My husband woke me up just before 8am to say the phone rang and I needed to race out the door. I got there minutes later (thankfully we live just down the street) and only 15 minutes later this incredible couple had a beautiful baby girl in their arms!! I think we were all a bit stunned by the speed. 🙂
But this sweet little girl was so content, she nursed and then cuddled up with her daddy and fell asleep. What a gorgeous morning! More photos to come...
We had scheduled our first prenatal visit for Saturday morning at 9am, so you can imagine my surprise when I got a phone call at 3am saying it was baby time! This sweet couple had decided to wait to find out gender, and all of the staff had been instructed to NOT announce it. Their little one went to mom's chest immediately after birth so mom and dad could see for themselves and announce - It's a GIRL!!
The beautiful baby was so wide eyed, she seemed a bit surprised by the experience as well!
So often I've heard reference to the website Spinning Babies, and I searched it myself when I had a baby in the breech position. At our recent ICAN meeting for doulas we heard from Katie about the rates of cesarean for babies based on various positions. Obviously with a breech baby you'll have a harder time find a care provider comfortable with a vaginal birth, and thus the very high rates of cesarean deliveries for breech presentation. What many people don't know is that up or down isn't the only position that matters! Most babies come out facing down (their back is against your front) which is called anterior. If the baby is facing up (their belly facing your front) then it's posterior, or sunny side up. This isn't the ideal position for birthing and can cause back labor, longer labors, more difficulty pushing, etc.
Thus my excitement about this new workbook from Spinning Babies - The Belly Mapping Workbook. It's designed for moms to figure out their baby's position and then do exercises to encourage their baby to be in the best possible position for labor.
I remember laying in bed with each of my babies gently pushing on my stomach and talking with Kit as we guessed at which body part we were feeling! This book provides parents with clear instructions for how to better assess their baby's position. Besides being informative and beneficial for labor, it's also a fun bonding exercise to play with your baby in the womb. I remember the excitement of poking at little feet and feeling them kick in response!
The belly mapping workbook will be part of my lending library for doula clients. I coordinated a large group order for other doulas & midwives in the area and spoke with Gail about presenting a workshop in her area. She says the DFW area is on our planning sheet, so I'll keep you posted!
Coming soon, my husband is creating a photography site for me and redoing my gallery. I've been hard at work learning a new photo editing program and anticipating two births any day now. We're also printing up some photo cards and they are beautiful. I'm excited to share it with you!
Update - Here it is, BetterBirthDoula.org/Photos so go check it out and let me know what you think!
On occasion I have a chance to help out with a childbirth class, during which we discuss concerns the parents have or things they've heard about birth. Without fail each class has several moms (if not all!) mention their fear of pain, or the idea that the pain of labor will be more than they can bear. As these moms are preparing for out of hospital birth, their options for coping with the pain are different from those planning an epidural assisted hospital birth. Even when a mom is planning for epidural anesthesia, they will still be coping with contractions until they receive it, and not all epidurals are effective at blocking pain. These are some of the reasons why I think it's important for every expectant mom to consider her perceptions of pain, and what resources she has to face it.
The Birth Book: Everything You Need to Know to Have a Safe and Satisfying Birth
While going through my doula notes tonight I found a handout - unfortunately there's no source cited! If anyone knows where this is from, let me know so I can credit it.
PAIN in labor is
P - purposeful
A - anticipated
I - intermittent
N - normal
During birth the contractions cause your body to release endorphins, which serve the purpose of making the pain bearable! The contractions are anticipated, which is easier to manage than dealing with unexpected or unexplained pain. Contractions are intermittent - there are breaks between contractions, allowing you to rest and relax in preparation for the next one. Labor pain is normal - your body was designed for this, you are not ill or injured. The contractions are powerful because your body is powerful, and knows what it is doing.
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While many people recognize the benefit of a doula for first time parents, not everyone realizes how much a doula can help even experienced parents. I've been fortunate to work with couples welcoming their first baby and couples welcoming their fifth baby! I asked some of these parents to share with me how they think a doula helps, and here is the response from one. I loved what she said, so I'm going to quote what she said directly! I'll share more responses from other parents in the future.
- Every labor is different. And when you know better what to expect, it doesn't necessarily make it easier while going through it. Unless this is an out of hospital birth with midwives, I think doulas are tremendously helpful in hospitals especially.
- Doulas are often trained in helping with pain management. Like when I was having giant son (baby #2), I felt like my hips were being ripped in two as he descended (really remember thinking that) and my doula offered some sort of pressure that helped tremendously with the severe back pain from that.
