Who Profits?

Anyone can admit that we are easily influenced and swayed by what seems to be a popular opinion. Most people would agree that it is much easier to be a PART of the masses than to be APART from them.

"What is popular is not always right,
and what is right is not always popular."

When it comes to parenting (specifically birthing and infant care) we are led to believe that our instincts are no longer necessary and that technology knows better than nature. But who profits from this philosophy? Certainly not mother and baby. Instead, there is a very large LITERAL profit to be made off of influencing you in your choices.

There is money to be made off of where you birth, how you birth and also, how you feed and treat your infant. The hospital makes a very large portion of their profit from the labor and delivery ward and let's face it, hospitals are businesses. They do NOT want to lose that money, even if it might mean safer outcomes can occur at home for low risk women. Obstetricians make thousands of dollars off your birth (and prenatal care) whereas homebirth midwives make around $4000 (for both the birth and prenatal care total). A cesarean can cost you more than $20,000 and only costs your OB 30 minutes of work (and a nice early bed time if you aren't "progressing" fast enough). Vaccinations, routine exams and procedures (episiotomy, circumcision, forcep delivery) all take just a moment to do/perform and net a nice profit.

Now, before you stop reading and get angry and tell me I hate OBs and that I think hospitals are evil, let me say, no. OBs are SPECIALISTS. They are INCREDIBLY skilled in saving what needs to be saved BUT for that, I think *most* of them have a difficult time knowing and trusting that birth is normal. If your focus of study is all that can go wrong with something, it's hard NOT to want to act in a precautionary manner. For this, I believe that most OBs truly have women's best interest at heart with certain things. However, there are a few scenarios that are indisputably self centered and dangerous, serving the woman absolutely no benefit.

To continue, it is ignorant to think that every ad or persuasion doesn't have an underlying hidden meaning. Formula companies for example want to make money. They do not care about you and your baby, they care only for the profit. At the beginning, when infant formulas were first introduced, they provided a way for the women who could truly not breastfeed or have a wet nurse a way to provide for their infant children. Again, just like the hospitals, this can be and was life saving for those infants. However, there was profit to be made, a feminist movement of choice and a desire to no longer have to feel tied down to your children...and they marketed that. Today they advertise with such sayings as "Just as good as breastmilk" or "Has all your baby needs!" Stop. Think. Who profits from promoting breastfeeding? The mother and child who nurse. Who profits from promoting formula feeding? The industry.

Am I going to lose sleep over another parents' choices? Nope. But as a parent who did things this way and that way before stepping back and evaluating the choices, I wish only to share the other side of the glass with you. I would never tell a woman what choice she should make, I can only share what I know and what I continue to learn, because I care.

To say that homebirthers are selfish or that it's dangerous, because that is what those who profit from your hospital birth tell you, well...that makes you sound not only uneducated, but silly.

Remember who profits from routine interventions in normal birth: it's not you...and it's certainly not the baby.

In Case of Emergency, Bear Down and Push!

So what on earth am I talking about with that title? Well, pretty much exactly what I said.

There have been many times I've heard a woman talk about her "emergency" birth story. Labor progressed quickly (she may be home or she may already be in the hospital) and she feels pushy. Let's say she's at home and on the phone with a 911 dispatcher (or her spouse/friend/kid/dog/etc is) and she feels an overwhelming urge to push. But alas, she is told to FIGHT against her body's natural desire and force to prevent the baby from being born until help arrives. Let's say the woman was in the hospital and the doctor isn't there, but of course he will be soon, so she's told by her nurses to resist the urge to push.

Now, I've felt that urge to push, in fact, I've been that woman at home in full blown labor ready to have a baby and I can tell you if you don't know for yourself, there is NO way you're going to fight that urge. It doesn't do you any good, anyway. If the urge to push has come, your body will literally birth the baby without your help. So you can push to help it or let it happen on it's own...either way, you're havin' a baby!

So for the rest of this blog I am not speaking as a homebirth or out of hospital birth advocate. I am speaking solely for the purpose of educating on "emergency birth", that is birth outside of how it was planned to take place.

I'm not naive, so I know that 3% of US women are choosing to birth with midwives and only 1% are choosing to birth at home. That being said, EVERY woman should be prepared for an unassisted home birth. I repeat: EVERY WOMAN SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR AN UNASSISTED HOME BIRTH.

