My Reflections On Labor And Birth

Posted on 25 October, 2013 by Judith Halek

By Judith Elaine Halek

Photos and Article Copyright @ 2000 Judith Elaine Halek

I was sitting at a dinner table with a group of women in their late thirties and forties. I, myself, am in my early forty’s, not married, been working in the birth modalities for the past twelve years and at present, am not seeing anyone in particular. I commented, “I don’t think it’s in the cards for me to have a baby this lifetime.””Really!” exclaimed a couple of the women. “How old are you?” inquired one woman. “Close to my mid forties.” I responded. “Oh, that won’t be a problem,” she said matter of factly, “You can always do invitro, or donor insemination.” I looked at her and then to other women around the table as all eyes were set on my response. I was surprised and disappointed that conception has become a casual ‘technocratic procedure’ in the minds of the public. I began to explain IVF and donor insemination requires massive douses of antibiotics, a large bank account, arranging one’s work schedule around clinic visits, undergoing countless invasive, often painful, always emotionally charged procedures, all for the chance that I might be the one of ten to be blessed with the news of a cyborg conception. Please understand, I am not judging anyone who chooses this path of conception. It is not my preference of choice and thank goodness, we still have a choice.

Or do we? When I reflect back on my experiences the past twelve years as a labor support specialist, childbirth educator, birth counselor, massage therapist, yoga instructor I’ve found far too many women who did not exercise their options of choice and gave their power away to the medical caregivers, especially in hospitals. After attending over 100 births in hospitals, birth centers and homes, I have had the opportunity to experience a variety of possibilities. It is my vision, that all labor and delivery nurses and obstetricians witness 30 home births or birth center births as part of their medical training.

I remember at one hospital, a nurse commented, “Having a baby at home is one of the most dangerous experiences a mother could put her baby and herself through.” I asked if she had ever attended a home birth, or studied the statistics of home birth practices. She admitted she had not attended a one or knew anything about recent studies on home birthwith midwife practices. I asked her, as I’ve asked many people who make blanket statements without any information to back up their claims, “How can you make such a definitive comment when you’ve not any experience with what you are judging?”

It’s rather ironic that we in our intellectual aspects, read, watch videos, attend classes, surf the internet, express our gathering feminine nature, becoming an ‘informed consumer’, yet when it all comes down to the real deal, one of my favorite mentors, Dr. Michel Odent states, “Forget the books, tapes, videos. Go to a quiet, dark place, private and safe, trust the process, surrender to your bodies and have your babies.”

I believe women have forgotten how to birth, trust, listen, go deep inside and communicate with their bodies and their babies. I also believe women can remember.

What are the choices, options, for non-technocratic pregnancies, labors and births? I have treeoflife been an advocate of midwifery for the past 12 years. After researching international statistical outcomes regarding midwifery vs. obstetrical care, midwives have far exceeded the lower infant mortality rates, fewer medical interventions and higher results in more empowering births.

Having a baby with an obstetrition in a hospital? Create a birth plan, a “guide line,” toward the ideal birth you would like to create. Birth plans are generally discussed in your childbirth classes. Look in various childbirth books early on in your pregnancy and begin to educated yourself. A few favorites are, “The Birth Book” by Sears and Sears, MD, “The Complete Book for Pregnancy and Childbirth,” by Sheila Kitzinger and “New Active Birth, a Complete Guide to Natural Childbirth,” by Janet Balaskas. To find out about midwifery based practices in your area, call American College of Nurse Midwives, (ACNM,): 202-728-9860 (general number), 1-888-643-9433, (toll free locator number). Or contact Midwives Alliance of North America, (MANA): 1-888-923-6262.

Bring questions to your medical caregivers, be attentive how they respond. If you experience not being heard or rushed through prenatal visits, go over in your mind and with your partner why you don’t feel supported. If you do your work early on, talking further or switching medical caregivers will not be as problematic.

Over and over I have encouraged women to trust your highly sensitized instincts, do research and own this birth. This labor and birth will only happen once and it’s vital to be with people you feel safe, listened to and trust. I believe, the only way change will take place among the obstetrical practices is through the public. By asking for what you deserve, you educate and introduce the medical profession to another possibility.

