Support for Doulas
Posted by doularama | Filed under Recommendations
The other day I got calls from three different doulas who were seeking support. One of them called me excitedly to report that she was on her way to a birth and then again, about six hours later to tell me that she was on her way home. She told me how fast and easy it had been and, of course, that she was very happy. I listened to a few details and then she went home to rest.
The next doula called me a few times throughout the day. This birth wasn’t going so smoothly and she thought she was calling me for advice. All I did, though, was listen. She presented a situation and told me what she had said or done and I just held her hand over the phone so that she wasn’t alone.
The last call was from a doula who had been at a long, emotionally-charged, yet satisfying birth. It was over now and she just needed to release. How else would she have been able to sleep that night?
Each of these doulas needed a sounding board. They didn’t turn to me for my expertise. They just needed a pair of ears with a heart that could relate and perhaps a shoulder to lean on. Perhaps everyone needs to debrief at the end of the day, but clearly some of us need it more than others. I think doulas can be a particularly needy group. After spending so much time supporting others, we need a little support ourselves.
Tags: child birth, childbirth, doulas, support
Twilight Sleep
Posted by doularama | Filed under News
Twilight sleep is a state of finely balanced semi-consciousness. In 1902, doctors in Germany started injecting laboring women with morphine and scopolamine. When combined, these drugs induce a semi-narcotic state which allows women to have the experience of childbirth WITHOUT THE MEMORY OF PAIN. The goal was not anesthesia, but amnesia.
It wasn’t long before this was the popular birthing procedure in the U.S.. The method was said to dull the pain yet women were restrained and strapped to gurneys for their own protection as they thrashed around in bed, freed from their inhibitions by the drugs, but not entirely freed from the pain. Some had their legs clamped in stirrups for hours in order to be ready when the doctor arrived.
The women, while responding somewhat to pain, did not remember it after delivering their babies. They didn’t remember the pain or the actual deliveries.
At the time, the medical consensus was that scopolamin-morphin was without danger to the babies.
This idea would eventually change as the negative side effects of twilight sleep came into the light.
Some of the complications noted were emotional. Removing the mother from the experience of childbirth, leaving her with no memory of the labor or delivery of the child is definitely a side effect.
However, more severely, the drugs had depressive effects on the central nervous systems of the newborns. This resulted in a drowsy baby with a compromised breathing capacity.
As if this wasn’t enough, let’s take another look at the following phrase: the experience of childbirth without the memory of pain. Is this not colossal disrespect!?! Ironically it was the suffragists who rallied for it to become standard procedure throughout the country.
By the mid 1970s, twilight sleep was no longer being used, but the labor and delivery staff of the previous generation had lots of stories to tell while the mothers had none. They just couldn’t remember.
Tags: childbirth, Twilight Sleep
New Videos!
Posted by doularama | Filed under News, Recommendations
Have you taken a look at the other pages on this blog? There are some great books and links listed in addition to interesting and fun videos. I’ve just added a couple of new videos including one depicting the birth of an elephant. For a long time I was hoping to find a good mammalian birth video to add and this one is perfect. Notice how the elephant moves in labor, swaying her hips and stomping her feet. She opens her mouth as her baby emerges. Many people think that opening the mouth correlates to the opening of the birth canal. How did the elephant know that? Enjoy!
The Best Natural Cough Syrup Recipe
Posted by doularama | Filed under Parenting, Recommendations
Well, I suppose cold and flu season are upon us. I’m not going to get into the flu vaccine discussion. Please do the research and make your informed decision. I personally have never had the flu and can’t imagine that I would ever get the vaccine. Anyway, that’s not what this post is about.
I rarely used to get even the common cold. Then I started to work with children and, you know, those darned bodily fluids were a-flowing all over the place and sneezes and coughs sprayed generously. Now I have a couple of my own germ transmitters and one of them is in school!
Last week, when I dropped my daughter off at school, I heard someone ask her teacher how she was feeling. The teacher’s nasal voice proceeded to complain about how sick she had been and that she was feeling a little better, so I wasn’t surprised when my daughter came home sneezing soon after.