- Depending on the doula, they can also be birth photographers and offer PRICELESS photos of the birth. These are nicer photos than just typical family birth shots. These are ones that capture the emotion of the experience as well (I did this with baby #5 and seriously regret not doing it with the others).
- Every birth, it's helpful to have that one person who can be back up for whatever you need (even for c-sections) so that hubby can stay with the family. A doula is very helpful with this.
If you choose the right doula, they can enhance the experience of any birth. They can assist with so many different things. I think the first birth it's probably most important to have a doula (or out of hospital midwife), but their support & encouragement & helping make things just that much easier is tremendously helpful in any birth...and any photos are awesome with every birth.
So, I vote is for the *right* doula to assist at every birth. My right doula happens to be you, Heidi! 😉 Because you are freakin awesome.
You can tell her answer made my day, of course! But I thought it would help others understand why a doula can be an important resource at any birth - your first or your fourth! I've written before that we didn't hire a doula until our fifth birth, which was an out of hospital midwife attended delivery. Still, when we were expecting our sixth our doula was one of our first calls! Later my husband will be sharing some of his thoughts about why a doula benefits a dad. It should be an interesting post!
I've written a guest post for a fellow doula on premature labor warning signs. Some of the information I've shared here already, but you should go check out Sage Mama's resource filled site! She's a Houston based doula for you Texans southeast of me.
After talking with a doula-photographer friend I decided I should really get some more practice with photographing births. If there's not a professional photographer at a birth then you can bet someone asks the doula to start snapping. 🙂 I'm happy to do so, but I want to make sure those moments I capture are as wonderful as possible. I've been researching online and while my current lens is great for hospital births, it's not the best for lower light home/birth center deliveries. So...
Look what I'm getting for my birthday! Kit's doing some research but it would appear this is the one most suggested by birth photographers. I'm very excited to get my hands on that and get some more practice at births. (Update - have it, LOVE IT! Lucky me, I've been able to already use this at both hospital and birth center deliveries already and it's fantastic with all sorts of lighting situations.)
If you're a local birthing mom and interested in having me photograph your birth send me an email! While I'm portfolio building I'll offer my services at a discounted rate and you'll receive all of your edited images full size and a slideshow of selected images set to a song of your choice, as well as a private online gallery for sharing with family and friends. We'll have shared copyright so you can post and print images however you choose, and I will check with you before using specific images from your birth for my portfolio. You can see my photo website here. If you would like to see some slideshows from births I've photographed please contact me - I can be reached at heidi@thadenpierce.org.
(These are more notes I've collected, and once again there's no source. Let me know if you're aware of where it's from so I can credit them.)
* Educate yourself about the birth process, the purpose of pain in labor, and coping techniques. Be positive! Birth is amazing, and you can do this.
* Create a support system for yourself - your partner, a care provider you trust, your doula, other mothers whose parenting approach you wish to emulate. Find those with a positive attitude towards birth and parenting. You will need this support through birth and through your parenting journey!
* Take care of yourself physically. Eat well, rest, and exercise at least 20 minutes a day. Even if it's a slow walk around your neighborhood, get moving! This will make a difference in how you feel in pregnancy, labor, and postpartum. Especially in the last month of pregnancy, rest often so you are prepared for the physical challenge of birth.
* Take care of yourself emotionally. Spend at least 10 minutes a day with your feet up (or lay down!) and visualize your quiet place of happiness. Breathe deeply, counting slowly. Listen to quiet music, or use whatever techniques help soothe you. Try a warm bath, lay on the couch with a blanket, snuggle in your own bed. Practice relaxing and breathing! It sounds silly, but too often we're so caught up in the day we don't stop to focus on relaxing and breathing, both crucial skills in coping with labor!
* Remember that this is YOUR birth, and the hospital/birthcenter and care providers are there because you hired them. You are the customer of the hospital, not the prisoner! Create a birth environment that you are comfortable in, whether in your own home or the hospital. Do you want to labor in your own clothes, listen to music, dim the lighting, drink and eat? Create a birth plan and discuss with your care provider how you can best make that happen.
The birth center in town, Inanna, is redoing their website! You can read more about some of my birth stories on their site here. You can also learn about some local pregnancy resources (hmm, doula anyone??) on this page.
We met Jean (from Inanna) in 2004, and our birth story link shares more about our relationship with her. 🙂 I've been fortunate to birth my fourth child there and attend the births of a couple clients there as well - I look forward to witnessing more births with the Inanna team in the future!
