Water Birth.. why the US has yet to adopt such a practice that the rest of the world does!

I was recently browsing the website http://www.oneworldbirth.net/ and came across these videos regarding water births.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzK99SARLnA&feature=player_embeddedThis one brought tears to my eyes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm9ce3QbsDM&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqN6-hK6hZQ&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eYzQxPlIMOs

I know that at the hospital I work at allows for women to labor in the pool, which are very limited, but don't allow a woman to birth in the pool. The reasons for this aren't clearly documented as I was able to find an affiliated hospital located in Sacramento and Davis that do allow for water births. In fact, Sutter Health Auburn lists the benefits of a water birth on their hospital website.

The Benefits of Water Labor for Delivery
Sutter Women's Services

Sutter Davis Hospital and Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital are the only hospitals in the greater Sacramento area to offer the option of water births. You may choose to labor in the tub and deliver in there as well. Be sure to discuss this option with your health care provider prior to your delivery if you are interested in water labor and/or delivery.

Check outJenny's Story about her waterbirth!

What are the benefits of water for labor/delivery? It can relieve pain by making the uterus buoyant (floating) which eases some of the pressure of labor. Also, the warmth and motion of the water along your nerve fibers is thought to block some of the transmission of pain. Additionally, warm water helps the skin around the birth canal to stretch better during delivery.

Monitoring your contractions and your baby's heart rate can easily be accomplished in the tub through our telemetry monitoring system. The telemetry monitor is a portable box that connects to the monitor leads around your body. The portable box transmits the heart rate and contraction readings to the fetal monitor in your labor room. You can walk, shower, and get in the tub while being monitored.
So why wouldn't the rest of the Sutter hospitals offer this option for its mothers? One labor and delivery nurse told me it's because the nurse can't be on both sides of the tub as the baby is delivered. Some people might say that it's because you can't be monitored while in the water. This is untrue as a nurse/midwife can use a Doppler to listen to the baby's heart rate under water.
I was fortunate to have a water birth as an option given to me in the UK. I expressed my wishes for a water birth early on in my pregnancy and found the water to be a huge pain relief while I labored at home. In fact, I was in the water for more than five hours! Shall we say PRUNE!!! What I was also very shocked by, being that this was my first baby, is that I didn't experience any perineal damage... no tears! After watching the videos my original assumption shows to be true... less tearing noticed in water births. Personally, I think that this may be due to the fact that the skin becomes more supple thus allowing for more stretching... maybe?
I have linked a website explaining benefits and considerations of having a water birth.
http://www.bellybelly.com.au/birth/waterbirth-birth-in-water
Unfortunately, there aren't many options for women to have a water birth in the US unless they opt for a home birth. I'm all for it, but sadly fear still plays a major factor and home births occur at about 1% in the US. I know that we are planning to have a home birth for our next child. I have yet to interview midwives but I have received a few references. All I do know is that all women should be given the choice of how they choose to labor. So, in order for change to happen we have to speak up!

Recipes I promised

So today I vowed to fill the freezer and to post the recipes. This is definitely the first post of its kind on my blog, but I have had many tell me that they would like to see some of the recipes to the food I cook. In fact, I have a hair brained idea of creating a baby cookbook so maybe I will include those to see some feedback.
I set out today to use my crock pot to make a soup and that I wanted to make a pasta dish and a vegetable dish. All of which could be put into the freezer for a later date. I created a shopping list last night and went out this morning to collect the ingredients. I also purchased some new glass storage containers that are oven and freezer safe. I'm trying to make more and more changes to our house to lead a more environmental friendly lifestyle.
I hope you and your family can enjoy some of these items and feel free to let me know if you attempted them and if you made changes to improve them. I'm always open to new ideas.

Sweet Potato Mash with Brown Butter Sage    

• 4 large sweet potatoes
• 1 orange; zested and juiced
• 1 tbs butter
• 4 sage leaves

Peel and cube the potatoes and boil for ten minutes or until soft. Drain and place back into pot. Add 1 tbs of orange zest and 2 tbs of orange juice. Mash until desired consistency. In a separate pan melt butter and sage over medium heat until butter begins to brown. Pour butter and sage over potatoes. Serve or separate into freezer safe containers.


