Peace.
It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things, and still be calm in your heart.
Author Unknown
|
Fall Calendar
of Events
Thurs. Sept. 18, 6:30-11 PM
Gala Buffet in support of
C.A.S.A. Midwifery Project
Evergreen Brick Works
Scroll down for more info.
Tues. Sept 23, 3-4:30 PM
Nutrition for Baby, Birth to 1 Year
$25 in advance
Contact Christine Hanlan
416-466-6526
chanlan@ca.inter.net
Wed. Oct 1, 12-1 PM
Dental Care for Infants and Children, With Child
Free
To register:
Diane Tossios
416-294-2663
Wed. Oct. 8, 7-9 PM
HypnoBirthing Gathering
Hosted by With Child
20% off all baby items
snacks & refreshments
Scroll down for more info.
Oct 21 & 28, 7-9 PM
Scrapbooking
With Child. Call to register:
416-466-9396
$140 includes materials
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
HypnoBirthing Reunion
and More
Wed. Oct 8, 7-9 PM
Hosted by
With Child705 Pape Ave at Danforth
*Reunite with your classmates. *Introduce your babies. *Share birth stories. *Find out more about HypnoBirthing. Come with your baby, before your class series starts, or anytime in between. You'll also be able to take advantage of a 20% discount on all items in the store. And meet: Massage Therapist,Dawn Fernie Nutritionist, Christine Hanlan Dental Hygienist, Diane Tossios Stroller Friendly
Free
Pape TTC
Green P parking: west side of Pape or north of Danforth
For more information call Tina at With Child: 416-466-9693 or Jennifer Elliott 416-462-1938 jen.elliott@rogers.com Hope to see you there! |
|
|
|
|
Gala Buffet
in support of
C.A.S.A. Midwifery Project
Thursday September 18th,
6:30 -11:00 pm
Help create new schools for Professional Midwives in Mexico and Guatemala.
Melida Jimenez, Ontario Midwife, will be spending a year in Mexico as Project Director
Charity Auction with dancing to the music of
The Cache' Salsa Orchestra
And other entertainment
Evergreen Brick Works www.evergreen.ca/rethinkspace/ Tickets $ 100 ($75.00 tax receipt) Students $35 (student ID at the door) *Donations are also accepted if unable to attend event To purchase tickets:
Send your cheque payable to Canadians for CASA, along with your mailing address for tax receipts to:
Elizabeth Harris
327 Carlton Street,
Toronto, M5A 2L8
Ticket pick-up at the door
For further info contact: Elizabeth Harris elizharr@rogers.com or telephone 416-960- 0370 and/or Chris Sternberg Chrissternberg@rogers.com or telephone 416-465-1997
*Centro para los Adolecentes de San Miguel de Allende (C.A.S.A.): a nonprofit aid agency which includes a peer counselor outreach programme that teaches birth control and sex education. C.A.S.A. is Mexico's first professional Midwifery School offering a midwifery -run birthing centre. For further information: www.casa.org.mx
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Next 5 week series begin:
Mon. Oct 20 -Nov. 17
Tues. Nov. 4 -Dec. 2
Thurs. Nov. 6 - Dec. 4
Thurs Jan. 8 - Feb. 5
Tues Jan. 13 - Feb. 10
All classes 7-9:30 Pm
Learn more:
Having another baby?
Take your second HypnoBirthing class for half price! Attend as many classes as you like!
|
|
|
|
|
2008 HypnoBirthing Stats
births: 37
unmedicated:26
home births: 16
Congratulations to all!
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!
Toronto HypnoBirthing News would like to
share your birth story. Please send it to jen.elliott@rogers.com
|
|
|
|
Got some fears
or aggravations
that won't go away?
Try this.
1. Write down whatever (or whoever) is bothering you on a piece of paper.
2. Fill a cup or ice cube tray with water.
3. Place the paper into it
4. Put the cup or tray in your freezer.
And voila! You'll freeze those unhelpful thoughts out of your mind.
Of course it sounds silly, but you'll be setting your intention to let go of those thoughts that may have been plaguing you, and visualizing them frozen out of your life. (You can always unthaw them if you need to address them at some point.) Chances are you'll just leave them behind and move on in your lfe.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
HYPNOSIS HELPS!
Private hypnosis sessions to
enhance fertility
cope with medical conditions,
connect with baby,
turn a breech baby,
release fears, and
let go of disappointing birth memories.
To book an appointment
contact Jennifer at 416-462-1938 or jennifer@lifesjourney.ca
|
|
Purchase a CD for yourself or a friend:
Birth with Calm and Confidence
Calm and Confidence for the New Mother
Destination Graduation
a great gift for your favourite university student.