Why?

Well, because you NEVER know what's going to happen. You need to trust that birth truly IS normal and that it is very rare that complications arrive especially when the process is left to happen naturally. It may be your second or third baby and labor just progresses quicker than expected or perhaps you handle your contractions very well and don't realize you're truly that close to birthing. Whatever the reason, you're now at home and about to have a baby. Quick, what do you do?

First, you RELAX and calm down and trust in this process.

Second, you let your support person and doctor/midwife/witch doctor know that you are in full blown labor and baby will be coming where you're at.

Third, get COMFORTABLE. Listen to your body, what does it want? Should you be squatting with support? Or is laying on your side more comfortable? Listen and do that.

Next, breathe through your contractions and push when your body tells you to push. If you have a partner there, have them get you some sheets or towels for the birth mess. Don't be afraid if your water hasn't broken, most bags of water don't break until the pushing phase. The towels will help to keep this mess under control. If fluid is clear: awesome. If meconium is present, that's ok. If the baby happens to aspirate the meconium, they can be suctioned. Many hospitals/midwives/birth centers are no longer suctioning for meconium unless they know the baby has swallowed some. So, you're still good to go.

*Do not have your support at any time check you for dilation*

As you and your body are pushing together, have your partner prepare to catch the baby. If you don't have someone there, try to get in a position so that you can gently welcome baby to this world. Don't pull the baby out, continue to push with your body. It may help to take a little rest after the head is birthed before you push the baby the rest of the way out. If you notice the cord around the baby's neck, don't be alarmed. Nuchal cords are present in 1 in every 3-4 births, wrapped at least once. This is not an emergency but rather another variation of normal. If you're able, simply loosen the cord and slip it off the baby's neck, then push to deliver the body.

You may notice that when your baby is first born, they are gray or bluish in color. Don't be alarmed. When your baby passes through the birth canal, up to half of their blood volume is pushed back up in to the placenta. As long as the cord is thick and pulsating, they are receiving nutrients and oxygen from the placenta. There is no need to clamp or tie off the cord. Many people let the cord finish pulsing on it's own so the baby gets vital blood that was lost back to the placenta, this helps reduce jaundice and other complications in newborn babies. As your baby's blood begins to circulate, they will "pink up", you can rub them to help get the blood moving, and skin to skin contact is vital to keep them warm.

If able, bring the baby skin to skin and begin nursing. Nursing immediately after birth will help with any post partum bleeding and can reduce hemorrhaging. If you notice that your baby's umbilical cord is short and they cannot reach your chest, hold them lower on your abdomen, DO NOT tug on the cord. The placenta can stay attached to the uterine lining for 30-60 minutes, so let the after contractions do their work and release the placenta. You may push it out when you feel the need, if help hasn't arrived yet.

In the event that the cord was short and your baby appears hungry or you feel the need to nurse immediately, try to push. It's not in your best interest to cut the cord without sterile scissors, as you don't want to risk an infection to the baby. If your placenta is not coming out, just be patient and wait for help. Don't attempt to tug on the cord and manually remove the placenta. Bend down/over to nurse if you need to.

If the cord was long enough for baby to be brought to breast, keep nursing until your help arrives or you're able to birth the placenta. Keep baby, cord and placenta intact without properly sterilized scissors.

That's pretty much it, you've had a baby. Congratulations.

Regardless of where you plan to birth or who you plan to attend you during that momentous occasion, it is wise to be prepared for anything and to know what is truly required, and what else is not. The easiest thing to remember in an emergency birth situation like this, is that less is more. Hopefully all of you get the births you're planning, but for those who end up in a situation that's, to them, less than ideal, be well informed.

Homebirth Babble

Most recentlyGisele Bundchen's home birth of her son in December has been a topic of discussion. But there have been many other celebrities who've birthed at home. This is of course good for the homebirth awareness cause, but myself and some others wonder if this makes the anti-homebirth group cry "Trend!" in regards to women choosing to birth at home. Obviously, there's hardly anything trendy about the way women have been birthing since the dawn of time. However, since the big push to move birth from home to hospital and replace midwives with OBs it seems that anyone who has a natural birth even in the hospital is "primal and crazy".

