yogurt - 12 g per cup
Flax seed peanut butter - 10 g per 2 tbs. serving
Brazil nuts - 8-10 g per dozen

Also, if you like milk and eggs, consuming 2 eggs and 2- 16 oz. glasses of milk daily is an easy way to get half of what you need in a day.

2. Leafy green vegetables - don’t cheat on this one. You need at least one good serving daily and this is where most women fall short. You don’t have to eat collard greens or anything, a good salad made of actual greens will do. Use Romaine lettuce, spring greens, and spinach leaves. Add a little grilled chicken and cottage cheese (extra protein), then the dressing your choice. That will cover the cottage cheese taste if you don’t like it. Leafy greens are important for iron as well as forming complete proteins and helping your body break down and process the large amount of protein being taken in.

3. Water - the minimum is 64 oz. (or 8-8 oz. glasses) a day. Remember this is MINIMUM. You should actually be getting half of your body weight in ounces worth of water. So if you weigh 200 lbs, you need 100 oz. of water daily. Juice, tea, sodas do not count. This is pure water we’re talking about and is super important for pregnant women. Amniotic fluid replenishes itself about every 3 hours, and if you aren’t hydrating your body there is nothing there for it to be replenished with. Also, spread water out throughout the day. The body can only process about a glass an hour, any more than that just gets passed straight through in urine.

4. Salt - contrary to popular belief, salt is good for pregnant women! Salt your food to taste but skip the table salt. Use kosher or sea salt as it hasn’t been stripped of all the good minerals your body needs. Salt is essential for cells to process water and keeps swelling to a minimum.

5. Color - have a colorful diet and you’ll take care of the rest! Blue, red, yellow, orange, and green fruits and veggies throughout the day will complete and compliment your pregnant diet and support the growth of your baby well.

Remember that swelling in pregnancy is a sign of something being off nutritionally. Check your protein intake, up your water intake, and make sure you are salting your food to taste and the swelling will almost always subside. Another thing that I tell women is they don’t have to restrict. If you decide you want a chocolate shake, fine! Go and enjoy that to the fullest of your pregnant ability (which we all know is A LOT!!!), just balance it out later with an extra glass of water or an extra serving of greens.

Another point I want to briefly address is that of gestational diabetes. Most women do not realize that pregnancy is a natural diabetic state. The body does that on purpose. This is so that you will have to eat 5-6 small, frequent meals throughout the day in order to keep your blood sugar stable and keep your baby’s blood sugar stable.

These same things apply to the non-pregnant body except for protein intake. The non-pregnant woman only needs about half of that amount of protein (40-50 g). But taking the time before you are pregnant to practice eating this way makes it that much easier when you are! This is also a good time to learn eating small, frequent meals instead of three large ones. Honestly, this way of eating can benefit pretty much everyone - male or female, pregnant or may never become pregnant. It is really just a good, healthy way of eating.

We are a strong species, the fairer sex.  We are looked at as the less strong, the needy, etc…when that couldn’t be farther from the truth.  We are stronger than any man I’ve ever met.  And really, I completely understand why the oldest religions worshipped the feminine.  We should be worshipped.

I bear the image of Isis on my right shoulder blade.  She is the mother goddess, the goddess of the feminine.  I wear her permanently on my body as a reminder of just how strong we are.  I see her strength in each women I am blessed enough to serve.  I see her strength in myself.  I am proud of being a part of this fairer sex.

I told someone close to me last year that I found pain to be the most beautiful state of existence.  This is because of the strength of these women.  My job is to be with women in pain.  Not to sit with them and cluck and pity their pain.  My job is to actually be present with them, to share their energy and let them know they are not alone in what they are experiencing.  A woman in pain will open her soul to you at the exact moment she wants to shut down, if you will be present with her.  It is at the point I see strength, without fail.  And it is beautiful.

My heart is full from the strength of birth, of the feminine.  And once again I remember why I do what I do.

So I was studying the placenta yesterday and I just have to share with you how amazing this organ is.

First let me point out that the placenta is a foreign organ in the mother’s body.  It belongs to the baby.  Logically, the mother’s body should reject the placenta.  But it doesn’t.  Early in pregnancy the placenta anchors itself into the lining of the uterus (via protein).  The lining, in turn, protects the mother’s body from making abortive cells and rejecting the placenta and baby.

The function of the placenta is to provide the baby with nutrients and nicely oxygenated blood in exchange for waste and deoxygenated blood.  Here’s how it works:

Mom’s blood temporarily leaves her circulation and pools beneath the placenta.  There it is projected into the placenta in tiny jets.  Once inside the placenta, mom’s blood bathes the part that houses baby’s blood circulating through.  Then mom’s blood reenters her circulation through uterine veins.  The other half of this process is baby’s blood, which enters the placenta through arteries in the umbilical cord.  Down in the placenta, baby’s blood exchanges nutrients and wastes and reenters the baby’s circulatory system through the vein in the umbilical cord.

As technical as the process may sound, the two most important things to learn from this process aren’t very technical.  First, all of this happens with absolutely no effort on anyone’s part, save the being who created us.  That’s right, yet another part of the birth process that works flawlessly and we have nothing to do with it.  The second lesson is this, mom’s blood makes the placenta work, and her blood cannot do its job without proper nutrition!  Yet another reason among the countless others why nutrition is THE most important part of pregnancy.