Another alternative is a labor support doula. A ‘doula’ is a Greek word for ‘woman assistant.’ She meets with a couple and gathers information prentally. She’s on call before and after the due date, attending to the parents needs during early and later stages of labor and birth, following up with a post-natal visit after the birth. Doulas have statistically proven to lower cesarean sections by 50%, length of labor down 25%, oxytocin use, down 40%, pain medications (narcotics) down 30%, forceps down 30%, and epidurals down 60%. A labor doula is by no means to replace the partner of the mother. No one can replace the relationship or connection of a woman’s partner. The doula helps to relieve the pressure and enhance the experience.

Since 1993, when Doulas of North America, (DONA,) began a certification program there are now over 8,000 certified. For referrals call, 206-324-5440. Book referrals for becoming a doula: “The Birth Partner,” by Penny Simkin, PT, “Mothering The Mother,” by M. Klaus, MD , J. Kennel, MD and Phyllis Klaus, M.Ed., CSW. If someone would be interested in setting up a doula program read, “Doula Programs: How to Start and Run Private or Hospital-Based Programs with Success!,” by Paulina Perez and Deaun Thelen.

An aquatic analgesic alternative to medical pain medication or an epidural is water labor or water birth. As the east coast resource center for water birth, my organization, Birth Balance, has educated countless couples on this unique and growing approach. A shower is great during labor, yet, it can’t compare to submerging half to three quarters of your body in a tub of water. Advantages to water birth for the mother are: easier coping during dilatation of the cervix and the pushing stage, softening of the perennial tissues, bones, muscles so lacerations are minimal, ability to move in whatever position her body organically discovers, less interventions, faster labors and births. Advantages to the baby: a medium which softens the baby’s bones and tissues thus creating a softer birth experience, babies appear to be less traumatized, a drug free beginning and more immediate bonding with mother.

wavecave A concern regarding water labor or birth is infection. When in the water, bacteria is diluted. Unless someone enters the water with an infection of some sort offering foreign bacteria, there wouldn’t be problems with the mothers infecting herself or the baby. A study in 1996 of 1385 women with prelabor rupture of the membranes after 34 weeks gestation concluded a tub bath did not increase the risk of maternal or neonatal infection after premature rupture of the membranes and prolonged latency. (1)

Another randomized, controlled trial was with 785 women. The results were as follows: tub group required fewer pharmacological agents, fewer deliveries by forceps and vacuum, more likely to have intact perineum and an overall positive effect on analgesic requirements, instrumentation rates, condition of the perineum and personal satisfaction. (2)

Another concern people have is the drowning of the baby at birth. The baby is in a womb of water from conception and is born into an extended womb of water later. The baby receives oxygen from the umbilical cord which is attached to the placenta. As the baby is born, the placenta is detaching from the mother, thus the supply of oxygen becomes depleted and bringing the baby up to the surface as soon as possible is imperative. Another atmospheric pressure, such as air or gravity is what stimulates the babies chemoreceptors to take a breath. That is why, in water, the baby will not take a breath.

Water birth has been around for centuries. In the contemporary times the concept began in Russia in the 60’s,, spread to France, England in the 70’s and come to the United States in the 80’s. For further reading on the subject check out: (book and video) “Gentle Birth Choices,” by Barbara Harper, RN, “Water Birth, A Midwife’s Perspective,” by Susanna Napierala and “The Waterbirth Handbook, ” by Dr. Roger Lichy and Eileen Herzberg.

No matter what choices you make for this birth or future, each pregnancy, labor and birth will teach you what to do differently or the same the next time. Remember, everything is an opportunity for learning. Keep an open mind and heart and learn.

(1), (2): MIDIRS Midwifery Digest, (Mar 1997) 7:1.

