Ways to help birthing your baby

LEARN SOME WAYS TO HELP YOU BIRTH THAT BABY!

There are many different positions that can be used when pushing the baby out. Which ones are most effective will depend on the circumstances of your birth. Childbirth Educator Kira Smith (ICCE) offers some information on various birthing positions.
Kira Smith , ICCE

Your question
What are the most effective ways to position myself when pushing the baby out? – Janet in Toronto, Canada

The expert answers
One of the most common positions for pushing is semi-sitting, with the spine curved like the letter c, and legs pulled up and back. The advantages of this position is that it makes some use of gravity to help the baby descend and it is convenient for the caregiver. On the other hand, it may make it harder for the baby to fit under the pubic bone.
Another common position is side-lying. This position does not make use of gravity but it may decrease chances of a tear or episiotomy, reduce backache and make it easier to relax between contractions. It is also a good position to use if you have high blood pressure or need to slow a very rapid birth.

Giving birth on your hands and knees can help relieve back pain by helping the baby rotate into a more favorable position for birth. It also may decrease the pressure on the perineum and hemorrhoids. On your hands and knees you can move more freely than in the semi-sitting or side-lying positions.However it may be tiring to stay in the position for a long time. Being on all fours can also help slow a very rapid birth.

A squatting position really takes advantage of gravity and helps open the pelvis. It may also help the baby to rotate to a more favorable position for birth. Squatting can be very tiring and uncomfortable so it is a good idea to practice squatting while you are pregnant if you think you may want to use this position during the birth. It is harder for the caregiver to support the perineum in this position.

Each of these birthing positions has advantages and disadvantages. It is important for you to listen to what your body and your caregivers are telling you. Try changing positions frequently throughout your labor and birth to help you stay comfortable and help the baby navigate her way down the birth canal.

- Kira Smith, M.Ed, ICCE

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Fight Gestational Diabetes naturally!

Herbs for common pregnancy symptoms: Gestational diabetes
by Willow Tohi

(NaturalNews) Being poked, prodded, weighed, measured, and evaluated is part of being pregnant in the 21st century. Each woman and each pregnancy is different, so keep that in mind when you’re being told about all those tests that are available, that may or may not have conclusive results. (Also remember they are not free – meaning, they are making a profit.) One test you should take though, is the urinalysis. What they are looking for is sugar in your urine, which can indicate gestational diabetes. This condition usually has no symptoms, thus the peeing-on-a-stick, and the glucose-screening test between the 24th and 28th weeks is a must. It effects between 2 – 10 % of expectant mothers, making it fairly common.

What is it?
Simplified, diabetes means there is too much sugar in your blood. Your digestive systems breaks food down into glucose, which needs insulin to help your cells use it as fuel (energy). Hormonal changes can make your cells less responsive to insulin, leaving too much glucose in your blood. This causes complications in your pregnancy, ranging from increased risk of miscarriage to birth defects, and affects baby size. A large baby can lead to labor and delivery problems, such as macrosomia (baby too large to enter birth canal), large episiotomy for you (which can cause life-long incontinence), and require a cesarean delivery, among other things. Further, you increase your child’s risk of obesity.

Conventional medicine has a list of criteria that increases your risk, and a list that puts you on the low-risk side. The truth is that many women who develop gestational diabetes have no known risk factors. As with most disease, deficiency of essential nutrients is a likely cause, as well as over-consumption of non-nutritious items.

What can you do?
Correct your diet. Exercise daily, drink plenty of water, rest as much as you can, including a daily nap. Take nourishing herbs, vitamins, and minerals to restore and maintain balance. Your body is an amazing machine that wants to be in balance – give it the tools it needs and it will likely correct imbalance and restore homeostasis.

If you have too much glucose in your urine, remember that does not automatically mean you have gestational diabetes. When pregnant, many women are extra sensitive to sugar in their diet. Evaluate the adequacy of your diet. Avoid all sweets. Try chelated minerals, golden seal, licorice root, Jerusalem artichokes, or juniper berry tea. If sugar still appears in the urine, be sure you’re getting enough chromium.

Around the 34th week of pregnancy, the baby starts to take large amounts of chromium from the mother. Chromium is not abundant in foods and hard to replace with diet alone. It is used up every time we eat refined sugar or flour. Chromium Picolinate is the most assimilable form, and can be gotten from brewer’s yeast or a supplement. It will take 6 months at 200mcg/day to restore mom’s chromium levels, once depleted.