I simply adore the placenta.  I always have, even before this.  But this deeper understanding I have of such an amazing organ and process has made me adore it even more.  At every birth I attend, I respect the placenta greatly.  I wait respectfully for the placenta to let go of the uterine wall and birth itself.  I talk to it and let it know that it has done a wonderful job and can let go of its attachment to mom.   When parents ask me what should be done with the placenta, I let them know that I would prefer it not be thrown away or destroyed, and if that is their choice I ask permission to take it so that it can be buried.

I am amazed by the process, but even more amazed by the fact that it continues to amaze me even more.

“The first intervention in birth that a healthy woman takes, is when she walks out the front door of her home in labor. From that first intervention all others will follow.” ~Dr. Michael Rosenthal OB/GYN

Now I’m a huge fan of Dr. Rosenthal’s. Actually, I am a huge fan of absolutely anyone who is working to further the birth cause. (Yep, that means you!) And I am amiss to make any statement even slightly contrary to such wise words. Even so, I’d like to put this out there. Because this is something midwives MUST remember.

WE are an intervention. We are a foreign introduction to the birthing woman’s environment.

Time and time again we hear proponents of gentle birth say it, birthing women need privacy, security, and an undisturbed environment. I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but I’ve read many a time that birthing is like having sex (gasp!). And I don’t know about you, but I don’t invite spectators into my bedroom when my partner and I are doing the deed. It’s an intimate time. We know it by heart. No one needs to critique our love making, offer position ideas, remind us to breathe, or let us know when it is time to climax. I’m not sure how we’ve managed all these years without this guidance, but we make do.

Am I saying I don’t think midwives belong at birth?

Certainly not.

But I do think we have to remember to stay invisible unless our presence is needed. We have to keep in mind that all of our work for a birth should have been done over the prior 8-9 months while caring for and educating the birthing woman. When midwives do their jobs well prenatally, our presence at a birth is rarely actually required. And until it is…hands off, mouth shut, lights down low. Any person who was not in the house at the time of conception is a foreigner. That’s usually mom, dad, and any children they may have already been blessed enough to be parenting.

What about support? What about checking on the well-being of mom and baby? Even then, you’re still a foreigner but don’t act like a tourist. Upset mom’s environment as little as possible. Speak softly in low, sure tones. Keep your energy in check and slow your speech down. In emergencies, use the same tones and look mom in the eye as much as you can. And talk to the baby. Babies are the partners in the lovemaking ritual of birth.

Staying quiet and keeping our intrusions to ourselves helps us tune into our intuition in birth as well. Makes balancing intuition versus clinical knowledge seem like a much less daunting task.

Being an intervention isn’t meant to be an insult. We are invited, we are welcome. If we are not, then we don’t belong there. But this doesn’t mean we aren’t doing women a disservice when we insist they birth our way, or interrupt the birth process continually because of our fears.

While walking out the door of the home in labor is sometimes the first intervention, also is walking in. Remembering this can make all the difference in the world.

“Some women just weren’t meant to give birth vaginally.”

“My body just doesn’t work right.”

“Oh, well I just don’t dilate [past x centimeters].”

“Thank goodness I was at the hospital…I wasn’t able to have my baby naturally.”

These are just a small sample of things I’ve heard over the years.  Each of them kinda make me throw up in my mouth a little.  Women carry these things as badges.  All women carry their birth experiences as badges.  And why shouldn’t we?

But what no one stops to tell these women is this:

Yes, they were.

Yes, it does.

Yes, you can.

Yes, you could.

I was talking to a new friend and colleague yesterday on the phone and she brought up the phrase that the first intervention in birth is walking out your front door to the hospital.  I think Mardsen Wagner said that.  He’s almost right.  Right enough that it will allow me to branch off here on a semi-rant.  Whenever I talk to women about their births, which is constantly if you couldn’t guess.  I hear the phrases like I quoted to begin with.  I never criticize, there isn’t any place for that.  But I do ask questions.  What was your labor like?  Did you go into labor on your own?  (Almost ALWAYS this is a no.)  Why did they induce you?  Had you dilated before the induction?

Women are being lied to.  They are being told that their babies NEED to come out NOW.  They are being told their bodies are too small to birth their babies, their bodies quit working properly past a certain point in pregnancy, their babies are going to die, almost ANYTHING to get that baby out.  And, because we trust the medical profession like we trust God in this country we allow them to induce.  We believe them when they say the baby has to come out.  We don’t question.  And if we do, we only do it once because our questions are inevitably met with “Well I’m the doctor and I want to do what is best for your baby.  You do want a healthy baby don’t you?”

Here is what I would like to know.  How do you know you can’t?  If no body ever gave you the chance to dilate, how do you know you can’t.

Be patient.  It’s your baby’s job to start labor.  S/he has the wisdom of knowing when to come out, and s/he has the powerful job of sending out the hormones that start all of the other hormones flowing in labor.  And if you never went into labor or couldn’t dilate past a certain point, take a look at what happened in the beginning hours of your birth.  Were you induced?  Did they give you pitocin, break your water?  Did THEY cause your labor to break down?

It’s time to start telling women birth was stolen from them rather then painting the robbers as saviors.  I refuse to participate any longer.

Empty

A moving depiction of the cesarean experience. Very powerful, very moving.

Question CPD

A victorious video of women who have successfully VBAC’ed, at home and in the hospital, some after multiple cesareans. All of these women were told they had babies too big to fit in their previous cesareans. Most of the vaginally born babies are bigger than their “CPD” siblings. Inspiring video!!

Our Journey to Homebirth

Incredibly moving and inspiring video of a mom who finally had her dream homebirth after three Cesarean surgeries.

VBAmultipleC

Yet another inspiring video who have done it!

Pass these videos along to every woman! It’s women like these that get the word out…birth is NORMAL!