These CDs are written
and recorded by Certified Hypnotist Jennifer Elliott
at Zoo Music
in Toronto
Available from
www.lifesjourney.ca
|
|
|
Greetings!
 Never give up on birth.
I confess I am inspired by the messages of hope that US Presidential candidate Barack Obama has been sharing with the world. I just love the title of his book, The Audacity of Hope. Perhaps my hopefulness is why I feel so disappointed by a recent article in Chatelaine magazine (Don't be so pushy, by Katrina Onstad, October 2008) that suggests that the expectation of a good birth experience can breed disappointment.
Obama said in his acceptance speech that some people say that, "if your hopes have been dashed again and again, it's best to stop hoping." Perhaps that's what the woman Onstad interviewed is suggesting. Stop hoping and you won't be disappointed with the outcome. Sounds a bit to me like surrendering responsibility for the birth itself. Just leaving it to chance, or to the decisions of medical staff who may have agendas unrelated to your desire for a gentle birth for your baby.
I acknowledge that you cannot control your birth; in fact you need surrender to the work of your body.
But you can plan your approach to birth and share these plans with your caregivers.
You can prepare your mind and body to respond to labour in a relaxed, positive way.
And you can direct your caregivers to stick to your plans unless there is a medical concern.
And if birth doesn't go your way? If you panic in a moment of concern? Accept that, and then choose to relax.
How do you find that relaxation in a difficult moment? That is why you have been conditioning yourself to relax over the past many weeks, to be able to turn on that relaxation response when you need it. And of course that is why your partner has trained with you to assist you to relax when you need outside help. And that is why you need to remember your commitment to birthing your baby with gentleness and love.
Then make the decision that sticks as close as possible to your birth plan. Often all you need to do is ask for patience.
I'm offended by the notion that grown women cannot handle disappointment. It reminds me of when my son was trying out for the school soccer team in grade four. To ease his experience of inevitable disappointment - he'd never played on a soccer team before and some of the boys trying out were in grade 6 - I pointed out his weaknesses. My much wiser son, full of the audacity of hope, ignored my comments. In fact, I remember distinctly sensing that he considered them to be irrelevant. Of course, he made the team; I learned about the audacity of hope; and perhaps he learned at an early age that his mother wasn't always right. Never again did I worry that he couldn't handle disappointment. How could I have had so little faith in him?
The audacity of hope? Or protecting yourselves from disappointment? Your choice.
But surely the second option just makes women putty in someone else's hands. With no expectations women can only follow someone else's. It seems to me it is much more comforting to know that you did all you could to create a wonderful birth for your baby than to think you left it to chance, or even to someone else.
Your task is to never give up on finding relaxation. Never give up on hope. And to never give up on creating a peaceful birth for your baby. Yes you can.
HypnoBirthing Childbirth Educator
P.S. Scroll down to read two beautiful birth stories.
View past newsletters in our archives through the HypnoBirthing page of Life's Journey
Subscribe at Life's Journey
Unsubscribe at the bottom of this email.
|
Kim and Andy share the story of their baby's arrival. Andy notes Kim's impressive poise and composure, both at home and in hospital.
The Birth of Baby Max: A Dad's Perspective
On Tuesday August 12, Kim and I were spending another evening home after returning from work. Having just celebrated the baby shower on the weekend, we were finishing our dinner and just started sorting through the gifts we received. With the television set to the Beijing Olympics in the background, Kim started to feel what she thought were some Braxton Hicks symptoms at 7:15 PM. At 10:30 PM, the mild surges turned into slightly stronger ones and didn't let up throughout the night. Given that our guess date was August 18, the increased intensity got us wondering if this was the real thing. Our usual routine of listening to only one of the Hypnobirthing relaxation CD tracks changed. Instead, we cycled through all tracks during that night as the surges came and went on an ongoing basis. I started to track the intervals and lengths of surges, but must admit to missing a few recordings. We got better at this after I asked Kim to give me clear hand signals to indicate the starts and ends of surges, and I started keeping count using a chart with column headers: start time; end time; surge length (seconds); interval length (minutes). Fathers-to-be, have your wristwatches ready! 12 hours later at 10:30 AM on Wednesday August 13, with almost no sleep, we called our doctor to ask if we should head to the hospital. Thankfully he wasn't away on vacation up North as he originally advised us, so we went to his office to get assessed. What we found out was that Kim was already 4 cm dilated. Our doctor commented that Kim was behaving very calmly considering her progress. He said we were likely to birth in the evening so we were advised to head to the hospital. Prepared with our 'hotel' bag, we stayed at Mount Sinai after being admitted into a private birthing room. The surges started to get closer and closer together and lasted longer. Throughout our whole experience, Kim listened to the relaxation CDs as I stroked her hair. The doctor showed up later that evening, and Kim was already 8 cm dilated. Still showing poise and composure, the nurses remarked the same. All the way up to this point, Kim's water had yet to release so we were given the option of intervention. We informed our doctor that we would like to wait and see if it would progress naturally. We waited for two hours and then decided it was best to intervene considering Kim's energy reserves, since she really didn't get any sleep in nearly 24 hours. So at 8:30 PM, the membranes were released and soon after, Kim felt the urge to push. Still in incredibly good spirits, it was time to head for the home stretch. After several attempts at breathing the baby down, Kim felt she needed to push to help the baby make its grand entrance. Ten rounds of surges later, out came healthy baby boy Max at 7 pounds 11 ounces, who was placed skin-to-skin on mom for bonding. In summary, we found the HypnoBirthing techniques worked well for us and we will use them again not only for our next child, but also for other aspects of our lives. Signing off, New daddy Andy, new mommy Kim, and newborn baby Max
|
Arwen proudly shares the story of her daughter's birth. Note how patiently her midwife waited for her placenta just as she requested in her birth plan.
