Preparing for Birth: A Discussion with an OB and a Midwife

Saturday May 14, 2011, the MCA in Santa Clara is hosting its annual Women's Conference. Along with the lovely and talented Dr Sarah Azad, I will be discussing ways to prepare for birth. Sure to be an informative and lively discussion, we will present our unique perspectives on preparing for birth, and then take questions from the audience. If you live in the Bay Area, please come out and show your love!! Our talk begins at 3:15.

The Big Stretch - A Film Review

The Big Stretch, an Australian DVD, has done what many other childbirth DVD's fail to do - it has given the voice and authority of women, to women rather than experts. Twelve mothers tell how pregnancy, labor and postpartum 'stretched' them physically, emotionally, and spiritually. As a mother myself, I found most of their insights incredibly apt and useful. There are first time mothers, sixth time mothers and everything in between. Although all of them used midwives and had home births (but one, who tells with raw emotion what a hospital transfer was like for her), that is not the point of the video, in fact home birth is never directly mentioned or promoted.

From conception to operating on little sleep, mothering is a reworking of most of our internal structures, literally and metaphorically. It takes a lot of you to welcome another being into the world. As one woman said in the film, " I feel like I just went from being a girl to being a woman." That's a beautiful and desirous thing. For it's straight talk on labor pains, breastfeeding, and postpartum emotions, I recommend this for first time moms. For the real anxieties associated with subsequent mothering (will I be able to do it?, how will the other kids cope?), I recommend this for experienced moms.

The setting is lush, green and tropical, fertile actually - an appropriate setting for a film on birthing women! There is a lot of nudity in the film, nudity that doesn't have to do with birthing women. I'm not sure the reason for this, maybe the tropical environment. Or maybe it was to push the limits of the viewer, to 'stretch' our boundaries so to speak, which is something this film does quite well. The Big Stretch forces women to step into the shoes of mothers and walk with them for a spell, listen to their fears and triumphs, laugh and marvel at what they become, and in so doing, honor what we as mother's can also become; stretched, still ourselves, but larger, languid, and less rigid.

Pampers and Home Birth?!

While midwives are being arrested for attending births here, and here, sentenced to two years in prison for attending births here - Pampers is bringing home birth into the mainstream. A water birth at that! Sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better - whatever it is, a change is in the air. I hope the best for all of the aforementioned midwives, I pray that their struggles are not in vain, that midwifery is once again a viable option for women around the world!!

Feed Play Love - Free Teleconference

Feed, Play, Love, a free teleconference on parenting touching on the feeding, playing, and loving of children. I have just listened to Kim John Payne's lecture. His advice includes that when in difficulty, or feeling overwhelmed with our children, we should think back to the pregnant pause, the third trimester and the still, slow first few weeks of their birth to conjure once again, all of the dreams and possibilities we imagined for our family. Birth is the beginning of parenting. There are other great lectures from Sharifa Oppenheimer on the Essential Necessity of Play, and Dr Heather Manley, a naturopath, who outlines an Imaginative Adventure Through the Immune System - a way to talk to children about health. Enjoy!!

Prenatal Qi (Chi)

Qi (pronounced CH-EE) is often translated as 'life force', a sort of subtle energy that penetrates and influences each person in myriad ways. Qi permeates the universe, it can be seen in the rising of the sun, the flowering of the bud, and in the buzz of bee's wings. There are different types of qi, but the one that fascinates me, is prenatal qi.

Inherited from our parents, prenatal qi is sort of like the Western concept of the genetics we inherit from our parents, this is what we nourish throughout our life. Similar to genetics, prenatal qi can thrive with a good quality diet, air, water, and without it it can wither, or flare and cause problems. Given a good dose of strong, healthy prenatal qi, babies and children thrive in their childhood and beyond.

Other types of qi, such as lung qi, spleen qi, etc... can be improved upon, but prenatal qi is like a seed that cannot be replaced, it can only be nourished. Mothers however, can improve the quality of their health, thereby improving the prenatal qi that they pass on to their children. Dr Randall Neustaedter, says in his book, The Holistic Baby Guide, " In Chinese terms, a deficiency of Prenatal Qi is one of the primary causes of immune-system weakness and susceptibility to external pathogens. A mother who seeks out the care of a Chinese herbalist before and during her pregnancy is more likely to have a robust and healthy baby." He says that according to Chinese Medicine, a Prenatal Qi deficiency is one of the leading causes of asthma in children.

Gestating, delivering and nursing a child depletes the prenatal qi that the mother has available to pass on to the next child. Practitioners of Chinese Medicine believe that the different qualities and quantities of Prenatal Qi passed from mother to child account for the sometimes vast differences of energy and health between siblings. In order to avoid passing on any deficiencies to her baby, between and during subsequent pregnancies, it would behoove mothers to nourish and replenish these spent stores. Here are some great ways to do that:

• See an acupuncturist. Regularly. This is an excellent way to nourish yourself as a mother. Often they prescribe herbs that also replenish and build qi stores. If the cost of acupuncture is prohibitive, look for local clinics that provide these services in a group setting at a reduced rate. Such as this. If you are local, here's my beloved acupuncturist.
  
