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Archive for the ‘Prenatal Information’ Category

Homebirth in the News

Posted November 13th, 2008 | 2 Comments » | Bookmark and Share

I am a big fan of women and families having choices, options and alternatives throughout pregnancy, birth, and childraising.  That’s why it’s always bugged me that if the medical establishment  had its way, homebirth would be illegal everywhere in the US. It’s already illegal in several states for a midwife to attend a woman in labor at home – see mana.org (Midwives Alliance of North America) for more details.  FYI, for those of you in Massachusetts, it is alegal – meaning it is unregulated and there is no law for or against homebirth midwives practicing (although Mass Midwives want to change this and create a bipartisan regulatory board).

It’s heartening to read this front page news in the NYTimes about more women choosing home birth.   I think enough information is out there about women not being listened to in some hospital settings, and of the huge number of unnecessary interventions happening these days (I’ve written on this before here).

My sincere question is – if ACOG (the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology) and the AMA (American Medical Association) really want satisfied customers and good outcomes for healthy and happy babies *and* moms, why don’t they try to support homebirth with the best kind of backup support and communication between midwives and doctors? Instead, doctors are strongly discouraged from developing relationships with homebirth midwives.  Why don’t they try to establish a more nurturing atmosphere in the hospital so that more families are satisfied with their hospital birth experiences?  Instead, more often than not, women are pressured into following hospital protocol, and aren’t encouraged to question their care on anything – from the easy (do I have to wear a hospital gown – why can’t I give birth in my own clothes?) to the more complicated (why do you induce labor? when do you induce labor?  what are the many methods of induction?  what if I don’t choose to be induced?).    

Finally, it’s all well and good that ACOG says they support births in either a hospital or “accredited birth center on hospital grounds.”  But how many birth centers are left these days?   We had three in Massachusetts.  The Wellesley Birth Center closed abruptly a few years ago.  The North Shore Birth Center is about to close as we write (click here to get in on the consumer actions being taken to try and save the birth center).   Only the Cambridge Birth Center remains – which fills up months and months in advance.  The fact is, the climate exists where birth centers can’t operate freely – the owners/practitioners are scared out of business.  It’s only because of the homebirth midwives, who really are tenacious, amazing women who will not be silenced, intimidated or scared, that we still have a national conversation about a family’s rights in the birthing world. 

To all my wonderful prenatal and postnatal students, present, past and future: every birth is sacred.   On some level, I don’t care how or where someone gives birth (that’s only one part of the whole experience of pregnancy and parenthood). I only care that every mom and family feels respected, cared for, and informed.  I am supporting homebirth midwives, birth centers, and all other practitioners who are working for this same right to choose how you will bring your baby into the world. 

 

Posted under Local Interest, Postnatal Information, Prenatal Information, Yoga

Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen

Posted October 13th, 2008 | 1 Comment » | Bookmark and Share

 

One of the things I work on the most in my prenatal classes is educating students about the “cascade of interventions” that can happen in many hospital births.  I strive to be neutral in class, especially recognizing that all sorts of moms come to prenatal class.   I try not to assume everyone wants a vaginal birth with few interventions.   Every year I am getting better at this, but still, I think it’s obvious if you talk to me that, in general, I favor as few tests and interventions as possible (hence, the title of this post).

 

Last week, an important evidence-based report was published by Childbirth Connections, an amazing advocacy group for women and families.  It’s long and somewhat dense, but USA Today and Consumer Reports have written articles in summary.  I’m reading the report in bits and pieces this week.

 

Here is an excerpt from the Consumer Reports article, talking about the overuse of high-tech measures:

 

The report found that, in the U.S., too many healthy women with low-risk pregnancies are being routinely subjected to high-tech or invasive interventions that should be reserved for higher-risk pregnancies. Such measures include:

 

– Inducing labor. The percentage of women whose labor was induced more than doubled between 1990 and 2005

 

– Use of epidural painkillers, which might cause adverse effects, including rapid fetal heart rate and poor performance on newborn assessment tests

 

– Delivery by Caesarean section, which is estimated to account for one-third of all U.S births in 2008, will far exceed the World Health Organization’s recommended national rate of 5 to 10 percent

 

– Electronic fetal monitoring, unnecessarily adding to delivery costs

 

– Rupturing membranes (“breaking the waters”), intending to hasten onset of labor

 

– Episiotomy, which is often unnecessary  

 

Though women and their partners shouldn’t have to become “experts” on maternal and fetal care when they’re pregnant, it’s very helpful to remember that you are a paying consumer.   I recommend finding a doctor or midwife who will take the time to answer the questions you have, and who will talk to you about your choices, options and alternatives.   Too often, women come to my class and say something like, “My doctor won’t let me go past my due date.  She’ll induce me if I do.”   We have to remember that we have a responsibility in all of this to ask questions, and know that it’s *our* decision whether we have that test or procedure.  We cannot abdicate responsibility for our bodies and our babies, even if a doctor/midwife presents a procedure as non-optional.  The time to set up this dynamic is before you’re in labor – it’s difficult to have rational conversation and decision-making in the midst of active labor!   

 

If you’re pregnant, remember that you need to have confidence in your provider.  It’s never too late to switch providers if you’re unhappy.  I’ve had students switch providers mere days before giving birth!  But also remember, the most important person to trust is yourself, and your baby.  That’s how we use yoga – to empty out everything else so that we can hear the voice inside letting us know what we need to do. 

 

 

Namaste,

 

Barrett

Posted under Health and Wellness, Prenatal Information

Why I Love Teaching Prenatal Yoga

Posted October 1st, 2008 | 5 Comments » | Bookmark and Share

 

 

Anytime we come to the mat to practice, we bring all that’s happened to us stored inside someplace.  We bring the difficult parts especially –  the tense conversation with our boss, the silent treatment we got from our partner, the anxiety about our child.  Of course, we also bring the good things – the smile from a stranger on the subway, the achievement of a job well done, etc.   Our practice reflects back to ourselves how we’re feeling, and often helps us know why we’re feeling that, and what to do about it. 

 

That is all magnified in a very intense and focused way when someone is pregnant.   For a very specific period of time, such extraordinary growth is going on, and I don’t mean in just the physical realm!  Mentally and energetically, women are so *ripe* in their yoga experiences, so ready to meet change and become a new person on the other side of it – a parent.   They know they must change, and slowly but surely, through the weeks and months that they come to class, they let go of what used to be, and merge into the ever-evolving present. 

 

Prenatal class is magnifying glass to see a yogi’s accelerated growth.   It happens to anyone who consistently practices, but when you’re pregnant, there’s a bit of a deadline! You can’t put off your practice for a few months if other areas of your life heat up.  You must do it now. Pregnancy seems to help women crystallize what’s really important to them.  

 

It’s not always a pretty or graceful transition!  We have a lot of struggles that we talk about in class, and a lot of tears and laughter and joy.  But it’s so helpful to share with a roomful of women who are in a similar place in life.  I think a lot of students come in feeling alone, but leave yoga class feeling like part of a positive community. 

 

Teaching prenatal yoga has helped me teach in my regular classes.   I feel so much more open to just *being* with someone’s struggles when they share with me.   I think I’m just able to hold the space and not try to fix it like I might have wanted to years ago when I was a new teacher.  Best of all, being with pregnant women has helped me know better how to gently but firmly encourage someone to see it through, and stay on the self-healing path, even when it’s tough.   

 

This is just a beginning of why I love teaching pregnant women.

 

 

Posted under Prenatal Information, Yoga

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