Epidurals for labour

Epidurals for labour. The choice is yours after all. But it's important to know that any intervention has potential benefits and risks. Yes, having an epidural is an intervention. Interventions by natural can change the course of labour because they can distupt the normal balance of labour. Let's take a look at all the things that come along with Epidurals.

• An Anesthetist must do the procedure. You will need to sign a concent form and should be informed of the risks, although they are usually minimul . An important thing to note is that sometimes you can get an Epidural quickly and other times you will need to wait until an Anesthetist is available to give you one. Also don't assume you are eligible for an Epidural because certain medications and some women's backs prevent them from being able to have one. But most women can have an Epidural.


• Most hospitals insist that you have an active labour pattern established before you have an Epidural. Which means your cervix needs to be at least 3-4 cm dilated.


• You will be confined to a bed and need the External Fetal Monitoring belts on you the whole time.


• Most times a Bladder Cathidar is used because you will not be able to feel the sensation to uriniate and your legs will be numb so it would be unsafe to walk to the bathroom.


• You will need Intervenious fluids to maintain good blood pressure.


• A Blood pressure cuff will also be on you the whole time.


• You will be restricted from having food or fluids.


• Your Temperature will be monitored regularly.


• By nature Epidurals tend to slow labour so for most labours there is a need to add Pitocin (Oxytocin) to help labour continue to move along.


• Epidurals do increase the need for instrument delivery (vacuum extraction and forceps) of your baby because sometimes it can be more difficult to push effectively.


• You will be monitored closely to make sure that all the interventions you have do not adversely affect your baby.

The Benefits??? Safe effective pain relief with mental awareness. A woman can relax and sometimes even sleep. It can be especially helpful for women that are highly anxious about labour.

The truth is that Epidurals are a trade off. You trade off the options of movement, walking, bath/shower, basically undisturbed birth for pain relief. Know your options or you don't have any. Be an informed consumer. Take some Childbirth Eduction classes to increase your confidence level. What ever your choice......have good labour support and choose a place of birth that gives you a variety of options.The choice IS yours make it wisely.

Childbirth Education?

To be or not to be? ....that is the question. One guy said to me, "Do we really need to take childbirth education classes"? And I responded, "Why wouldn't you? Wouldn't you want to be prepared for the birth of your baby on that day? Wouldn't you want some tools to be able to support your wife through the physical and emotional journey of Birth"?

The reality is that childbirth education is losing the attention of pregnant women. Why? Because it competes with the mulititude of media at women's finger tips and frankly a lot of women are working full time and this places another thing to do on her list. It's a shame really because I work along side of labour and delivery nurses and they always tell me that they can tell the difference between a couple that has taken prenatal classes and those that have not.

Ask yourself this if you are having a baby. If you were facing a challenge in your life whether it be physically, medical, a marathon, an academic challenge and business challenge wouldn't you want to be well prepard to get through the challenge? Think about all the things that you would need to boost your confidence level to get through that challenge and quess what......birth is not different. Educating your self helps women to be informed consumers and gives them some tools to help good decisions during birth. If you are sitting on the fence about childbirth education get off the fence and sign up today, I am sure it will be worth your time and energy

Happy New Years 2011

One of my New Years resolutions was to try to put my foot in others peoples shoes. In other words for me it means understanding where someone is coming from. When it comes to my work I try that I need to be very sensitive to the impact that the media, family and friends make on pregnant women. Some may offer positive imput but mostly it is not very positive. I take it upon myself to help women tap into their own inner wisdom during pregnancy and birth. I encourage and challenge them and their partners to look outside the box. That box is often filled with scary outdated hospital practices, old wives tales and basically misinformed facts that are not evidence based. Again my goal this year is to help women and couples realize and birth is phsiologically normal and that women are capable of giving birth just fine thank you and those around her need to help make the experience as positive as possible.....including the baby. Happy New Year....Happy Pregnancy, Happy Birthing!!

