Shoot for the moon.
Even if you miss you'll land among the stars.
Brain Littrell |
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2007 HypnoBirthing Stats
births: 22
unmedicated:14
home births: 7
intact perineums: 4+
Please send in your
Birth Reports so that your birth is included in these stats!
And remember to announce your births to your classmates.
They are waiting to hear your news! |
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Who attends HypnoBirthing classes?
First time parents, experienced parents, opposite sex couples, same sex couples, and single women with relatives,
friends or doulas
Next 5 week series begin:
Thurs. June 28 Tues. Aug. 21
Learn more:
Having another baby?
Take your second HypnoBirthing class for half price! Attend as many classes as you like!
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HypnoBirthing Gathering
A small group of mostly expectant parents met at Withrow Park Clubhouse on Sunday May 27. One woman reported that she was recently able to relax when her blood was being taken. She also told us that she and her partner listen to Rainbow Relaxation every morning and night. That's commitment!
Later in the afternoon one woman shared her healing birth experience (a second birth) and a couple arrived with dad carrying their beautiful four month old daughter in a stretchy wrap made by mamkangourou of Quebec. These 5 foot long mayan style wraps are becoming very popular.
Thanks so much for coming!
And thanks to many of you emailed to say that you were at weddings, birthdays, showers and on holidays. Apparently it was a busy May weekend!
I look forward to more of you reuniting at our next gathering in the fall.
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Can Group B Strep be prevented?
Many women are tested for group B strep (GBS) at 36 weeks. Women who test postive for colonization of Group B strep in their vaginas or rectums (about 30% of women) are usually advised to receive 2 doses of IV antibiotics during their labour to protect their babies from the risk of serious infection. (About 1 in 200 babies of GBS + mothers may become infected.) Group B strep is not harmful to adults. IV antibiotics can be administered at home for families planning homebirths. It is not necessary for the woman to be hooked up to IV tubing continuously throughout her labour.
Some people are concerned about the use of antibiotics; others would like to avoid an IV in labour. It may be possible to reduce the likelhood of testing positive. You might want to seek the advice of a naturopath. You can find Ontario nauropaths specializing in pregnancy and postpartum at www.apnd.org
Other suggestions which you can discuss with your midwife or doctor several weeks before testing are:
- increase your consumption of garlic or insert a peeled clove in your vagina nightly for 5-7 nights before testing
- increase your consumption of fermented food, eg. pickles
- take supplements of vitamin C and acidophilus
Some midwives in the US suggest douching with diluted hydrogen peroxide for 5-7 nights. Please contact me if you would like to get more information from a midwife on this prophylactic treatment.
Please note that the above is for information only and should be discussed with your caregiver before any treatment is begun.
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11 Ontario Doulas Trained
Ontario now has 11 doulas trained in supporting HypnoBirths (including me)! Nine of them are in the Toronto area. If you would like a HypnoBirthing doula, please contact me and I will help you contact them.
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June is Men's Month
25% off
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All services and CDs for men
Essence Therapy
1986 Queen St E 416-694-4090
Experience deep relaxation and learn stress reduction techniques
Let go of bad habits
Envision your goal and commit to achieving it
Purchase a CD for yourself, your father or a friend:
Relax and Refocus
Destination Graduation
a great gift for your favourite high school graduate heading to university
These CDs are written
and recorded by Hypnotherapist Jennifer Elliott
at Zoo Music
in Toronto
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Greetings!
Nature's Perfect Timing
(The Magnolia Theory)
In April I began waiting for my magnolia trees to bloom. I do this every year in April. About mid-month I feel an eagerness and a hopefulness that blooms will soon appear. I am impatient for spring, yet I wait. My trees are covered in grey green buds just a few cm long. On the first warm day, pink appears at the tips of a few buds, at least on the magnolia in the backyard, the one we planted over my daughter's placenta 16 years ago. Six years ago we planted another one in the front yard. Even though this second magnolia appears to have the same pink blooms, it always blooms a little later.