Additional problems from low chromium levels include difficulty losing weight after the baby is born, being at higher risk for gestational diabetes for subsequent pregnancies, and fussy or colicky babies (from not getting enough chromium in the milk) who may be especially crazy after the mother eats sweets.

Women who take chromium respond quickly, and notice their sugar cravings diminishing. For faster results, take boron with it as boron is necessary to utilize chromium. Give it two weeks, then have your blood glucose tested again to see if your blood sugar levels have been restored.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.pregnancyandchildren.com

http://www.babycenter.com/0_gestational-diabetes_2058.bc

Tarr, Katherine. A Guide to Motherhood – Herbs, Helps, & Pressure Points for Pregnancy and Childbirth, p. 20. Winona Lake, Indiana: Wendell W. Whitman Company, 2008.

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What to eat when being pregnant???

After becoming pregnant the first thing that comes to the mind of the expecting mom is to eat well so that neither her nor her undeveloped baby have to suffer during the pregnancy and after that. For ensuring that your weight gain will be proper and your body will not lack any vital vitamins and minerals, you will need to take care of pregnancy nutrition. The people near you who love you and care for you will also advice you what to eat and what not to eat. You can enjoy this special attention for the coming next nine months and even after that.

First thing instead of worrying about how you will carry out the pregnancy, whether everything will be fine, just eat right and take proper rest. Be in good mood and do things that you feel right for you and the baby. If you are in cheerful mood throughout your pregnancy, your baby will also be like you. In order to have a healthy baby, try to be yourself healthy first. If you are too slim try to gain some weight by eating right kind of food. And even if you are already little overweight then take the help of your doctor to decide what kind of food will be right for you.

The nine months pregnancy time is really important for you and your baby. Nothing best you can give your baby apart from good health. Good health cannot be achieved without providing proper pregnancy nutrition. It is also important to have proper nutritious food before planning pregnancy too, as this will give proper strength to your uterus for holding the fertilized egg. Also your food during the first few days and few weeks of your pregnancy are also essential for normal growth of your baby.

As you know the baby needs calcium and iron for normal growth and whatever calcium and iron your body has gets absorbed by the placenta for raising the baby. Hence your food should be such that it gives you generous amounts of calcium and iron and other vitamins and proteins. Your doctor will also give you supplements that will provide you calcium and iron. As you progress from one week to the next week the requirements of iron and calcium will also increase. In any case you should avoid taking any kind of medications or supplements on your own.

Pregnancy nutrition is very important as this is like a base for the normal growth of the baby. It is also essential for you own body, as you have to undergo various pains to have a safe delivery. You will also need lots of stamina to deal with the early pregnancy symptoms like fatigue, nausea and morning sickness. You can ask your doctor how much weight gain he or she is expecting you to gain. It is better to eat healthy rather than eating anything. Green vegetables and fruits are the best and you can also eat diary products and all food items that will give you proteins and vitamin C. Vitamin C will help you avoid getting pregnancy gingivitis.

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Tumors, cankers during pregnancy

Pregnancy tumors are common in pregnancy and generally appear near the upper gum line. These tumors appear like large lump and have red markings on it. These lumps may bleed and make eating, drinking and talking really painful. Such tumors cause great discomfort too. These tumors can occur to most of the pregnant women at any stage of their pregnancy. But such kinds of tumors generally occur more in the second trimester. Even though these lumps are termed as tumors, you should get worried. Many women fear thinking whether these lumps are cancerous. In 100 pregnant women only 10 pregnant women are under high risk of getting pregnancy tumors.

Pregnancy tumors generally happen to those pregnant women who have got pregnancy gingivitis. There are many other names of such tumors like pregnancy epulides, lobular capillary hemangioma, puogenic granuloma and granuloma of pregnancy. Such tumors are not dangerous but it is better to treat them so as to get relief from the pain. Generally once you deliver you baby, such tumors vanish immediately. But in case the pain caused by the pregnancy tumor is more and unbearable then your dentist will advice you to remove the tumors with simple surgery.