Aquadurals and Douladurals Replace the Epidurals

Posted on 25 October, 2013 by Judith Halek

Photos and Article Copyright @ 1987 Judith Elaine Halek

Printed in 2000 by Midwifery Today

In an ancient tradition of “woman supporting woman,” my friend asked me to do something I’d never done before attend the birth of a child. “Just be there and support me, massage me, talk to me,” she said, then added matter-of-factly: “Oh, by the way, we’re going to have the baby underwater.” It was a cold, blustery evening in November 1987 when baby Maxx appeared, landmarking the first home underwater birth in New York City accompanied by a midwife. Thus was conceived my passion for birth. Without much information available to us at that time, we were all virgins finding our way as comfortably as possible to fulfill the mother’s wishes. We had three resources: books by Erik Sidenbladh1, Timothy Wyllie2 and Dr. Michel Odent.3 In 1987 very few if any hospitals in the United States had birthing tubs. In 1996 a handful of U.S. hospitals offered birthing tubs; today hundreds do. Waterbirth, which started in Russia during the 1950s and 1960s, moved to France and England in the 1970s and to America in the mid-1980s, was once considered a fad. Today it has become the “aquadural,” replacing for many women the epidural. Innovative and controversial, the aquadural involves laboring and/or birthing under water. After my initiation in 1987, I became one of the first of a handful of doulas in New York City. The doula, a specialist in labor, has become another significant element in late twentieth and early twenty-first century birth, one that decreases the need for drugs, interventions and surgical procedures up to 50 percent. 4 A “douladural” is a non-medical person who has certification training or life experience in the birth field. She acts as a liaison between medical caregivers and parents by offering physical, mental, emotional and spiritual support. She does not perform medical procedures or make medical decisions, yet she does advise the parents on these matters.

Safety Reports and Stipulations

During the early 1980s, Estelle Myers, at the Rainbow Dolphin Centre in New Zealand, led the first two waterbirth conferences.5 International waterbirth conferences were held in London, England in 1995 and Greensboro, North Carolina in 1996. Thousands of births reported at these conferences confirmed no increase of infection to baby or mother or fetal or maternal deaths due to the water. 6 The next international waterbirth conference will be held in Portland, Oregon in September 2000 and is co-sponsored by Midwifery Today.

