Birthing

Get the REAL SCOOP on birthing
  • Ina May Gaskin in her book Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth.  Filled with inspiring birth stories and practical advice.
    • Reducing the pain of labor without drugs–and the miraculous roles touch and massage play
    • What really happens during labor
    • Orgasmic birth–making birth pleasurable
    • Episiotomy–is it really necessary?
    • Common methods of inducing labor–and which to avoid at all costs
    • Tips for maximizing your chances of an unmedicated labor and birth
    • How to avoid postpartum bleeding–and depression
    • The risks of anesthesia and cesareans–what your doctor
      doesn’t necessarily tell you
    • The best ways to work with doctors and/or birth care providers
    • How to create a safe, comfortable environment for
      birth in any setting, including a hospital
    • And much more
  • Sarah Buckley’s Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering.  An authoritative guide to natural childbirth and postpartum parenting options from an MD who home-birthed her own four children.
    • She approaches the question of how a woman and baby might have the most fulfilling birth experience with respect for the wisdom of both medical science and the human body. Using current medical and epidemiological research plus women’s experiences (including her own), she demonstrates that what she calls “undisturbed birth” is almost always healthier and safer than high-technology approaches to birth. Her wise counsel on issues like breastfeeding and sleeping during postpartum helps extend the gentle birth experience into a gentle parenting relationship.

 

  • Orgasmic Birth: The Best-Kept Secret.  An award-winning documentary revealing the emotional, spiritual, and physical heights attainable through birth. Witness the intimate experiences of 11 women and partners. “Watch this film and get in on the world’s best-kept secret: labor and birth can be pleasurable- even ecstatic. Pleasurable birth creates a positive foundation for a lifetime.” Christiane Northrup, MD, bestselling author.

 

  • The Free Birth Society courses and podcast – AMAZING podcast.  Listen to hundreds of free birth stories from women all over the world.  This is the most empowering podcast ever!!!!!

 

 

 

Eat 6 dates/day for 4 weeks before birth – for easier, faster, natural labor, more dilation, and less drugs!  

According to this fascinating article from GreenMedInfo, Sixty-nine pregnant women ate six dates a day for four weeks before their estimated delivery date. Another group of 45 women ate none. The women who ate the dates had significantly greater cervical dilation: 3.52 cm versus 2.02 cm. Spontaneous, or natural, labour occurred in 79% of the women who ate no dates but in a full 96% of the women who did. The women who ate the dates also needed significantly less drugs: 47% of women who did not eat dates had to be administered prostin/oxytocin while only 28% of women who ate dates did. The women who ate dates also had shorter labours: latent phase of the first stage of labour was 906 minutes in the no date group but a significantly shorter 510 minutes in the date group.

 

Get in the Right Position

Babe’s and women’s bodies know what to do – but what birthing position works with our biology best?

Babies essentially twirl their way outa the womb!  Being upright can make this easier. 🙂  I love watching and reading stuff like this from women who KNOW (video from the Colchester Hospital Maternity facebook page)

 

Say no to premature umbilical cord clamping

Do you know what this is?  If you’re having a baby, this is an important concept to consider!   I love the idea of not clamping until the baby has taken it’s first swallow of breastmilk, and until the cord stops pumping blood to the baby.  Seems like a no-brainer, right?

  • Consider a lotus birth where the cord is not cut – it dries out and breaks off naturally.

 

Seek out and develop a relationship with an osteopath so that when birth time comes, you are ready!

We all experience birth trauma in some way, shape or form.  Find an osteopath that does his work in the tradition of Dr. Sutherland, and is aware of ALF holistic dentistry.  Getting osteopath treatment for your baby right away can eliminate the need for a variety of treatments of your child down the road – including braces.

 

Create a document stating what you want, or do not want your baby to receive regarding vaccinations, and cord clamping

This is extremely important if you are birthing in a hospital setting.  Not only do you need to let ALL staff caring for your baby about what you want, but you must be vigilant with each nursing staff change, as the new nurse or doctor may be unaware of the document you shared with the previous staff.

Even if you plan to birth at home, or in a midwife facility, it is critical that you create this document.  A pregnancy or birthing complication can occur at any time, and you can find yourself in the hospital giving birth.

Learn what remedies can be used to safely support your child through illness and infection.  www.sophiami-chaelremedies.com – A website created by Dr. Kelly Sutton, M.D., offering a wide range of resources for holistic support and care of a child.