If you've ever been around a group of women discussing birth, you've probably noticed a similar trend. Stories told with a life threatening complication and drama, how they had to endure this and the doctor had to do that and it was an awful horrible experience...but it was all worth it to have a healthy baby. You may have been one of these women, I know I was. I told my first birth story with excitement and enthusiasm but it wasn't that of a happy or calm birth, it was that of peril and fear; of internal monitoring and the "need" for an episiotomy that's left me forever scarred (literally and figuratively).

Now, if you've been lucky enough to talk to a group of homebirth (or even natural birthing) women, the stories are much different. They have that same excited tone and dramatic arm movements, but yet, there's a calm and tranquil quality to the woman who experienced birth in her own home. Even if a "complication" arose, they usually include how their midwife simply did X, Y or Z and the rest went smoothly.

I would love to hear these celebrity accounts of homebirth, straight from their mouths. After all, drama is their JOB, so I can only imagine how intriguing these stories are. I do hope to continue to see many more celebrities choose homebirth, and I'd love to hear more public speeches on their experiences. I also hope that the anti-homebirth movement stops claiming that homebirthing is a "trendy, new-age" idea simply because in the last CENTURY birth was taken from home.

I'd also love to hear YOUR thoughts on celebrities, homebirth and the idea of the supposed trend. What are your thoughts on it all?

2 pending homebirths

I haven't posted in a log time and I was planning, at one point, to blog about why but I've decided to just let it go.

So to bring everyone up to speed I have recently started a new adventure in the world of pregnancy and post birth working at a very popular Maternity clothing store part time. It's been very fun and fulfilling to help these women, some only weeks along in their first pregnancy.

Some clients are such regulars that I know them on a first name basis, others are one time shoppers getting a few basic things but I try to make the most out of each interaction. I've shared much breastfeeding advice and had to bite my tongue other times at things I've heard (or seen!). But all in all, I am so happy to work there, it's very good for me.

In other news, my best friend is pregnant with a baby boy and planning a homebirth. She had twin girls her first pregnancy 4 and a half years ago and had the typical hospital experience: helped along with pit, epidural, purple pushing, etc. She *did* have them vaginally which I think she's always felt was a blessing. So obviously, this is a whole new territory for her and I get to be there with her to experience it. I have yet to meet her midwife but she seems like a very sweet and smart woman. I cannot wait for this birth sometime between mid march and mid april.

There's another woman I know planning a homebirth with her second baby, a surprise package due at the end of February. She was looking for birth support through an online forum we both frequent and after meeting, we both clicked. I plan on photographing her birth as well as offering any support she may need. She's also in the care of an excellent and kind midwife.

I'm so looking forward to these experiences and feel giddy as a school girl! It seems like it's been so long since I've been around fresh new babies and even longer since I've gotten to experience this miracle with another mother.

I will continue to update on the these two births as time draws near!

Why I love natural birth and how I came to love it.

You may be surprised to hear that I have not always been a natural birth advocate. In fact, I was very far from it.

My first pregnancy was unplanned. I was with a huge jerk (to put it incredibly lightly) and was only 16 when I conceived my glorious daughter. After seeing the two lines on the test confirming my pregnancy and deciding right then and there I was keeping my baby, the second decision I made was to sign up for an epidural, because "No way was I going to feel that pain if I didn't have to!". My mother tried to talk me out of it numerous times, having birthed my brother and I naturally, but I wouldn't have it. Yes, I had sex and was soon to be a mother, but I was still a teenager, and part of my insistance was to spite her. Ahh, ignorance is bliss.

When Christmas break of my senior year arrived and I was just days away from my due date, I still never doubted my decision to "numb" my birth experience. When the big day came, I did just that. At 4 cm and "near death" from the pain (Read: I was a big fat wimp that did nothing to prepare except sign up for the epi) I received my epidural. "In 15 minutes, you'll feel nothing from the waist down.". GREAT. FINALLY. But, what's this? 15 minutes later I'm still crying like a baby. The epi didn't take, so I had to have it re-administered (oh yea, that was fun. Anyone who's had one of those gawd awful things KNOWS what I'm talking about!). This time, it took and I proceeded to fall asleep.