In the surgery the dentist will first give you local anesthesia and then remove it with simple procedure. But even after removing the pregnancy tumor, there are chances of you getting them back. In almost half of the cases such tumors can return back. If the dentist can figure out what is the real cause of getting such tumors, then he or she will try to remove the root cause so that such tumors will not occur again. Dentists will also advice you to maintain good oral hygiene to prevent such tumors.

Thus it is must for every pregnant women to look after her teeth and gums during pregnancy. In fact it is better to take extra care of oral hygiene during pregnancy. The main reason behind getting pregnancy tumors is bacteria, plaque and trapped food particles inside the teeth. Hence by taking care that nothing of this happens with you, you can avoid getting pregnancy tumors. Brush your teeth twice with fluoride containing toothpaste and floss your teeth once in a day. These things will also prevent you from tooth decay and gum gingivitis.

Rinse you mouth with anti-microbial mouth rinse, as it will prevent any kind of infection to teeth and gums and also avoid plaque and bacteria growth. Mouth rinses are very helpful in removing the trapped food particles from teeth compared to toothbrush and flossing. Also you can eat healthy food that will be rich source of vitamin C, as it will reduce your chances of getting tooth decay, gum diseases and pregnancy tumors. Vitamin C naturally keeps the teeth clean. In fact the vitamin C rich food is also good for your body, as it gives you energy and helps you to fight with the fatigue during pregnancy. Vitamin D is also needed for tissue growth and hence you can sit in your garden or on your terrace where the early morning sunlight will fall on you. The early morning sunlight is very rich source of vitamin D.

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Sex during pregnancy?!

Many pregnant women have various doubts in their mind about sex during pregnancy. The most important question that will arise in your and your partners mind is whether it will be safe to have during pregnancy. Also whether you can enjoy sexual intercourse and if yes till which month of your pregnancy. Many couples avoid pregnancy thinking that they will not be able to enjoy their sexual lives. But there is no need to worry at all, as during pregnancy too with little care you can enjoy your sexual intercourse. In short sex during pregnancy is allowed if proper care is taken.

Everyone knows it how the conception happens. When male sperm fertilizes female egg then conception happens. After conception the fertilized egg gets implanted in the uterus. When you miss your periods, you come to know that you are pregnant. The fertilized egg is known as embryo, which develops further into fetus. To protect the fetus the amniotic cavity develops around it. This amniotic cavity carries all the nutrition that are required for the normal growth of the baby. This amniotic cavity also covers the cervix and hence there are no chances of you getting pregnant again even if you have sex.

As the mucus layer is there surrounding the embryo there is no chance that seminal or vaginal fluid will cause any infection to the embryo. The mucus makes sure that the embryo is safe inside the uterus and not in contact with outer world in any way. Thus sex during pregnancy will not cause any harm to your unborn child. But this doesn’t mean that you will not take care while having sex. You want safety of your baby and for that you will need to take some precautions while having sex during pregnancy. The common sex positions like men on top and women on top exert extra pressure on the abdominal of the women and can cause discomfort in the pregnancy. That means you will need to try some other positions while having sex.

You can ask you doctor about the various doubts that may arise in your mind regarding the sex during pregnancy. For those who have had premature birth in past then the doctor will advice them to stay away from penetrative sexual intercourse for the last three months of the pregnancy. For those women who have had history of miscarriage in the past will be advised not to get involved in the penetrative sexual intercourse for the first three months of the pregnancy. But for those women who have short cervix will be asked to stay away from sex during pregnancy for the entire term of pregnancy.

During pregnancy as women undergo various physical as well as emotional changes; it is better to see what your wife wants and feel. Male find their pregnant wives more attractive, as women undergo changes in their breasts and hips, which makes them more attractive. The hormone changes also increase the libido in the women. Hence there is no need to stay away form sex during pregnancy.

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Dangers of Haraam Vaginal examinations

Are Vaginal Exams in Pregnancy Necessary?
by Laura Dana, LCCE, CD(DONA), CAPD

I haven’t met many women who were happy to have an exam done while being pregnant. For that matter, I haven’t met too many women who were happy to have it done while not pregnant, but what is the purpose behind performing the vaginal exam in pregnancy? If it is patient led, meaning that the patient is the one requesting it, what would be her reasoning? On the other hand, if it is physician or midwife prompted, what are they looking for and why?

It’s certainly easier to be the examiner performing this function, but not always easy to be on the receiving end, and in pregnancy, this particular event can cause women to be uncomfortable, emotionally as well as physically. Having a vaginal exam is more like an invasion into the most personal of all our belongings…ourselves. However, let us take a look at this on a more clinical level.