On a wonderfully warm weekend, a few dozen buds on the bigger, more mature tree, burst into full bloom almost instantly. From those small closed buds they have miraculously unfloded into magnificent large blooms. Others have remained closed with only their pink tips showing; some are still deep inside their grey-green pods. It is not yet their time, despite the fact that they are on the same tree, enjoying the same weather.
In the front yard I can see a few dozen deep pink buds, the ones that have already sprung from their grey-green pods. For days now they have stood on their branches, looking so ripe and ready to open. Some look fuller, closer, a few have even spread a petal or two, but none are fully blooming yet. They seem to be suspended in time, as if they have paused in the process of unfolding. But I am not tempted to pry their petals open, to nudge them into bloom. It would seem ludicrous to force them, to interfere with nature's way. They will unfold in their own time.
I do not know which day will be the right day for each of them to open. I am an experienced magnolia watcher; I have watched for so many years - my trees, and others in the neighbourhood - yet I cannot predict the day. Even the ones that have begun to bloom, the date that they will complete their unfolding remains a mystery. I trust that nature chooses the perfect time for each bud to open, and that they will open in their own time, just as other buds have every other year for the past 16 years.
Nature's timing is a wonderful mystery. I only know that sometime over a few weeks in late April or early May I will be rewarded by the pink glory of my magnolias. Each flower in its own time. When the conditions are perfect for each bud, it will have its own unique story. Last week, today, next week or the week after. A quick burst or a slow unfolding. I know that I can trust that the magnolia blossoms will open at the perfect time in the perfect way for them, just as nature intended. I am grateful for nature's perfect way and for my trust and patience in such glorious rewards. I know that I am about to witness one of nature's miracles. And I can wait.
Jennifer
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Research Vaginal Birth Safe after Multiple Caesareans A study published in June 2006 in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, involving 17,890 women with a prior C-section who delivered at one of 19 academic U.S. medical centers from 1999 through 2002 found that those who'd had multiple C-sections were no more likely to have a uterine tear, or rupture, than those who'd had only one C-section.
Ruptures occurred in nine of 975 women with multiple previous C-sections, or 0.9%, and 115 of 16,915 women with just one prior C-section, or 0.7%.
"I think the important message from Landon's paper,
and from our work, is that VBAC in women with multiple prior C-sections is very reasonable," says George Macones, chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Washington University in St. Louis. Women who have experienced previous Caesarean births should discuss the options of planned surgery or a vaginal birth after Caesarean (VBAC) with their caregivers. Women wishing a VBAC should choose a supportive caregiver and prepare themselves for the challenge of labour. Previous studies have suggested that the risk of uterine rupture increases with an induced labour. Ed note: Many HypnoBirthing mothers have had successful VBACs. Some choose midwifery care and some of these women birth at home.
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Birth Story: Ryann Lily Atkins HunterThis was my first pregnancy and it was very important to me to have an unmedicated, natural birth. I wanted to be able to feel and experience everything while I was birthing my baby. Covey and I hired a doula, Jessica Cherniak, and after hearing about HypnoBirthing, we signed up. My estimated due date was March 25, 2007 and we took the HypnoBirthing course in January and February (as did our doula Jessica). After the course was over, we listened to the Jessica Porter CD every night. Covey would guide me through several guided imagery sessions, and we practiced the breathing techniques together. Jessica came over one night and together the three of us wrote my birth plan, which included: having no pain medications, Covey announcing the sex of the baby and cutting the cord, having the baby put on my chest immediately after birth and holding off on the Vitamin K shot until after the first feeding.
For some reason everyone thought I was going to birth early. March 25 came and went. My OB/GYN told me my actual due date was March 30. On the 29th I was told I was not dilated or effaced. At my April 5 appointment my OB/GYN told me that I would have to be induced. A pitocin induction was scheduled for April 7 at 7:30 AM. This was not part of my idea of a "natural birth." I was very upset about the fact that my cervix was still completely closed and that the physicians at Mt. Sinai have a policy that inductions are necessary if women go 10 days past their due dates. I was also really scared about the pitocin.