Split Pea soup

• 16 oz. dried split peas
• 3 carrots; peeled and diced
• 2 ribs of celery; diced
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 2 cloves of garlic; minced
• Ham bone, 2 ham hocks or cubed ham
• 2 tbs dried parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tbs salt or to taste
• 1/2 tbs ground pepper
• 1 1/2 qt water

Combine all ingredients in crock pot; do not stir. Place on high for 4-5 hours or low 8-10 hours.


Pesto Prawn Penne Bake with Asparagus and Sun-dried Tomatoes

• Whole wheat penne pasta
• 2 cups basil leaves
• 1 cup spinach leaves
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
• 6 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 sun-dried tomatoes; diced
• 2 tomatoes; chopped
• 1 bunch of asparagus cut into bite size
• 1 clove of garlic; minced
• 1 lb. of precooked prawns
• 1 cup  shredded cheddar
• 1 cup shredded or cubed mozzarella

Pre-heat oven to 350F (unless freezing for later)
Cook pasta according to directions, drain and place into oven safe containers.
Make Pesto:
add basil, spinach, lemon juice, Parmesan, pine nuts, salt and pepper to a food processor and slowly add olive oil. Pour over pasta and mix evenly.
Meanwhile saute garlic in 1 tbs olive oil with asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and prawns at last minute and remove from heat. Add to pasta. Spread Cheddar and mozzarella cheese over pasta. You can either freeze now or bake for 10 minutes or until cheese completely melted.


After cooking all morning I'm happy to say that it is all family approved (including baby)!

Changing the way we talk about breastfeeding... a controversial subject?

I'm constantly reminded of a speaker that I listened to at a International Breastfeeding conference last June when I read breastfeeding research articles and updates. Diane Wiessinger spoke about watching your language... In her speech she addresses how we approach breastfeeding and that our language may in fact be detrimental to our cause.
Take "Breast is Best" for example, of course the breast is best but by saying it this way we emphasize that it is superior when in fact it is normal. Formula is inferior! We often say things like, "the advantages of breastfeeding are..." and "by breastfeeding your baby will have less risk of..." Diane discusses how, though sometimes hard, we need to change our language to... "the disadvantages of formula feeding are...." and "by formula feeding, your baby will have an increased risk of..." Below is a copy of her article...
http://www.motherchronicle.com/watchyourlanguage
Globally we become so used to formula feeding as being the norm. In fact when we see moms breastfeeding in public we are shocked and apalled. It should be the other way around! Bottle feeding should be shunned and breastfeeding should not turn a head. Women should not be relegated to private areas, such as public bathrooms, when nurturing their child. Women should not be questioned about how old their child is and why they are still breastfeeding. Our society needs to embrace and support women who are breastfeeding not ostracize them.
I recently read an an update sent to me by UNICEF about research conducted at Oxford University in The United Kingdom about the reduced rates of diarrhea, lower respiratory tract infections, higher IQ and lower behavioral problems in those babies who are breastfed. This is very good and positive information but may be delivered in the wrong way. By saying it in this way we glorify breastfeeding. If we said it the other way around I'm sure that we will get the attention of many!
Take these ads for example...

"The original ad campaign was sponsored by the department's Office on Women's Health and developed by the Ad Council, a nonprofit group that produces public-service TV commercials. One spot shows a pregnant woman riding a mechanical bull while a voice-over says, "You wouldn't take such risks while you were pregnant -- why take them afterward? Babies were born to be breast-fed." Another ad features a hypodermic needle lying alongside a nipple-topped insulin bottle -- and states that formula-fed infants are 40% more likely to develop Type 1 diabetes. The ads aimed to shock women into an awareness that the risks of not breast-feeding their infants were real.
According to Gina Ciagne, a former public affairs specialist in the women's health office who worked on the campaign: "Very soft campaigns had always been used for breast-feeding. These weren't resonating. We needed something to break through the clutter."