• Eat a whole foods diet. Eat real food. Broths, fermented foods, grass fed meats, organic fruits and veggies, and unpasteurized dairy, heal and nourish a body better than most things. Nutrient dense food is also great for mothers who often have no time to eat, or if pregnant, can't eat much at one sitting. Make each bite pack a nutritive punch.
• Eat lots of fish, or bump up your Omega 3's through supplements. This essential nutrient becomes especially depleted through nursing children.
  
• Drink herbs. Nettle, red raspberry leaf, oatstraw, lavender, chamomile. Drinking an herbal cup of tea each day is also a calming, relaxing way to nurture oneself.
  
• Exercise. Get some fresh air, swim, hike, yoga and strength building exercises can all be important in regaining vitality and building health. As a busy woman who doesn't have time for a yoga studio, I love Yogaglo for home practice.
• Take time for yourself. Don't let motherhood deplete you. Let it be your path to nurturing and health, for you and your family.
  

Birthrights

Birthrights is a wonderful new series premiering on Al-Jazeera English. It is a "series exploring maternal health and the power, politics and poverty that impacts it around the world.". The following three episodes are some of their first. The first one is about Hungarian OB turned home birth midwife, Agnes Gereb, and her imprisonment for attending home births in Hungary, a country where it is legal to choose your place of birth, but illegal to attend birth at home if you are a licensed practitioner! The second episode follows the lives of women who have undergone obstetric fistula repair surgery in Ethiopia. Obstetric fistulas are holes that develop, usually due to the prolonged pressure of a baby's head, between the rectum or vagina, leaving women incontinent of either urine or feces, rendering them also socially isolated. These injuries come about largely due to unskilled birth attendants, and a lack of resources. The third episode here follows a group of midwives traversing Ethiopia hoping to change that by either creating birth centers, or training traditional birth attendants, who have no training. Great series, I can't wait to watch more. Enjoy!!

Newborn Needs

When my son was about four weeks old, one of my favorite uncles came to visit. I was feeling stronger and excited to show off my new bonny boy! I took him to one of my favorite Afghan restaurants. What a mistake, it was so loud, bright, and busy in there! I had never noticed this before and my son was not having it. He screamed at the top of his little lungs until I walked him outside back and forth, back and forth, weaving lullabies into the cool night air. Meanwhile, my husband and uncle were talking about all sorts of interesting topics, undisturbed by the heavy handed kitchen staff, or the glare of the overhead lights. This was the first of a slow learned lesson, restaurants and our baby did not mix.

I later came across a possible explanation. Ayurveda believes that mothers are in a state of psycho-physiological transition for six weeks after the birth of their child. That after pregnancy, birth, and lactating, the first six weeks their system is transitioning back to a new normal. It is such a rapid and profound time of growth and change, that nothing really matches it. Except the rate of growth and change in a newborn. When I experienced the loudness, brightness and bustle of the restaurant, something that had not occurred to me before (and to be fair, not after my kids are older either), I was simply in tune with my baby. Newborns need stillness, quiet, softness, love. Restaurants might offer the latter, but rarely any of the rest.

It is important for both mother and baby to honor this need for stillness, rest, and beauty. It can be done in all birth settings. Recently, I came across a beautiful example of a mother going to extraordinary lengths to create this for her newborn. Meg, of the Sew Liberated blog, knew that her second son Lachlan was going to be born with a heart condition that would require nearly immediate surgery upon birth. It would require him to be in the NICU (neo-natal intensive care unit) and separated physically from her. Well, this crafty and beauty loving mama, did not let that stop her. She hatched a plan to bring softness, black and white prints, breezy mobiles, and warmth to her son. You can read about her post, Every Baby Deserves Beauty -Thoughts of a Heart Mom, and then check out the lovely Lachlan, surrounded by softness and warmth here. Having spent my fair share of time in NICU's with babies, I know that all of this effort must have muffled much of the noise and beeping that incessantly happens in these units. The babies who need the most quiet to grow and thrive get the least of it. I hope Meg's example inspires others to take control of their baby's surroundings from day one!

The following quote from Cynthia Aldinger founder of LifeWays North America powerfully sums up the needs of a newborn. By taking care of newborns in this way, we will be meeting the needs of ourselves as mothers as well. Say no to the restaurants, the trip to Target, the mall, wherever. Bring sunlight and nature into your space. Celebrate your baby's stillness and tranquility, in stillness and tranquility.

" However, I do want to say something about the first three months. Some refer to it as the fourth trimester, and I feel it is worth noting that it is a time that is completely different from the development we see taking place in the months following. If it were possible to wrap an extra layer of care around these little newborns, that would be wonderful. As a kangaroo mother keeps the newborn in her pouch, I wish we could provide more protection around the child from birth to three months. If you have ever been in a situation where you have had to adjust to an abrupt change in your life, perhaps that experience can build compassion for the newborn’s adjustment from womb life to outer life. Even more than the adjustment from womb to world, I feel it behooves us to consider the transition the individual is making from spirit to matter. Imagine being pure spirit, held in the arms of the angels, so to speak, surrounded by heavenly sounds, then being tucked into the womb for nine months with its own special sounds and warming rhythms, then emerging into the mechanistic, materialistic, ever-moving and somewhat cold and loud world of modern life. Certainly nurses, midwives and many parents know that swaddling helps to mitigate the dramatic change in physical existence for the newborn. If we could imagine taking similar protective measures in regards to the type of lighting, the sounds, and the activities to which they are exposed, most particularly in the first six weeks, gradually expanding their worldly experience over time, that would be a real gift."