The Home Birth of Grace
I knew that July 20 was just my guess date but, I have to admit, when it came and went I started worrying. Both my midwives were going on vacation in a week, so we decided to encourage our little one out. A few days later I saw my naturopath, who gave me an intense session of acupuncture and acupressure. My husband (Costa) continued with the acupressure throughout the day and, by early the next morning, I felt my uterus working. It was totally manageable, so we decided to run around and get last minute errands done. We knew that soon there would be no time.
A day later, the real surges started. My hypnobirthing preparation helped me through the next twenty-four hours. I focused on slowly filling a red balloon with air and as the surge got bigger, so did the balloon. Then it floated away as I exhaled down to my cervix, imagining the blue ribbons loosening the passage way for my baby. Costa had developed the opening flower image that Jennifer had e-mailed to our Hypnobirthing class, and I stared at this photo to remind myself to open up.
For almost a day, the surges were ten minutes apart and thirty to forty-five seconds long. To pass time, we went for walks. Costa logged a lot of my labour with his video camera. By two in the morning the surges were coming every three or four minutes and lasting over a minute. The sensation was unlike anything I'd felt before - moving like a wave from my abdomen and back area down to my thighs. It took great focus to continue the slow breathing and visualizations. I felt like I had reached an emotional signpost of: "I can't do this anymore!"
I phoned the midwives and Barb arrived first with her M.A.S.H. unit (as Costa called it). She asked me questions about the surges and then asked permission to do a vaginal exam. I could tell she was surprised that I was fully dilated when she exclaimed: "Good girl!"
Alex arrived just in time to finish setting up the room. By this time I was dropping to the floor on my knees during surges, until Costa suggested I use his back for support. He sat on the edge of the bed with his back to my back, and I squatted on the bed rocking my back against his back as the surge peaked. I asked him to put a bag of ice between our backs, so I could lean in to it. It's funny what you come up with when faced with such a strong sensation. The intensity lasted for a while and, after doing another vaginal exam, Barb reported that a piece of my cervix was preventing the head from engaging and that's why I wasn't feeling the urge to bring the baby down. She got me into a side lying position with one leg up, in order to try to nudge the edge of the cervix. The surges were very painful in this position and I protested! But when I got back up in to the squat, the urge to bring the baby down came over me.
For the second stage, I used the birthing stool on the bed, with Costa supporting me from behind. It felt effective, and the head soon appeared with the bag of waters still around it. Alex remarked how cute it looked (it didn't feel cute!) and told Costa to take a picture. Costa had been focusing thus far on supporting me physically and emotionally and had not taken any pictures or video footage, even though he had set up the cameras and special lighting before labour had started. He tried to take a picture at this point, but was so distracted by me that he forgot how to work the camera! Alex snapped photos during this stage, which I'm glad we have now.
The "cute" head did not want to come out any further, so Barb suggested a change. Again, I lay on my side, with Costa holding my leg up. Again I protested, as the pain was greater in this position. But the midwives said the baby's heart rate was a bit low and I needed to get her out. I held on to the headboard and pushed. Despite the fact that I had been practicing birth breathing for months on the toilet, and had found it to be very effective in that regard, I have to admit that now I pushed hard and was not at all silent. (It was at this exhausting point that Costa admitted wanting to get out of there to go to Tim Horton's for a coffee!)
I was given a lot of needed reminders to breathe slowly down to my baby and received great verbal support from my husband and the midwives about how I was doing. In thirty-seven minutes Grace Athena was born!