I tried everything I could to go into labor. I even rubbed castor oil on my belly (this was suggested by a good friend who had done the same and gave birth to her son the next day). April 6 was Good Friday and I called every naturopath and acupuncture clinic to make an appointment; most were closed or did not return my call. Luckily, one had an appointment available for 6:30 PM. I had never had acupuncture before. I had a 60 minute treatment of both massage and acupuncture and was given Chinese herbs to take to help my uterus get started for labor.
On April 7 at 7:15 AM Covey and I went to the labor and delivery floor at Mt. Sinai. I was admitted and we were placed in a labor room. I informed the nurse that I did not want pitocin and I was unclear why I was not offered the prostaglandin gel. The nurse moved us from the labor room to the waiting room and the head nurse came and spoke to us and cleared up the misunderstanding and explained the gel is always tried first (up to 5 times) before pitocin is considered. We were moved back into a labor room and my OB/GYN who was doing rounds in the morning came by to see me. He explained he had to book a pitocin "spot" but always knew the gel would be first and apologized again for the misunderstanding.
The doctor on call and the resident came in to induce me and I explained I was not sure I wanted to be induced and could he explain the pros and cons of waiting to go into labor versus being induced. After hearing both sides and many tears later, I decided to be induced, at 12:30 PM.
We were discharged from the hospital; I was not having "contractions" and my cervix was fully closed. We were asked to come back at 6 PM so they could administer another gel. When we arrived back at the hospital and were given another labor room, they hooked me up to the monitors and I was experiencing "contractions." The resident examined me and said I was 1 cm and she suggested I walk around the ward for 1-2 hours before she examined me again. Both the resident and the nurse told me they had unmedicated births. I was so thrilled to hear these positive stories and knew I was going to be supported in my decision to have an unmedicated birth. At midnight the on-call physician suggested Covey and I should go home and have a good night's rest and come back to the hospital at 8 AM.
Throughout the night I experienced surges on and off through an on and off sleep. At 5:30 AM my membranes released and I woke Covey up to tell him. My surges were 2 - 3 minutes apart and in the car on the ride to the hospital I called Jessica. We picked her up on the way to Mt Sinai and when we arrived she and I went straight to the labor and delivery floor. Once we were admitted to a room everything went very fast.
I remember Covey hooking up our ipod and he played the Jessica Porter CD and a CD he had bought that had nature sounds. I remember Jessica and Covey coaching me through the breathing techniques. The surges really were not painful - except when I stopped utilizing the proper breathing. I had "Jessica Porter in the background and Jessica Cherniak in the foreground."
All of a sudden the surges stopped and I felt the urge to push. Our nurse, Agnes, told us she had memorized our birth plan and started reciting it to us (she, by the way, not once asked if I wanted pain medication). She told Jessica she was going to get the doctor. She told me to follow the doctor's instructions and whatever she said I was to do. I am not sure why I did not breathe the baby down, but I was instructed to push. After 35 minutes (I have to admit, of non-painful pushing) at 11:43 AM Ryann Lily Atkins Hunter was born.
Covey told me, "it's a girl!" and he cut the cord. She was placed right on my breast and Jessica helped me with the first feeding. My perineum was intact so I did not require any stitches. Covey went to get my mother (who was waiting anxiously in the waiting room) and we all marveled at the beautiful little girl I had given birth to. My mother asked how much she weighed and we did not know because Ryann was placed on my breast after she was cleaned up. Agnes had memorized our birth plan - and the Vitamin K and the eye gel were not administered until much later. I was ready to leave the hospital after I gave birth - I felt so invigorated and was so full of energy. Unfortunately they made us stay for 24 hours until Ryann's blood was taken for the PKU test.
I had the most positive and wonderful birth experience. I will never forget the birth of my daughter; I am still in awe of how lucky I am that I had an intact perineum. I experienced no pain after the birth and was able to enjoy my daughter and being a mother without having to nurse my own wounds. I am so glad that I took the HypnoBirthing course and practiced diligently. I know I am a strong capable woman, but I do not think I would have been able to have that birth experience without Covey or Jessica. Both of them were unbelievable supports for me.