In the late 1980s to mid-1990s, a series of articles in the medical journals noted the death of a baby in Sweden, one death and one brain-damaged baby in Britain and one death in France due to water labor or birth. After further investigations, it was shown that the water was not the cause of these babies’ deaths and brain damage; rather, other mitigating circumstances were evident. 7 As a result of these incidents the following stipulations occurred and were administered: 1) decrease the temperature of the water to body temperature‹ 97 to 99 degrees Fahrenheit or 34 to 38 Celsius; 2) encourage the mother to get in the water no earlier than five centimeters dilated; 3) shorten the labor time a mother is in the tub; 4) shorten the amount of time the baby is submerged. The Royal Society of Medicine delivered an abstract on a comparison of 602 maternal and neonatal outcomes in waterbirths and conventional vaginal deliveries from 1989 to 1994 (301 women electing for waterbirths compared with the same number of age- and parity-matched low-risk women having conventional vaginal deliveries). The Society¹s conclusion: waterbirths in low-risk women delivered by experienced professionals are as safe as normal deliveries. Laboring and delivering in water is associated with a reduction in length of labor and perineal trauma for primigravidae and a reduction in analgesia requirements for all women. If a mother is in a prodromal labor pattern early on, having intense back-to-back contractions with a two to three centimeter dilation, she can become extremely tired. I suggest she sit in the tub for therapeutic rest and encouragement. If the temperature exceeds 99º F or 38º C, it can lead to hyperthermia and dehydration in the mother and baby. It is also imperative that the mother as well as the assistants in the room drink fluids with glucose. If the mother is not well hydrated, it leads to low blood volume and could possibly result in orthostatic hypertension, passing out when standing up to get out of the pool.9 Janet Balaskas states in her book, Water Birth: Maintaining the correct water temperature is very important. If the water temperature is too low the mother’s body temperature particularly if she spends a long time in the pool, will drop. The sweating mechanism for heat loss does not work in water, so if the water is too warm the mother’s body temperature will rise and her energy may be sapped. Doula Linda Cohen in Long Island, New York devised a rather simple recipe for situations in the hospital where the mother is not allowed anything but ice chips and water. She calls this “The Drizzle.” In a cup add: a bit of infused (very strong) hot red raspberry leaf tea and a teaspoon of honey; mix thoroughly and add ice chips. Feed to mother with a spoon while in the tub, on the birth throne (toilet), on a bed, kneeling over a physioball, walking down the hall or up and down stairwells. Once I was fortunate enough to be invited to a home birth with a small group of Russians from Moscow. I saw a small bowl of fresh cranberries on the side of the tub. Periodically the mother would suck on one, put it back in the bowl and go through the contraction. Sucking the cranberries, the mother claimed, helped stimulate her thirst. As an assistant, I periodically ask the mother if the water feels too cool or too warm. Placing a small thermometer in the tub helps monitor the temperature. If the water is too hot and the mother desires it to be even warmer, I suggest she get out of the water and walk. If the water became too cold I would add hot water away from the mother if she remains in the tub or get her out of the tub and add the water. Another trick the Russians taught me is, if the mother is feeling too warm in the tub yet doesn’t want to get out, she can hold onto pieces of ice to cool down, or sit along the edge of the tub with her feet still in the water. Barbara Harper explains: “The greatest benefit to immersion will be experienced in the first hour to two hours. Twenty minutes in the bath is not enough for the physiologic responses to work effectively. That is why some women, both primips and multips, get into the water at 7 cm or 8 cm dilation and begin to experience pushing urges within the first hour of immersion.”11 Keeping a woman in the water for hours is unsafe and unnecessary. I just received a call from a mother who labored in a rented tub at home but didn’t birth there. I asked her why not. She responded: “The water was filthy after being in it for six hours and by the time we had drained it and started to fill it again, the baby was born.” In Bristol, two women who had adverse perinatal outcomes had labored for more than seven hours in the birthing pool. There was one stillborn child with evidence of asphyxia and one baby with severe hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy. These women had labored, not birthed in the water. In neither case was any specific cause evident. 12 When helping the woman out of the water, one must be aware of the “fetus ejection reflex,” a term coined by Dr. Michel Odent. 13 This means there is a possibility of the baby slipping through the birth canal unexpectedly because of the change of atmospheric pressure and movement. I focus on the laboring mother¹s pelvic area and keep in touch with the physical sensations she is feeling when assisting her out of the tub. I also make sure if in a birth center or hospital, to wrap the mother in the kind of warm large white thin blanket supplied by the hospital or birth center. I use the small towels to wipe the legs and feet of the shivering woman stepping out of the water. I also make sure the room temperature is as warm as possible so the mother does not chill from water to air. In some facilities, especially hospitals, we have no direct control of the temperature. Most facilities are quite cold. In one hospital we fooled the thermostat by taking a rubber glove, filling it with ice chips, slipping a knot at the opening of the wrist and placing the dangling fingers of ice on the thermostat box. Worked like a charm. It is also important the mother does not slip when exiting the tub. I think it’s a good idea to put a large tarp underneath the portable tub. Towels placed on the floor beside the entrance to the tub help create an absorbent, non-slip surface. If there is full access around the tub, I place towels around the whole area. When a baby completely emerges from the womb it is logical to get the child directly into the mother¹s arms, or better, to assist the mother as she brings the baby to her belly or chest. Oxygen flows to the baby through the umbilical cord attached to the placenta. When the placenta detaches completely or partially from the mother, the baby¹s supply of oxygen is compromised. Thus emergence within a short time is of essence. There was a case during the early 1980s in the United States where a couple, unattended by medical caregivers, left their child under the water after the placenta was birthed. The baby died due to lack of oxygen. 14 When pulling the baby out of the water and onto the mother’s belly or chest, it is important to become aware of the length of the umbilical cord. It’s easy to snap a short cord if one pulls the baby up abruptly. In regard to the physiology of birth, each woman responds differently to pain, yet when mothers get into the water, there is a universal, “AhhhhŠoh my god, why did I wait so long!” After the tenth person responded with the exact words, I wondered if I was experiencing the “hundredth monkey” concept. Barbara Harper, director of Global Maternal Child/Health Association, reports on her survey of close to 2,000 women, when asked the question, “What feelings do you recall?”‹almost 100 percent of women stated in one form or another they were relaxed, calm, at peace in the water. 15 I can say that for every birth I’ve attended where there was a tub of water and a challenging labor or birth, that without the water, the woman would have received an epidural. During one of my interviews for my local cable program, Birth Balance Presents: Waterbirth, I was interviewing a mother who labored in water and birthed her baby in air due to meconium and late due date. When I commented to her, “From my observations of you during the labor, if you had not had the tub available, I believe there was an 80 percent chance you would have gotten an epidural.” “Eighty!” she exclaimed, “200 percent I would have gotten the epidural! The water saved me.” When sticking my hands in the water to massage or support I do not wear gloves. I wash thoroughly with antiseptic soap and make sure I do not have any staph infections on my body. In one case an infection was passed to the baby during a water labor because the father had a staph infection on his foot and was in the water when the baby was born. When I am pressing points on the mother’s back during a contraction or massaging her shoulders, legs or belly in between contractions, the warm water soothes my tired hands and arms. I am also given more breaks from actual hands on at a water labor because the women spend time rocking back and forth on their hands and knees moaning and breathing. This gives me time to talk gently to a birthing mother or massage the father. During my prenatal visits with parents to discuss their birth plans and choices for childbirth, I encourage them to stay open and unattached to birthing in the water. Waterbirth should not be the goal. Often times when a woman becomes fixated on any particular outcome of birth, there potentially are more difficulties because of inflexibility. Dr. Michel Odent speaks often of women getting out of the tubs right when they are to push their babies out, so that they then present right alongside the tub. Or when the water is running into the tub, the woman may grab alongside the tub and begin to scream as her contractions become stronger. In some cases, women actually birth their babies just by the sound of the water running. Listening to one’s body, trusting the process and going with the flow are vital. A question I am commonly asked is: “Is it a good idea to hire a doula who has little or no experience with water labor or birth?” In this day and age, there is so much information about this alternative method of labor and birth. If the doula is more inexperienced it would be worth her time to research through the Internet, read books, watch and listen to video and audiotapes. Anyone can read up, ask questions, talk to parents who’ve had a water labor or birth, and attend lectures or private consultations with a waterbirth consultant. It is more important that parents have a strong connection with the doula they have interviewed. Educating and participating is a moment to moment experience.