Now my son, who for months was only nursing upon awakening, has recently been asking for breastmilk several times a day. He hasn’t gotten sick at all, that too is another post, but it seems to me that his body is keeping him healthy by making him a frequent diner at Mom’s Breastaurant.
My daughter got a minor cold, the worst part of which was the sound of her cough. Of course, the cough was mostly at night and, although she seemed to sleep through it along with her father and brother, I could not. The next night, right before she brushed her teeth, out came my magic cough syrup. My son loves this concoction, but my daughter has a more normal palate. Luckily, it works so well that I just need to remind her of it’s effects and she happily drinks it. You might add garlic for it’s antibiotic properties, but if this is for your child, you probably shouldn’t push it.
All you do is stir well equal parts of apple cider vinegar and honey. Half a tablespoon of each is really enough. (Please do not give honey to children who are less than twelve months old.)
The Mayo Clinic agrees that honey is a great cough suppressant and you can read more on apple cider vinegar here.
Tags: apple cider vinegar, common cold, cough suppressant, cough syrup, flu vaccine
Ina May’s Guide to Breastfeeding
Posted by doularama | Filed under News, Recommendations
Ina May Gaskin’s new book has just been released. I was at a seminar with her last year and saw a couple of the photos she wanted to use for the cover of this book. One was the photo of a mountain which she took herself. It looks just like a breast, with color variations and all. Below is the other set she wanted to use. My daughter delightedly exclaimed “leche” when she saw a nude statue in a museum once, and my son took another nude statue as a reminder to ask me for my own milk another time. In the end, her publishers got their way and the book has a very conventional cover.
Tags: Breastfeeding, Ina May Gaskin, Statue
Labor Pains for Men
Posted by doularama | Filed under News
Surely, some men will watch this and think that they would be able to do better, but there is much more involved than just the contracting of the uterus (the largest set of muscles in the body and men will never have them). There are other sensations, many would say pain, that come up in various parts of the body, and there is also a huge emotional factor that contributes. If you are frightened or anxious, dehydrated or have a full bladder, it all comes into play. There is so much involved, but this is still worth a look.
I say too bad men can not go through labor. Not because they deserve to suffer, but because it is really a privelege. Women can’t truly remember the physical component of how they felt during labor, but the emotional component never leaves us. That’s why, as a doula, I am working to help women create positive memories.
Tags: doula, Dr. Andrew Rochford, Men Experiencing Labor
Chewing Gum!?!
Posted by doularama | Filed under News
I have never understood the idea of chewing gum. What is the appeal? Chew, chew, chew and at the beginning you get a little flavor. Oooh, that’s exciting. Can I also chew it with my mouth open to annoy the people around me and make little crackling noises on the train so they won’t be able to read even though this is the only opportunity they’ll have? What fun. Even bubble gum, which provides some amusement as you practice a skill that you will never use elsewhere, seems pointless to me. I didn’t even need to finish that last sentence, did I?
Well, finally I see the reason gum was invented at all. Following are the results of a study that say that chewing gum after a cesarean surgery can help speed the rate of recovery. Now that’s something to chew on.
RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA-Chewing gum after giving birth by C-section appears to help new mothers recover faster, stimulating bowel function sooner, which can translate to shorter hospital stays and lower healthcare costs, according to a study published in the journal BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
THE DETAILS: Researchers looked at 200 pregnant women who delivered by elective cesarean section and put them into two groups; 93 who received one stick of sugarless gum for 15 minutes every two hours after surgery, and 107 who underwent traditional treatment-no clear liquids until a patient passes gas, and no regular diet until the first bowel movement.
WHAT IT MEANS: Generally, after any abdominal surgery, including hysterectomies and C-sections, a portion of your intestines is temporarily paralyzed. Most doctors won’t allow you to eat or drink until your gut awakens because they don’t want food to become stuck in your GI tract and cause complications. This study adds to the evidence that chewing gum is a helpful way to wake up your gut after surgery, perhaps because the act of chewing signals that food is on the way.o Make the chew case to your doctor. If you’re scheduled to undergo any abdominal surgery, ask your doctor if chewing gum could be used to speed up your recovery. University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center researchers found that patients who had undergone colon surgery and chewed gum for 15 minutes four times a day saw a return of bowel function a half a day sooner than those who just sipped clear fluids.
