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Benefits of volunary licensure of midwives

In an email to a politically active friend here in Minnesota, I said something I’d like to share in general: I would like to take this opportunity to praise our voluntary licensure for traditional midwives. The voluntary status of licensing traditional midwives in our state protects ALL midwives from: Restrictions against helping women with normal […]

Should I try for a natural birth?

The first questions you may ask yourself when you are deciding whether you want a natural birth or not, is likely to be, Can I handle the pain? Another question is, Is the baby positioned so he/she will fit? Or, simply, Will the baby fit? (You may be wondering, how can an entire baby fit […]

The New York Times doula article rebutal by Susan Lane

Pamela Paul’s article in the Sunday, March 2 Times (“And the Doula Makes Four”) left out key points. One is that it’s very easy to find out if a doula is certified, because the agencies such as DONA International that certify doulas offer an on-line listing. DONA and the Coalition for Improved Maternity Services also […]

Birthing in the Field

Hi Gail, I thought I’d send you a link to my blog where the birth story for Adeline Louise is located www.merfaeries.blogspot.com The Inversion worked to turn her from breech to vertex but like her sister before her, AddyLou decided to present in the persistent ROT-Posterior presentation, then oddly, she rotated on the perineum so […]

Fear of Second Birth After Previous Long Labor

Spinning Babies "I am almost 36 weeks pregnant with my second baby. My first son was born naturally, with no pain relief, no intervention and no instruments, after a 30-hour labour. It was very difficult but we pulled through and he was a very healthy newborn. He was average size (3.7kg). He had been LOA throughout the final months of pregnancy and was born LOA. I did a lot of positioning work then. I would like to repeat that experience but am disheartened by the fact that the current baby has been completely posterior since week 33/34. He was LOA at the 33-week check, then in the following days I noticed he had shifted and I was having constant back pain that I had never had before in either pregnancy (pressure in the back). Then at the 34-week check he was confirmed posterior. I stand or walk for most of the day. I don’t slouch on the sofa. When I sit my bump hangs forward. I am concerned that when I go on all fours I am effectively doing an inversion and risk turning the baby breech. I feel that if I remain upright, the shape of my bump should by itself facilitate an anterior position. I don’t understand why the baby has turned posterior. I haven’t had back pain again so it doesn’t seem like he is trying to turn back at all. I am terrified of a posterior labour. I don’t think I can handle anything worse than what I had last time, and that was with LOA. I have lost all confidence in my ability to have a natural birth. I would be very grateful for your advice." You are facing a common dilemma. The second labor after a first, long labor. Remember, most women having posterior labors have progressing and do-able labors. First of all, babies come out. You've done it before and you can do it again. There is an illusion that medicated birth is painless, shorter, etc. It's just different, it may be easier, but of course, most 2nd births are going to be easier anyway. There are common mistakes about what to do to help a baby into a good starting position for labor. Maternal positioning is only the second of 3 Principles, please visit the discussion of the Three Principles on my Pregnancy page. You are not at all doing an Inversion when you are on all-fours. The Inversion is a wonderful tool when used as shown in this video. Limiting the time you do the inversion will prevent the baby going breech. But you can do it daily for a short period of time, as shown in the video. Do not do the Inversion if your doctor or midwife has said that there is more amniotic fluid than usual (for instance, you measure 3 or more cms over dates). The shape of your abdomen, your bump, as you call it, is not a reliable indicator of fetal position. Nor will it make your baby be anterior. You can try adding a pregnancy belt to see if that helps baby rotate, but I suggest body work. Myofascial work on your broad and round ligaments. Meanwhile, repeated Inversions will eventually help the broad and round ligaments as your pelvis comes into symmetry over time and repetition. Do you have a doula who is mature and calm? I've helped many women, as a doula and as a midwife, with just your situation. Very often their labors are delightfully shorter than the first, in spite of having a posterior baby the second time. You don't have to start with an anterior baby, you have to start with a tucked chin. It also helps to have a relaxed pelvis, pelvic floor muscles, and uterine ligaments and be moving with your labor, in positions that help the uterus line up with your pelvis. You can do that with the Inversion, Chiropractic and the Pelvic Floor Release. You may have to face the fear of a 30-hour labor again so you can get past that and get on with a second labor. The real labor. Not the labor in your mind. There is only room for one head in your pelvis, and it isn't yours. Once you do that, you can enjoy the wonder of this child and this remarkable journey you are on. How do you want to remember this pregnancy? Let go and find some joy here. I will try and follow this advice in my day today while I hold you in my heart and trust that you will find your way. I know you can. Have a brave and wonderful birth. Enjoy this post? You also might like: Fear of Childbirth Pain Protocol for Persistent Posterior in Labor Where Fear Is Seen as Competency Posterior labors at home Upcoming Workshops

“I am almost 36 weeks pregnant with my second baby. My first son was born naturally, with no pain relief, no intervention and no instruments, after a 30-hour labour. It was very difficult but we pulled through and he was a very healthy newborn. He was average size (3.7kg). He had been LOA throughout the […]

CIMS congress in session

The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) is now in session, March 6, 2008. There will be the release the International MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative on Saturday, International Women’s Day. If you have time check out the MotherBaby web site www.imbci.org The purpose of the IMBCI 10 Steps is to improve care throughout the childbearing continuum […]

Safety and Risk

Like all matters of the heart, As in all true passions of art, Birth calls for the fullness of your commitment. To give ourselves fully is to be met fully, For Spirit responds as is trusted.   Birth brings us face to face with mystery. Don’t do the following techniques if there is bleeding or […]

That's why they call it labor and not epidural

Love and vision brought it all together, though it was tough at the end. Such a birth helped the family go deep into where they were really at, and look at beliefs and see if the beliefs were assumptions and not really the fiber of their lives in an era when the hospital culture is […]

ACOG’s loose cog on homebirth and Gail’s comments

I got an email from my friend Debra Pascali Bonaro today. She’s always up to date. She sent along the following statement from American College of Obtetricians and Gynecologists. Wow, see ACOG’s news release below against Home Birth… ACOG must be feeling threatened from all the discussion about Home birth…The Business of Being Born and […]

Minneapolis Birth ranks high

Alisa Blackwood, a local doula here, sent this around today: Fit Pregnancy magazine has named Minneapolis the 2nd best city to have a baby in (behind Portland, Ore.). One of the reasons? “Minneapolis has one doula for every 37 live births, the highest ratio in our survey. The national average is one doula per 649 […]

Alternative to Induction

Wanna know the Spinning Babies way to help a baby settle down on the cervix? First, Help the mother, according to her intuitions, choice, conscience, agreement and/or inclinations, to Straighten (balance) the lower uterine segment with Sacral release 3-10 minutes Sifting 3 minutes, Inversion 30 seconds, then crawling forward to hands and knees to catch […]

The passage of trust

Yesterday, Deb McLaughlin came down from Duluth for a craniosacral meeting and stopped by my house for a lovely afternoon lunch and walk to the Minnesota River. (Yes, I know it was an icicle’s width above zero. We were bundled and warmed by friendship.) Deb then did some craniosacral with me and then some reconnective […]

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