Click to View Judith Halek’s toolbaghttp://www.birthbalance.com/articles/toolbag.asp

Judith Elaine Halek is the founder and director of Birth Balance, an East Coast resource center for underwater birth that she started in 1987. One of the original labor support doulas in New York City, she has pioneered alternative choices in childbirth throughout the tri-state area. A birth consultant and counselor, massage and fitness therapist, writer, educator, speaker, photographer, videographer and producer of Birth Balance Presents: Water Birth, a Manhattan Educational Cable Station, Judith is airing her third thirteen-part weekly series on underwater birth and midwifery related issues. If you would like to contact Judith directly by email she’s at: Judith@BirthBalance.com.

Footnotes

1. Sidenbladh, E. (1982). Water Babies, A Book about Igor Tjarkovsky and His Method for Delivering and Training Children in Water. New York City: St. Martin’s Press. 2. Wyllie, T. (1984). Dolphins, Extraterrestrials, Angels, Adventures among Spiritual Intelligences. Boston Enterprises (distributed by Knoll Publishing Company, IN). 3. Odent, M. (1983). Birth under water. Lancet 2:1776-1477. 4. Klaus, M.H. & Kennell, J.H. & Klaus, P.H. (1993). Mothering the Mother, How a Doula Can Help You Have a Shorter, Easier, and Healthier Birth. New York City: Addison-Wesley. 5. Myers, E. (1976, 1999). Cross Your Bridges When You Come to Them. New Zealand: Rainbow Dolphin Centre. 6. Beech, B.L. (1996). Water Birth Unplugged, Proceedings of the First International Water Birth Conference. England: Books For Midwives Press. 7. Ingrey, J. (1993). Water birth press release. Midwifery Matters, Issue 59, Winter. 8. Royal Society of Medicine. A Comparison of Maternal and Neonatal Outcome in Water Births and Conventional Vaginal Deliveries. C171-29C-2986, p.10. 9. Harper, B. (1999). Water birth report. OBC News. 10. Balaskas, J. & Gordon Y. (1990). Water Birth, The Concise Guide to Using Water during Pregnancy Birth and Infancy. Great Britain: Unwin Hyman LTD. 11. Harper, B. (1999). Ibid. 12. Gilbert, R.E. & Tookey, P.A. (1999, Aug. 21). Perinatal mortality and morbidity among babies delivered in water: surveillance study and postal survey. BMJ 319-483. 13. Odent, M. (1987). The fetus ejection reflex. Birth 12(2). 14. Ingrey, J. (1993). Ibid. 15. Harper, B. (1999). Ibid. 16. Napierala, S. (1994). Waterbirth, A Midwives Perspective. Connecticut: Bergin & Garvey (a branch of Greenwood Pub. Inc.). 17. Lichy, R. & Herzberg, E. (1993). The Waterbirth Handbook, The Gentle Art of Waterbirthing. United Kingdom: Gateway Books. 18. Balaskas, J. & Gordon Y. (1990). Water Birth, The Concise Guide to Using Water during Pregnancy Birth and Infancy. Great Britain: Unwin Hyman LTD.

