Birthing Techniques

Posted by Christiane Williams on March 3, 2012

Water: The Magic Labor Weapon!

When I was pregnant with my first child, one of my worries was how I would be able to tell whether it was real contractions or just the uterus practicing. My midwife gave me a very simple solution: take a bath! If the contractions stop, because you relax, it’s not labor – if the contractions increase, because you relax, it’s the real thing!

I was 4 days overdue, when I tried this method for the third time and finally contractions increased instead of decreased. However, even though this meant I should get ready for the hospital, I did not want to leave the tub… it felt sooooo good!

Since I was fully dilated and ready to push when I got to the hospital (with baby #1 and 2), I never had the chance to really take full advantages of the benefits of water in labor. So this time, I am planning a water birth from the get-go. The more I read about what water can do for you in labor, the more convinced I am that’s what I want to try!

Whether you get a back massage with a hot water jet in the shower or sit in one of those Jacuzzi-sized labor tubs, whether you do it at home or in the hospital, as an early relaxation technique or to actually give birth in the water – any of these applications can only benefit you and your birth experience!  (more…)

Posted by Zoe Quinton on February 12, 2012

Preparing for Giving Birth

A very good girlfriend of mine is T minus a few days away from having twins. Every time I see her, I think it’ll be the last time before she becomes a mom, so I try to pack as much helpful information and advice into our conversations as possible (only when asked, of course.) Although I have so far only given birth to one child, I think a lot of the tips I gave her would go for any delivery:

• Include a soft, dark-colored bathrobe and a pair of comfy black yoga pants or sweats in your hospital bag. These will make you feel more normal after giving birth, and dark colors cover a multitude of sins. Make sure the top of the pants is loose enough to accommodate a C-section incision in case it’s necessary.
• Also, pack your own underwear, some overnight maxi pads, and some Tucks (witchhazel pads) in case of tearing. They will provide all of these things for you, but again, it’s great to have your own stuff, even if you don’t use any of it til the next day. Make sure to have extra Tucks waiting at home. (more…)

Posted by Christiane Williams on December 21, 2011

Pregnancy Care and Birthing Options – US versus UK

We are an international family – I’m German, my husband is American and we currently live in England! I gave birth to my first two children in a suburban Chicago hospital and now we are expecting again! As my pregnancy progresses, I am amazed by the difference in care and options between the US and the UK!

Since PregTASTIC is gaining more and more international followers, I thought it would be interesting to share some of my observations!

Babies are born all over the world and while it is obvious that pregnancy and birth in Somalia will differ very much from the US or India, we expect the Western world to have comparable standards of care. While the US and the UK share a language (well, sort of…) and Western health care standards, the one big difference between the two is that the UK has a National Health System (NHS)!

This means that expecting mothers will not pay anything out of pocket for their pregnancy care – including blood tests, ultrasounds, amniocentesis etc – or their birth (including all anesthesia, the hospital stay etc). In addition they get free prescriptions for the duration of their pregnancy as well as free dental work until the baby is 1 year old. In the US most people are insured through a plan at work or privately. Regular co-pays are the norm and while most doctors do not charge every time you come for a pregnancy check-up, you certainly get a bill for an amino or the hospital stay. Depending on you insurance plan, the birth of your baby can cost you as much as a month of groceries to a semester of college! (more…)

Posted by Christiane Williams on October 31, 2011

Why I chose a midwife – and then delivered with a doctor

When I got pregnant with my first child, I’d been with my OB/GYN for a couple of years and it was only natural I would stay with him for my pregnancy. He seemed like a friendly enough guy, very professional and associated with a big hospital in the Western Suburbs of Chicago. As the pregnancy progressed, I realized that I wanted to have a birthing experience like my mother-in-law (three natural child births albeit in three very different locations: a military hospital, a community hospital and a home birth) and NOT like my own mother (first birth knocked out by gas so she couldn’t remember anything, second birth panic stricken almost in the hospital elevator). In addition I wanted my husband to play an active role in the birth experience – much like my father-in-law (who delivered his third child while the doctor watched) and very unlike my own father who never set a foot in the hospital, but just dropped my mother off.

So we signed up for the Bradley Method, a husband-coached natural childbirth class. During this class our birth plan emerged – waiting until 42 weeks if necessary, no artificial breaking of water, no interventions (IV, pitocin, epidural, episiotomy), no constant monitoring = ability to move around during contractions, no early cord clamping etc. (more…)

Posted by Meagan Church on September 17, 2011

Birth Fear

This is pregnancy #3 for me. I should be an old pro by now, right? Perhaps that is true in certain regards, but in other ways, I’m not sure any woman will ever feel like a pro when it comes to birth. Even after labor and delivery twice before, and having two pretty ideal experiences, I still have a few fears. What’s the biggest one? That my luck has run out.

