"Minimizing Birth Interventions"

Springtime: Eating and Exercising for Two

2010-03-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

When you are pregnant in the spring time, you have a wonderful opportunity to get proper nutrition and exercise. The weather is getting better, and fresh foods are easier to obtain, making spring a wonderful time to be pregnant. Here are some ideas for staying healthy and low-risk during the spring months.

Get Some Fresh Air. With the mild weather of spring, it’s a magnificent time to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. Try to do some light to moderate aerobic exercise for about 30 minutes, five to seven times a week. You might start by taking a walk at a local park, greenbelt, or pond. In addition to exercise, enjoy the fresh outdoor spring air and sunshine. Hang your laundry outdoors on the clothesline. Play Frisbee or fetch with the dog. Have a picnic outdoors. The UVB rays from the sunshine are probably the best, most reliable source of vitamin D available. Be sure to not burn, though it is less likely in the spring than in summer.

Eat Eggs. Eggs are in season during the spring months. While you may be accustomed to eggs being available year-round in grocery stores, chickens do their best egg-laying in the spring and fall months. This is the perfect time to find eggs from local small family farms, where you can observe the hens’ healthy living conditions. Eggs from free-ranging chickens are better-tasting, higher in omega-3’s, higher in vitamins A, E, and beta-carotene (which is converted to vitamin A), and lower in saturated fat and cholesterol than regular commercial eggs. Good free-range eggs will be noticeably brighter, deeper orange-yellow than commercial eggs. The fresher the egg, the more integrity the parts of the egg will have. For instance, when you crack open a fresh egg, you can see two sections of white and a tall, rounded yolk. Enjoy eggs this time of year. They are so delicious, and have six grams of protein per egg. Eggs also contain choline, lutein, a wide array of B-vitamins, some calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus and zinc. Pregnant women are advised to eat two eggs every day through pregnancy.

Good-for-you greens. Springtime is the time when greens are in season. Dark, leafy greens contain essential folic acid which pregnant women need during pregnancy. Folic acid has been found to reduce the risk of birth defects such as spina bifida. Enjoy a variety of greens. Have fresh raw salads using red leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, and green leaf lettuce. Try gently steamed greens, such as kale, chard, collard greens, and spinach with a pat of butter (to help your body assimilate the fat-soluble vitamins A, K, D, and E). Try growing some greens in your own garden so you can have the freshest, sweetest greens possible. Pregnant women should eat 1-2 servings of dark, leafy greens every day through pregnancy.

Enjoy your pregnancy. Pregnancy is such a short time when compared to your entire life span. Enjoy it. Take care of your body now so you can have a healthy baby, easier birth, and faster recovery. Spring is a joyous time to be pregnant. Make the most of it!

Sources:
http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/bp119.cfm
http://www.enc-online.org/factsheet/NutrientContentSR1805.pdf
http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/leafy.html
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/folicacid/index.html
http://www.bradleybirth.com/PD.aspx
http://www.sunshinevitamin.org/
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-10-01/Tests-Reveal-Healthier-Eggs.aspx

Transparency

2010-03-10T20:22:00.000-08:00

Why is it that when you go to your OB's office you can't find out what their cesarean rate is, or how often they do episiotomies? Yet, when you go to a midwife, this information is voluntarily given. In Idaho, there is a new midwifery law. It requires midwives to make their statistics available to their clients. Why can't we make the same requirement of doctors? How is a pregnant woman supposed to decide which doctor to see when she has no information to go on?

What can we do to increase transparency? In Idaho, where there is only transparency for licensed midwifery and no other maternity care providers, we can try to influence legislative efforts. Since midwives in Idaho are required to supply statistics, then it wouldn't be a big reach to enforce doctors to do the same. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. We can also create consumer demand for transparency, and work with the media, hospital administrators, and others to promote change. By maintaining a focus on improving quality and safety rather than penalizing providers or hospitals and birth centers, transparency advocates are likely to gain more acceptance from key stakeholders.

What is "natural" birth?

2010-03-06T21:19:00.000-08:00

It has come to mean different things to different people. Some people have come to equate natural birth to simply mean a birth that is vaginal. Maybe it's more comfortable to say the word "natural" when meaning "vaginal". To others, when the term "natural" birth is used, the image is a birth where no pain medications are used, but drugs to speed up the labor or to induce the labor can be used, and things such as breaking the bag of waters, forceps or vacuum still fall under the umbrella of being a "natural birth". Still others define a "natural" birth as one where no interventions of any kind are used.

I happen to be in that last group of people. I've given birth drug-free eight times out of nine. How many were completely "natural" without any interventions at all? Five. In three of my births, my waters were broken artificially. In one birth, it was induced for elective reasons and I took pain medication. All of my births were vaginal.

Sometimes I hear a birth story of a "natural" birth where the mother gives a harrowing story of how painful and terrible and long it was. Then I get to asking the mother about her birth. She tells me of the pitocin or cytotec that was used to induce her labor, then the bag of waters being broken artificially, then about getting an epidural. I think to myself, that wasn't natural!

Once I watched a birth film where the doctor intervened again and again, then the decision was made to do a cesarean section. The doctor was interviewed in the hallway and she pointed out that, "Sometimes nature doesn't work." Really? Well, maybe if you let nature take its course instead of getting impatient, it might have worked! I suppose we'll never know in that particular case. The mother wasn't given a chance.

A "natural" birth means a birth where the mother gives birth using her own power. Most of the time, this is completely possible. A lot of modern women wonder if they have what it takes to go through a birth without interventions. They fear their bodies will fail them. There is general mistrust of the process of birth. Ladies! You can do this! You come from a very long line of women who did this, before the shift from midwives and homebirths to doctors and hospitals. You don't have to be a certain amazon-type of woman to get through this. You can just be a normal girl. You have what it takes. Trust yourself. Trust your body.

Why I started this blog

2010-03-05T13:01:00.000-08:00

I teach these really great childbirth classes. I pour my heart and time and money into what I'm doing. I love the people I teach. I love seeing the happy, joyful faces of new mothers as they tell me their fabulous birth stories. I love all the cute newborn pictures of babies whose mothers have given them the gift of unmedicated birth. The information in the classes is essential to pregnant women, and yet, I am only reaching a small portion of my target population. Having a blog might help me share my message with a larger number of pregnant women. So, here I am, starting this blog.

What I do means something. It's important. I help women become mothers. Motherhood is the most important job on the planet, and I have the awesome privilege of guiding new mothers through the transition from pregnancy to having a baby in their arms. I have the opportunity to help make that transition a happy one. I want to do it better. I want to help more families. I hope this blog will be one way of doing that.