Additional Resources

Gilbert, R.E. & Tookey, P.A. (1999, Aug. 21). Perinatal mortality and morbidity among babies delivered in water: Surveillance study and postal survey. British Medical Journal. 319:483-487.www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/319/7208/483 under Obstetrics and Gynecology: Pregnancy. The conclusions from this paper: “Perinatal mortality is not substantially higher among babies delivered in water than among those born to low risk women who delivered conventionally. The data are compatible with a small increase or decrease in perinatal mortality for babies in water.” I have also found the waterbirth egroups, a group of like-minded people who share and question and learn more about waterbirth, to be informative and educational. To register: www.egroups.com/subscribe/waterbirth An online electronic Waterbirth Newsletter is debuting in April 2000. To subscribe: www.egroups.com/subscribe/WaterbirthNews

“Doula Unto Others…”

Posted on 23 October, 2013 by Judith Halek

Yoga

This is Judith Elaine Halek’s response to:
“Doula unto others – Forget the trendy labor coaches and
midwives – give me doctors and drugs,” an article written
by Martha Brockenbrough at Women Central.
The original article has since been removed from the web.

Martha:

Tribal conditioning has been a powerful imprint for you. It’s obvious you have been indoctrinated into the medical model mentality from utero.

I can’t tell you how many times in the past 14 years I have walked into a hospital and found pubic hair in the showers, (someone’s other than the woman I am with), dried blood under the beds, dry, caked, diarrhea under the toilet lid…sterile? Hairy back seats of cars? I would rather birth my baby in an environment and bacteria my body was USE TO being around.

“..back in the days when hospitals treated pregnancy and childbirth like a disease.”

What century are you living in? THEY STILL TREAT pregnancy and childbirth like a disease!!! As one of the largest industrial nations on this planet, we have one of the HIGHEST c-section rates, 31.5% in the world. This is because women are allowing the “medical experts” to tell them whether their bodies WORK or not.

That’s why so many hospitals have created comfortable birthing rooms (I refuse to call them suites) that simulate a homey environment. Just because a hospital rooms had facelifts…it doesn’t mean there is inner beauty. If the medical model philosophy of “delivering” vs. “birthing,” “drugs” vs. “alternatives such as: water, trust or assistance,” then it doesn’t matter what the room looks like, the treatment will continue to be the same.

“…mother who charges money for their services.”

I am a certified hypnotherapist, childbirth educator, certified labor support specialist, certified bodyworker, herbologist and nutritionist.

As an editor of the world’s third largest web site on waterbirth and labor support doula’s, I must say, like the television program “ER,” your lack of research reflects ‘pontification journalism’ as opposed to ‘legitimate, journalism that indicates intelligence and integrity.

My advice to someone who has such an overt disdain for ANYTHING on the level you do with Doulas is, if you haven’t experienced it, don’t knock it…you speak with false authority on the subject other than your own opinion which for me, as stated above lacks credibility.

In favor of respecting choice that is well informed.

Judith Halek
Director of Birth Balance
NYC, NY

Lotus Birth II

Posted on 13 August, 2013 by Judith Halek

Lotus Birth: Trend or Risk

This is an interesting article about not cutting the cord after the baby’s birth. This is called, a ‘lotus birth’. When I broach the topic to some people they are disgusted. Others are fascinated and still others ask many questions. Read on and enjoy the information.

LOTUS BIRTHING: TREND OR RISK
BY MONICA ORBE/ MEDILL DEC 03, 2009

Named for the lotus flower, lotus birthing is becoming a trend in home birthing circles where parents opt to keep the baby attached to the placenta.

It raises questions about the practice of cord clamping right after birth and raises eyebrows in the medical community where many doctors contend this birthing practice poses unnecessary risks of infection. Lotus birthing means the baby’s cord is not immediately clamped or cut. The parents and their midwife instead opt to have the placenta remain attached to nourish the baby and let it fall off naturally.

During this period before it does fall off, parents clean, salt and wrap the placenta, usually in a cloth diaper. This option is not offered in hospitals and some hospitals don’t even allow the parents to take the placenta home.

People who have chosen lotus birthing said they believe that the placenta is providing the baby with nutrients and oxygen even after it separates from the uterus.