Breastfeeding happened immediately and, as per my birth plan, the midwives waited patiently for twenty-five minutes before the placenta came out. There was a slight tear, and Costa held the flashlight (what a trooper!) while Barb stitched me up. I felt weak but elated that this little thing had made her way out, and given the two of us an experience we will never forget!
|
|
Preventing Group B Strep Infection in Pregnancy
This protocol uses a very simple, multifaceted approach to the prevention of Strep B in pregnancy. This common bacterium exists in everyone's bodies and the purpose of using this protocol is to be sure that your body is well able to control the amount of Strep B within your vagina.
Please note that this simple protocol is designed for prevention, not treatment. If you have been diagnosed with a vaginal strep B infection in pregnancy please seek medical advice from your primary care provider (midwife, OB or GP) and a Naturopathic Doctor who will suggest to you an appropriate protocol and monitor it's effectiveness.
The most effective way to approach prevention of Group B strep in pregnancy is twofold:
1) Increase the functionality of your own immune system to keep any overgrowth of any unhealthy bacteria in check
2) Locally make available antibiotic herbs to kill any overgrowth of Strep B.
After working with and treating pregnant patients for Strep B prevention as a perinatal naturopathic doctor since 1997 here are some of my recommendations:
1. Supplement with healthy bacteria. Lactobacillus capsules and lactobacillus vaginal suppositories are available in health food stores. Take two capsules with each meal and use a vaginal suppository every night for 14 nights before your Group B test.
2. Boost Vitamin C in your diet e.g. eat 2 grapefruits a day. Other good sources of Vit C: red peppers, oranges, kiwi fruit. Consider supplementing 3000mg of vitamin C a day.
3. Drink a cup of Echinacea tea each day. Alternatively 30 drops 3 times a day of Echinacea tincture could be taken.
4. Get extra sleep before midnight. The hours before midnight count as double! Slow down your schedule and reduce your stress. Sleep and stress reduction are key to healthy immunity.
5. Supplement with Bee Propolis (available at health food stores - dose as directed on label)
6. Get a 1 hour walk every single day. This invigorates the immune system and gets your lymphatic system activated. Your lymphatic system is vital in healthy immune function.
7. Deep breathing and relaxation exercises are good to perform morning and evening, again, to oxygenate the blood, and invigorate the immune system.
8. Visualize. Researchers at Harvard have shown that individuals who visualize their immune system as strong and their white blood cells as big and healthy actually can prevent and reverse infection.
9. Perform a perineal daily wash with diluted tea tree oil 2-3 x daily with a peri bottle. Place 4-5 drops of tea tree oil in a peri bottle, fill the bottle with water and use this solution to externally wash the vulvar area from labia to rectum.
10. Get your liver working better by eating all of your meals before 5:00pm. After 5:00 pm drink only fluids and if needed eat very lightly. Your largest meal of the day should be a hearty breakfast followed by a hearty lunch. Dinner ideally would fall at 4:30 or 5:00 and would consist of things we normally associate with lunch foods - sandwiches, soup and salads.
11. Local Vaginal Garlic suppositories can be used 2x a week for 8 hours. Garlic is highly antibacterial and antifungal. Applied locally it will greatly reduce the amount of bacterial growth in the vagina. To do a garlic suppository, wrap a single large clove (skin off, but don't nick the garlic itself), in gauze and make a kind of tampon out of it - insert vaginally, if needed use olive oil to help with insertion. Remove after 6-8 hours by pulling on the gauze.
All of these simple techniques will help to boost immunity. They seem simple but they are very effective.
If you have a past history of chronic vaginal yeast infections, chronic antibiotic usage for acne or other bacterial infections, gonorrhoea, cervical dysplasia or genital herpes I have found clinically that you may be more susceptible to an overgrowth of Strep B because the normal flora in your vaginal canal is probably depleted and disrupted creating an imbalance in normal healthy bacteria. If you fit into this category you want to pay special attention to doing this protocol in its entirety. You may also want to seek Naturopathic advice from a Naturopathic Doctor around a more in depth and individualized program of Prevention Plus Treatment for healthy vaginal flora.
If you have a past history of a previous diagnosis of Strep B or if you have just been diagnosed in this pregnancy as Strep B positive and you wish to avoid antibiotic use in labour then I highly suggest that you incorporate the above suggestions immediately and seek Naturopathic advice to be put on an appropriate treatment plan for Strep B. Perinatal Naturopathic Doctors (ND's with special training and experience) are able to put you on a program that will be monitored closely and will be stronger in effect than the simple suggestions above as the program would involve stronger acting herbs, perhaps some acupuncture and an appropriate homeopathic remedy.
You can reach LIsa Doran, N.D. at:
The Barefoot Doctor Naturopathic Clinic for Mother and Child
416-901-0656
www.barefootdoctor.org
|
|
|
