Most of us don’t plan a medical induction. Most of us know that doing so sends us flying down the slippery slope of birth interventions and increases the likelihood of complications. You spent months envisioning the natural childbirth you wanted. You took the classes, drafted a birth plan, and had your vision for the way birth would unfold. Your due...
Placenta encapsulation has been making the rounds recently – it was all over the news since January Jones admitted to doing it. There’s quite a lot of practical information on how to do it and why you might want to. However, there really isn’t a lot of medical evidence on the subject, which leaves women needing to make up their...
This is where the real action happens and when most dads experience their transformation of becoming a father. I remember being a little kid and my dad telling me about when I was born. His face was full of amazement as he recalled my birth. Most of the dads I talk to share a similar feeling while describing the birth...
A baby born in a tree! A baby beamed out of her mother’s body! A baby born to Arnold Schwarzenegger! I’ve looked at hundreds of TV and movie birth scenes to discover exactly how the mass media distorts birth. I found that Hollywood routinely exaggerates fear, danger, and speed, like in this common motif: the minute a pregnant woman’s water...
The January 11, 2012 Slate.com article “The Truth About Epidurals: Are they really so bad?” by Melinda Wenner Moyer concludes with this paragraph: “Women shouldn’t cave to pressure from either side.” [Of the 'mommy wars' between natural birth advocates and pro-epidural advocates] “They should make informed decisions based on their goals and priorities. I aspired to have a comfortable birth...
In many hospital delivery rooms, it is routine to clamp and cut the umbilical cord immediately after birth. However, there is now convincing evidence that delaying cord clamping by just a few minutes has many benefits and few risks in both full-term and premature babies. Much of the research on delayed cord clamping has only just emerged in the last...
The period of labor and childbirth is one of the most significant events in a woman’s life. During this time a woman faces her most intimate, emotional and physical struggles. This is naturally a time of vulnerability and as such, the events, actions and treatment of those involved in her birthing process can have a profound impact on her psychological...
This my own home water birth video. This birth was my second vaginal birth after cesarean (my first VBAC was in a hospital.) You are welcome to ask questions, or leave (kind, supportive) comments either here or on the video itself.
In a low-risk mother, evidence tells us that a natural, vaginal birth, is statistically the safest way to give birth – for both the mom and the baby. But sometimes a cesarean is necessary, or preferred, for a variety of reasons. In those instances, a mother does not forfeit her right to a peaceful, empowered, emotionally healthy birth experience. Families...
A doula is a person who provides non-medical physical, emotional, and educational support before, during, and after labor and birth. These services can also extend into the postpartum period. (DONA.org) A new movement has started in the crossover communities of birth rights advocacy and abortion rights. It’s small but growing. We’re calling ourselves Full Spectrum Doulas, Abortion Doulas, even Radical...
Maybe you’ve heard of it. Maybe you haven’t. Maybe anything involving the word “placenta” causes you to dry heave. Contrary to how it sounds, placenta encapsulation does not involve enshrining your organ for later sacrificial rituals. In fact, it’s nothing like that at all. Placenta encapsulation is a process in which, immediately following the birth of your baby, your placenta...
During my first pregnancy in 2006, I heard the term homebirth floating around, and thought it sounded completely nuts. I watched all the baby shows on TLC and could see for myself that birth was a dangerous, excruciating agony that should never be attempted outside the supervision of an experienced obstetrician. I also got addicted to a documentary which followed...
Despite mounting medical evidence to the contrary, women around this country are being told that if they want to have a child after they’ve had a cesarean, they must undergo another cesarean delivery for the birth of their next baby. Though the cesarean may be unwarranted and unwanted, these women are often left without any choice but to have this...
If you read my VBAC story, you’ll see what a fight I had on my hands. My OB, and the hospital staff, worked against my intentions for a normal birth every step of the way. Most mammals could not have labored healthfully through the stress I was put under. The fact that I was able to get my VBAC in...