I know they say the third time is the charm, but with kids, anything goes. Before even becoming pregnant with this one, I wondered if I would be pressing my luck with another delivery. I’ve experienced two natural births that have been quite low on interventions. And I’m very pleased with that fact. Still I can’t help but wonder how this one will go. Will I be able to once again avoid the interventions I fear? Will I make it through this delivery without a c-section? (more…)

Posted by KC Wilt on May 18, 2011

Colic: The “C” Word

It’s thrown around so much. I swore I would not label my baby with this evil word. I can deal with a fussy baby and will never have a medical term to describe my fussy baby. It’s just a cop-out, it’s just fussiness, it’s what babies do! Then the doctor told me the meaning.

COLIC: Upset tummy.
Well, if that’s the definition, I think I have colic… especially after a large meal.

Regardless of what word we use, when you’re dealing with a screaming baby in the middle of the night who has tummy pain you’re using a whole lot of not so nice words that may or may not start with the letter C!

At 9 days old a home health care provider said about my son, “Well, he’s a little too young to have colic, but he just might.” After non-stop screaming, a few days later his pediatrician said the same thing and prescribed him Zantac (ranitidine). We had a rocky labor and birth (episode 205) and I believe the little guy internalized it and got his little tummy in a tizzy and still at 5 months old has what I like to call “tummy issues”. Those first few months were super hard on all of us. After a couple days of using Zantac I personally decided I didn’t want to use any drugs at so young an age. (more…)

Posted by KC Wilt on February 24, 2011

You’re getting sleepy, veeerrryyy sllleeepppyyyy….

Once I decided to go au-natural for the birth of my son, my first question was, “how”? I was not expecting to go into labor and see rainbows and butterflies and politely refuse the epidural. How was I going to manage the pain? How does one actually give birth? I had friends do the Bradley Method and we’ve all seen Lamaze on TV. But, were there any other choices?

I turned to PregTASTIC for research on what would be best for me. Soon, I was listening to an episode with guest speaker Kerry Tuschhoff, the founder of Hypnobabies. Now if you’re like me, my first thought of hypnosis is the guy impersonating Chip N Dale dancers and stripping at the County fair. Since that is similar to how you make a baby… I signed up!

(more…)

Posted by KC Wilt on September 25, 2010

Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative

Why is it that baby showers are the place to scare women about the ‘what ifs’ that could go wrong in their birthing times? It seems that everyone has a story they want to share about a long drawn out painful birth that ended horribly; but are sure it would never happen to you! These kind, caring, well intentioned women do not stop to consider the effects of the words coming out of their mouths. Not paying attention to the deer in the headlight look or fake smiles they receive. I too used to think nothing of it, but now I’m wondering what possesses educated, child bearing women to scare each other with horror birth stories?!

Now at first I thought all these stories had validity in my pregnancy. I should know every possible thing that could go wrong in pregnancy and birth and learn how to avoid them or handle them in an efficient and safe manner. But story after story I realized that in turn I was instilling a deep fear inside of me; these ‘what ifs’ now became very real and possible to me.

Then, I took my birthing class that helped me process and filter out this negativity. I did HypnoBabies (more on a later blog post), which like most birthing classes, helps you learn to breath and relax. What benefited me the most was a CD of pregnancy affirmations. The introduction talks about words and thoughts we hear, we tend to dwell upon. The more we hear things, the more we start to believe them; including the negativity surrounding birth. BUT, if we fill ourselves with positive thinking and positive thoughts then we tend to dwell on positive things. The CD then goes on with about 150 positive affirmations about having a happy, healthy, normal pregnancy and birth. It was through listening to my CD in my car that turned me from me fearful and anxious to excited and calm about my birth.

While talking with my friend and her husband about this newfound excitement he responded with, “Isn’t it sad that you have to get encouragement from a CD and not other women?” He’s right. We all have different stories in life and in birth, but we are unified because we are women. Yet we constantly compare ourselves to each other regarding beauty, weight, jobs, birthing. We seem to desire to be one up on each other rather than encourage and uplift. Is that the reason we share our gory birth stories? I rarely hear anyone talk about the bloodiness of their teeth being pulled or the pain of a colonoscopy.

Let us women be the ones uplifting each other with positive thoughts and words of encouragement about what amazing births we will all have. Let us find strength in each other. We all know there are scary and sad stories out there; but let’s focus and share the positives about pregnancy and birthing! Who knows what will transpire when we focus our thoughts on what is pure and lovely?! The best part is, it doesn’t have to stop at birth.