The Politics of birthing

In the December 2010 issue of "Soujouners Magazine, faith politics, culture" http://sojo.net/ some excellant articles were written on the politics of birthing;

Giving birth is perhaps the most singular, unique, remarkable, and miraculous event in a mother's life -- and at the same time one of the most universal of human experiences, with more than 6 billion occurrences in our lifetime alone.
In the United States, the process of childbirth has become more and more "medicalized" over the past half century. As our authors explain, birthing a child has come to be seen by the medical establishment as a process to be managed—almost as if pregnancy were an illness or a medical condition to cure -- rather than an act of human participation in God's creativity. This trend is perhaps best exemplified by the alarming growth in C-sections, which now constitute almost a third of U.S. births -- for women under 25, the rate of C-sections has increased 57 percent from 2000 to 2007. (The World Health Organization warns that C-section rates above 15 percent tend to result in more harm than good.)
While medical attention is obviously needed in some cases, many feel the pendulum has swung too far. The process of childbirth for many has been wrenched away from the woman at the center and the community surrounding her, and into the hands of institutions and establishments whose approach often seems to favor an almost industrial efficiency over what is best for mother and child.
But that is changing, as women across the country are building a movement of mothers, midwives, and doulas, home births, birth centers, and birthing rooms -- a spiritual movement for justice that recognizes the intrinsic sacredness of childbirth.
Cover Story
Unto Us a Child is GivenWhy is it such a fight to have a 'natural' childbirth? By Susan Windley-Daoust
Resources on Natural Birth
Why I'm Becoming a DoulaDiscovering the call to 'mother the mothers.' By Kierra Jackson
Reclaiming ChildbirthHow a resurgent movement is taking birth back from the medical establishment. By Shafia M. Monroe
Being ThereA reluctant uncle witnesses the home birth of his nephew. By Matt Hildreth
Features

The Splendor of Birth

I changed the name of this blog today but I couldn't get rid of the Splendor. I just love that word. I know it's not used much and maybe considered a bit old fashioned but Birth to me is beautiful and life changing. Not to discount those births that are disappointing and sometimes even traumatic. But for me Birth reminds me of great things like snow fluttering, my son playing a beautiful christmas song on the piano, the giggle of a baby, a thud in your chest that wakes me up and says, "This is it....Life, where we all began". Each time I support a couple through the journey of birth I am struck by this life giving event and how it impacts the parents and I too am changed. I never stop learning something at every birth I attend. I love being a birth Doula and I believe that if we are to change the world we must start at birth!

Hot Eggnog?

Eggnog, oh how I love Eggnog especially with a dash of nutmeg and a little rum is nice as well. But of course neither of these are a good choice during pregnancy. The eggnog contains raw egg and has the potential to make expecting mom sick with the bacteria levels and the rum....well we all know by now that alcohol is a definate NO NO during pregnancy. Other foods to avoid during prenancy are soft and/or unpasturized cheeses, raw milk, even deli meats can high levels of bacteria so steam them in the microwave before eating them. Large fish tend to have higher toxin levels and sorry, no sushi, wait till after the baby is born. I wonder what would happen if you heated eggnog up? Would it kill the bacteria? Would it change the taste? I just might have to check that out myself.

Normalizing pain in childbirth

Pain

P - Purposeful. The purpose of the pain in labour is in the end we have a baby. Also pain is signally us to do something like move, change position and get ourselves comfortable
A - Anticipated. Do you expect some pain in labour. Good! because knowing that we are going to have some pain prepares us mentally for the task before us. Also when you are in labour you also know that you can anticipate that you will finish one contraction and anticipate more will come
I - Intermittent. Listen I never would've had 3 children if it wasn't for the intermittent break relief in between the contractions. Contractions last for about a minute to a minute and half and when it has subsided you get your break you feel pretty much normal and pain free inbetween. Those are the moments when you recoup, relax and recharge to be able to continue on.
N - Normal. Pain during labour is physiologically normal. In our culture we accept that a marathoner would experience some pain during his run, we would accept that pain is a normal part of life and that some live with it more than others. But for some reason the pain of labour is treated as if it were not normal, is to be feared, avoided and must therefore be treated and minimalized. In fact pain alerts mothers to move during labour which often helps progress labour and speeds labour.