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Newborn Procedures
Advocating for Baby in Caesarean Birth
Ed note: Jenny, a single mum, came to HypnoBirthing already planning a Caesarean Birth for medical reasons. She was determined to make it the best possible birth for both her and her baby. She reports that she remained calm during the procedure. Her son is also very calm due to the HypnoBirthing she practiced during her pregnancy and birth. Jenny adds, "I practiced the HypnoBirthing frequently with my dog lying on my stomach and she immediately rested her head on the baby five minutes after she met him. There have been absolutely no issues with the dog."
Jenny describes both how she advocated for her baby and how she surrendered:
I planned the birth I wanted so carefully with input and approval from all the people at the hospital. To ensure my wishes would be met I even had a signed off letter from the maternity infant centre. It stated my wishes of placing my baby skin-to-skin with me in the OR, no antibiotic eye drops for my baby and the baby's vitamin K injection delayed until in the recovery room.
The morning of the c section, while preparing, a nurse absolutely refused the skin-to-skin in the OR. I knew that fighting it would only end up in upset during the procedure. Their argument was the coldness of the OR. I was disappointed, but surrendered and accepted.
Then the head pediatrician came in and told me antibiotic eye drops (erythromycin) were required by law and that I would have to have them. I told them that I could sign a waiver and had already been given permission from my OB. I also told them that if they did a procedure on my son without my consent, there would be legal action. It ended up with several specialists in my small OR prep room debating this. It was unfortunately quite vocal and upsetting, but I really stayed grounded and did not take on the energy of it all.
Finally my OB came in and said of course she doesn't have to do anything she doesn't want and she can simply sign a waiver, which we did. At least I was able to make some changes, but delaying the skin-to-skin was disappointing. We were able to get my son skin-to-skin in the recovery room, 45 minutes after he was born.
The vitamin K shot was also open to great debate as they need to do it with their normal procedures and didn't want to wait to the recovery room in case they forgot. I finally persuaded them that I wouldn't forget and they allowed me to have it done while I was holding him.
The OB was great as they let us lower the drape to take pictures once they took him out. The surgery overall went very well and I am pleased with my recovery.
Ed note: Research has found that placing the naked newborn immediately on the mother's naked chest is the best way to help an infant to retain its body heat. Remaining skin-to-skin also facilitates breastfeeding, bonding and building the baby's immune system. And, of course, it keeps the baby close to the comfort of his mother - her heart beat, voice and touch.
The antibiotic erythromycin is routinely put in a baby's eyes after birth to protect the baby's eyes from visual impairment due to gonorrhea and conjunctivitis due to chlamydia
The Canadian Pediatric Society (CPS) recommends:
"Prophylaxis to prevent neonatal ophthalmia due to N gonorrhoeae should be provided to all infant...within an hour after birth."
Some parents believe that their baby is not at risk from these STIs as the mother tested negative for them earlier in pregnancy.
Vitamin K is also a routine procedure. It improves the baby's ability to clot its blood, reducing risk of internal hemorrhaging. Many parents plan for the mother to hold or nurse their baby during this procedure to provide comfort and distraction. Vitamin K is usually given once by injection, though some parents prefer to have it given orally.
The CPS recommends: "Vitamin K1 should be given as a single intramuscular dose of 0.5 mg (birthweight 1500 g or less) or 1.0 mg (birthweight greater than 1500 g) to all newborns within the first 6 h after birth following initial stabilization of the baby and an appropriate opportunity for maternal (family)-baby interaction.
"For newborn infants whose parents refuse an intramuscular injection, the physician should recommend an oral dose of 2.0 mg vitamin K1 at the time of the first feeding. Use of the parenteral form of vitamin K for oral administration is all that is currently available. This should be repeated at two to four weeks and six to eight weeks of age."
In fact, some Toronto parents have found Vitamin K specifically for oral use.
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I have felt incredible energy and life force through my body and I have really been reborn a happier, healthier, and more confident person. I have learned I can choose to focus on the darker side or the lighter side of all that is around me. I choose the lighter side.
Kathryn B Van de Castle's birth story in Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
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