Advantages of the VE in pregnancy

May find cervical anomalies, like early dilation and effacement, so that appropriate changes can be made to the woman’s care, including bedrest, hospitalization, tocolytics, etc.
May show progress from exam to exam and therefore give a patient the satisfaction of knowing that her pregnancy is coming to an end, as well as give the physician/midwife encouragement
May stimulate the cervix so that a medical induction does not become “necessary”
May give the physician/midwife a comfort level that allows them to feel good about allowing a pregnancy to continue healthfully
Disadvantages of the VE in pregnancy

Doing an exam does not guarantee when labor is going to begin
VE exams can be very uncomfortable during pregnancy
May increase the risk of infection
May stimulate the cervix prematurely
May increase premature rupture of membranes
May give pregnant woman and/or her caregiver an unrealistic picture of the longevity of the remaining part of the pregnancy
Making the choice

There are real reasons for checking a woman’s cervix to ensure a safe and healthy pregnancy, but just like so many “interventions” offered during pregnancy, it is important for each woman to be aware of the potential drawbacks to such a decision before she complies. What would be the reasoning for needing to “know what’s going on” other than pure curiosity? Who exactly is directing the VE to be done? Consider the following scenarios:

Has this woman been scared by the “big baby” comment?
Has this woman had a history of preterm labor and/or a loss and as a result is she unsure that her body will cooperate and bring a healthy baby into the world?
Is she tired of being pregnant and just wanting to get it over with?
Is she trying to avoid a medical induction or Cesarean section?
Has her physician/midwife led her to believe that there is concern about the baby should the pregnancy continue?
Does this woman want instant gratification and want to hold her baby NOW?
Is this woman trying to avoid having to argue or fight with her caregiver?
Does this woman have “control” issues?
There are definitely real reasons for VE during pregnancy, but if a woman perpetuates a healthy pregnancy, what then would be the reason? So much of the research shows us that fetal and maternal outcomes are much better with the least amount of intervention. Do women consider the VE to be “intervention”, “routine”, or “necessary”? Ask three different women and you may very well get three different opinions. After all, it’s a very personal decision to make, but has she actually considered the benefits and risks before allowing the exam to proceed? Does she know anything of alternatives to the manual VE, such as NST (non-stress test), BPP (biophysical profile), keeping track of kick counts, high level sonogram, or any other less invasive offerings? Does she know that the actual exam itself can bring on internal discomfort associated with cramping and bleeding?

Are Vaginal Exams in Pregnancy Necessary?
As childbirth educators and doulas, we would mostly like to believe that “letting things be” is always going to be the best way, but that is just not true in all cases. However, even if you look at the CDC statistics about the increase in Cesarean section rates over the past 10 years and we are to believe that it is “necessary” for 25% of our population to “need” a surgical birth, that still leaves 75% who do not and who should, logically, be carrying healthy pregnancies and not be in “need” of VE, right? But then of course, we all know that “need” and “want” are two entirely different subjects, don’t we?

References:
Courtois C. & Courtois Riley C. (1992). “Pregnancy and childbirth as triggers for abuse memories: Implications for Care” Birth 19 (4): 22-223.

Fraser W and Boulvain M. “Induction of labour: indications and methods.” Journal SOGC. 1996;18:1125-31.

Hanson S. “To VE or not to VE? That is the question.” Association of Radical Midwives. Summer 2003; 97.

Harger JH. (2003). “Cerclage and cervical insufficiency: an evidence-based analysis”. Obstet Gynecol, Jan; 101(1):205.

Tallman N. & Hering C. (1998). “Child abuse and its effects on birth.” Midwifery Today.45: 19-21.

United States Department for Health and Human Services (2003). “US Birth Rate Reaches Record Low: Births to Teens Continue 12-Year Decline; Cesarean Deliveries Reach All-Time High”. CDC News Release.

Laura Dana, LCCE, CD(DONA, CAPD is a Lamaze educator and labor doula specializing in high risk pregnancy and multiple birth. She and her doula partner, Maggie McCarthy, own a company called Birth Options: Education and Doula Services in Orlando, Florida.

Copyright © Laura Dana. Permission to publish granted to Pregnancy.org, LLC.

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