I was woken up a few hours later by nurse who checked me, said I was complete and told me to start pushing. After about 1 1/2-2 hours of pushing, my doctor showed up. 3 hours from the start of pushing, my mom holding one leg, my best friend holding the other, my daughter was finally born, with internal monitor in her head and all! She was whisked away to NICU to address this DANGEROUS (sarcasm) meconium, then her apgar was done and finally, at 1 hour old, I held my baby girl, nursed her for 15 minutes and she was whisked away again, to go to the nursery, while I was sent to post partum.

Fast forward to baby number 2. The birth of my second daughter was very different from that of my first. I woke up at 4:30 in the morning with contractions, pretty regular ones at that, but not painful, just consistent. I sent hubby off to work and told him that by the time he got home at around 1pm we'd probably need to head to the hospital to have a baby.

That never happened. I mean, we had a baby, but not at 1pm, and not at a hospital. My labor quickly progressed from consistent to efficient. I thought back to my previous birth, when I thought the end of the world was approaching at 4cm, and I decided I was nowhere near that this time and to labor it out at home until Seth returned.

I began to feel a lot of pressure, and was sure I had to go to the bathroom. I made a lot of attempts to do so, but to no avail. I paced a lot, it's just what my body needed, told me to do. I hardly sat still for a moment. Finally, I was having to really breathe through my contractions and decided a bath sounded nice. I ran the water, nice and warm, and sunk into the tub. I actually began to drift to sleep. The bath worked...for a while. Finally, I was in the mindset that birth was eminent and I need to go. I called Seth at work, but he said he couldn't leave (at this time we were very poor and he worked a minimum wage job that we needed and he was afraid of losing it). I called my best friend, Toni, and she rushed right over.

I answered the door in nothing but a towel and told her to call an ambulance, after all, birth is an emergency situation, right? I headed to my bedroom to lay in my bed and wait, and in the less than 30 seconds it took for her to make sure the gate and door were open for the paramedics and then return to my room, my daughter was born. As she walked back into my room, I pushed, feeling my body completely take over and tell me "You need to do this...NOW". In 3 pushes she was born onto my bed, after about 2 hours of labor, with only my friend there. All was well, it was the hospital experience that ruined it.

Had I known then that we had just done something that was perfectly legal, I would have turned the paramedics away. Instead, it got us a 3 day hospital stay, a myriad of tests and an array of accusations.

This experience made me realize quite a few things. First and foremost, how amazing our bodies are. I naturally did many things that you SHOULD do in labor (sitting on the toilet, walking, the warm bath, squatting to birth...) but yet, I was never told to do any of these things. This is probably ONE of the reasons my labor was so quick.

Secondly, I felt so empowered. Was it what I planned? No. But that's what was so great about it. I would have never thought I could do that, but I did do that. And, I did it ALONE. How cool is that?

Thirdly, I realized that had I not had that blasted epidural with my first, I would have KNOWN that pressure to "go to the bathroom" was a BIG sign we were close to birth, that when my contractions were one on top of the other I was in transition, that when that urge to push came my body would have done it without me. Instead, I was numbed from my first child's birth, not just physically, at this point, I realized it affected it emotionally.

I began to question my births, yes, even my second one, though not the birth itself so much as the post partum stay in hell, I mean, the hospital. I realized that natural birth was no doubt the only way I would birth my babies in the future, save for a true emergency in which a cesarean would be required.

As I enjoyed my third pregnancy and all the excitement that went with it, I read and researched as much as I could. I knew I could do this (the natural birth) but I wanted to be prepared this time, I didn't want any fear that I had before. I began to learn a lot, and the more I learned, the more leery I became of the hospital. I almost had another UC (unassisted childbirth) with my son, only it would have been on purpose, but my husband really wasn't comfortable. Due to an insurance change in my 8th month and lack of preparation, I planned a hospital birth with my first OB and a rigid birthplan. I had my natural birth, it was pleasant, as pleasant as a hospital setting can make it, but I WILL have my homebirth next time, with or without the aid of a midwife.

I am happy to have 'accidentally' discovered the beauty of birth. My second daughter has taught me a lot, that is just one of many things. All my children have helped me learn and discover who I am, I only hope I can aid them in their own self discovery.

A long journey, and not done yet!

Alexander Odin Holt just minutes old.
9.6 lbs 21 1/2 inches

My Beautiful Girls; My life
Margaret Jane, 5 yrs

Iris Melinda, 2 yrs