At the very least, they contend the clamping and cutting of the cord should only be done after the cord stops pulsating.

The immediate clamping and cutting of the cord as soon as the baby is delivered, the standard at hospitals, may deprive the baby of the ability to transition from a liquid-based environment to an oxygen-based environment, according to supporters of delayed clamping.

American obstetrician Dr. George M. Morley is considered a champion of delayed cord clamping. Morley’s argument for the delay is that cutting before the umbilical cord has stopped pulsating could mean that the baby is being deprived of oxygen and nutrients. If a child becomes hypoxic (it lacks oxygen) and ischemic (lacks blood flow), Morley believed the child could be placed at greater risk of brain damage.

The argument for delayed cord clamping is often used as a springboard for those who believe in lotusbirthing, a more extreme version of delayed cord clamping.

Some doctors are becoming more accepting of delayed cord clamping, but they criticize the idea of lotus birthing methods.

High risk obstetrician Dr. Mara Dinsmoor questions the safety of both delayed cord clamping and lotus birthing. “The concerns are that, because there is quite a bit of blood in the placenta, you may end up with a baby whose blood count is too high from doing that,” she said.

She said that too much blood in the baby’s system due to the delayed clamping has been known to cause blood clots and sludging in the baby’s organs, which could result in damage to those organs. She also said that carrying the placenta around could be a “potential infectious risk.”

Dinsmoor also said that she believes lotus birthing may not really be of any use. “Fairly soon after the baby is born those umbilical vessels…basically are obliterated. So you are not getting anything really good from the placenta through those umbilical vessels,” she said.

But, lotus birthing is gaining popularity because women choosing to take more control of their pregnancy are asking questions and turning to the Internet for answers.

Chicago attorney Leonard Hudson and his wife Gayle Hudson, a stay-at-home-mother, said they discovered lotus birthing on a Web site.

Gayle Hudson said she had only one priority: “What is going to give [my baby] the best start in her life? And I thought – the least amount of drugs, the least amount of stress.”

Hudson said her fear of having a birth in an environment where she felt doctors and nurses see birth as surgery, made her choose home birth. After making this decision, her mind turned to more alternative birthing methods and she found and researched lotus birthing.

After about three days of carrying around their baby with the placenta attached, the Hudson’s decided it was time to cut the cord. Gayle Hudson said the placenta had become unwieldy and the couple feared their child would get tangled up in it.

The Hudson’s urge other parents to take control of their birthing experience by educating themselves.

“Part of the organizing principle of our birth plan was the timing of it should be set by Gayle and the child,” letting nature take its course, said Leonard Hudson. ”So having the lotus birth was sort of a continuation of that.”

To see video of LOTUS BIRTHS: THE DEBATE By Monica Orbe with Medill Reports:
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=151179

How to Check Your Own Cervix

Posted on 7 August, 2013 by Judith Halek

“It’s not rocket science”

By Gloria LeMay, Midwife, Vancouver, BC

Judith Haleck Cervix, 1 “I think it’s a good and empowering thing for a woman to check her own cervix for dilation. This is not rocket science, and you hardly need a medical degree or years of training to do it. Your vagina is a lot like your nose- other people may do harm if they put fingers or instruments up there but you have a greater sensitivity and will not do yourself any harm.

Judith Haleck Cervix, 2 “The best way to do it when hugely pregnant is to sit on the toilet with one foot on the floor and one up on the seat of the toilet. Put two fingers in and go back towards your bum. The cervix in a pregnant woman feels like your lips puckered up into a kiss. On a non-pregnant woman it feels like the end of your nose. When it is dilating, one finger slips into the middle of the cervix easily (just like you could slide your finger into your mouth easily if you are puckered up for a kiss). As the dilation progresses the inside of that hole becomes more like a taught elastic band and by 5 cms dilated (5 fingerwidths) it is a perfect rubbery circle like one of those Mason jar rings that you use for canning, and about that thick.”

Cervical Effacement and Dilatation During Labor, Judith Haleck, How to Check Your Cervix 3 Judith Haleck Cervix, 4

Judith Haleck Cervix, 5

“What’s in the centre of that opening space is the membranes (bag of waters) that are covering the baby’s head and feel like a latex balloon filled with water. If you push on them a bit you’ll feel the baby’s head like a hard ball (as in baseball). If the waters have released you’ll feel the babe’s head directly.

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