Tags: abdominal surgery, ceasarean, chewing gum, recovery
In the Caul
Posted by doularama | Filed under Birth Stories, News
Caul is the term used for the amniotic sac when it is still intact around the baby at birth. Fewer than one in one thousand babies are reported to be born in the caul, and there are some old beliefs surrounding these births. Among them is the idea that a baby who is born in the caul will have good luck
I am not really superstitious- I happily believe some of the positive (things) and leave the rest behind. I’ll even go as far as saying that Friday the 13th brings me good luck because, if everyone has bad luck on that day, the good luck has to go somewhere. So, I’ll often see the positive portents in my life, and recognize nary an ominous omen.
I feel like I came into birth work in the caul. I have been very lucky. I’ve had great mentors and many opportunities for continuing education. I’m usually called to births after breakfast and get home before dinner. I get women to the hospital just before they need to push, leaving no time for interventions, and homebirths speed right along too.
The last two homebirths I assisted were attended by the same midwife. For the first one, she arrived just three minutes before the baby was born. Things were just going so smoothly and everyone was coping well, it was hard to tell that it would end so soon. For the second one, she arrived a little less than an hour before the little caul-enveloped girl emerged. The midwife told me that I am very calming and that’s why labors go so quickly for me. Well, “calm” is the one word everyone uses to describe this midwife. What a compliment it was to have her say that about me.
Now I’m on call for another client with the same midwife. Some might suspect that my luck should run out by now, I choose not to worry myself with those thoughts and just take the challenges as they come (if they come).
I don’t think there are any long- standing beliefs about the people who are present when a baby is born in the caul. Well, there is now and you better believe it’s a good one.
The midwife mentioned above had an aunt who was also a caulbearer. She died the day the little girl speedily came out in her own caul. That’s not superstition, it’s just fact, but I like to believe that those coincidences are significant too.
Check out some amazing photos and some more info HERE.
Tags: caul, childbirth, in the caul, midwife, Navelgazing Midwife
Laborades for Labor Aid
Posted by doularama | Filed under Recommendations
These recipes can be enjoyed as drinks or labor cubes. I suggest that you make them in advance and have ice cubes ready in case that’s what you would like during labor.
Make a strong batch of red raspberry leaf tea and add enough honey to make it sweeter than you would normally have it.
*The honey will provide energy.
*Red raspberry leaf relaxes and tones the uterus while nourishing with vitamins and minerals. It can also reduce nausea, help with labor pains and even increase the flow of milk.
*****************************************************************************
In a blender combine:
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup honey
1/4 tsp salt
2 calcium/magnesium tablets, crushed
3 cups water
*The lemon juice helps with nausea
*The honey provides energy
*The lack of calcium lowers the threshold for pain and sufficient calcium is necessary for the blood to clot (important in preventing hemorrhage). It is also good for the heart in times of stress.
*Magnesium is the prime regulator of calcium flow within the cells. It helps the uterus contract efficiently, and fully relax between contractions. It also alleviates nervous tension.
*The water will make it all palatable and help KEEP YOU HYDRATED.
Tags: childbirth, hydration, laborade, laboraid, recipes
Monique and the Mango Rains
Posted by doularama | Filed under Recommendations
Monique and the Mango Rains
Two Years with a Midwife in Mali
by Kris Holloway
This book made me laugh out loud and cry (surprise!). It provides Excellent insights into the culture, traditions and personalities of people in a village in Mali, as experienced by a young Peace Corps volunteer. This intimate, easy-to-read narrative is special because it is not the story of a volunteer’s two years in Africa alone. It all revolves around a special friendship the author developed with the young village midwife and health care worker. Through this unlikely relationship, we are invited to experience the stark reality of a small village in West Africa, not unlike many others, along with the lush simplicity of daily life there. Kris Holloway does not focus on herself, but on the people of the area and their situations. This short book can provide a much-needed education for so many people in this country who don’t know what’s going on across the waters.
Tags: Kris Holloway, Mali, midwifery