Formula companies got wind of the ads on the Ad Council's website and immediately tried to kill them. Powerful economic interests were at stake. For Abbott Laboratories, Mead Johnson Nutritionals, Wyeth Nutrition and Nestle Nutrition, feeding babies is big business. For instance, in 2006, according to public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Abbott Nutrition, a division of Abbott Laboratories and the industry leader, sold more than $1 billion worth of these products in the United States alone. "

Here is another one...

Interestingly enough, these ads were pulled. They were deemed too controversial. But that's the point, right? To raise awareness? I'm sure that this would get people's attention and maybe that is just what we need!

Yay.... I passed my test. I'm now an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant!

So now what? I have been planning on becoming a lactation consultant for over a year now so you would think that I have a plan. Wrong! I guess I put it off just in case I didn't pass. That would have really put a damper on things.

Unfortunately, the economy doesn't really support the use of Lactation Consultants in hospitals as much as they should. In fact they are one of the first professions to experience cutbacks in the hospital. Its unfortunate because breastfeeding should be a high priority. If we could get more babies breastfed the health care costs in the long run would be dramatically affected. It's a known fact that breastfed babies have less risk for heart disease, diabetes, obesity, certain cancers, etc. I truly believe that we are seeing the ill effects of increased formula feeding throughout most developed countries. Okay...off on a tangent.

So, do I pursue a private practice? Will it ever replace my nursing salary? Will it ever give my family the health benefits? So many questions at hand... With health care in the US due to drastically change in 2014 who knows whats going to happen.
For now I think I will explore my options and see where this new adventure leads me. I will continue to help the new mommy's in the NICU successfully breastfeed their babies and rest in the fact that I have made a difference in a few lives.
I must also say a big congratulations to two close friends who also passed the boards. May we be there for each other as we experience everything booby!

Labial adhesions...ever heard of it?

I know sounds odd... but until my daughter was diagnosed with it at her 1 year appointment I never knew it existed. I'm sure she is really going to appreciate the fact that I blogged about this when she gets older but I feel that there may be a good educational opportunity here.
Labial adhesions effects approximately 4% of little girls and is relatively benign (harmless). In fact, if the pediatrician hadn't spotted it I would have never even noticed. Basically, adhesions of the labia is where the labia minora begins to grow together; in a sense closing up the opening to the vagina and urethra. Medicine is not really sure why this happens but it may be due to low estrogen (once levels from the mother drop) and/or to a moist environment created by diapers. If left alone it usually corrects itself once the child is potty trained or once she reaches maturation and estrogen levels normalize. This is all great news unless the opening to the vagina and urethra are completely obstructed thus trapping urine. This could lead to further infection and increased rate of urinary tract infections.


As a mother, I hated the idea that my daughter may have some sort of "problems" with either elimination or sexual intimacy in the future. As a mother, you generally excessively worry anyhow :) So, how is it treated? There are different schools of thought....as we soon learned. Our first pediatrician (since changed because of this) advised us to slowly massage the tissue open every evening. In fact, she tore it open slightly during the office visit without even consulting us first. As you can imagine, this led to miserable diaper changes as I'm sure it was painful. As a mother and a nurse I felt immensely wrong about the entire process. I was sure that there was an alternative, after all, the tissue was going to have to heal and I knew that it was likely to heal back upon itself. After discussing with doctors (neonatologists) at work and doing some of my own research I eventually decided to find a new pediatrician and get a second opinion. I stopped massaging the area and monitored it as we noticed that the hole was getting smaller and smaller. When we finally saw the new doctor the hole was just big enough to squeeze urine through. This time around we were given much more reassuring news. Our doctor prescribed an estrogen cream to be applied daily and it would slowly open up again with minimal pain and/or side effects. Whew... that was a relief!
I'm here to say that at our 15 month check up today, Paige is free from adhesions and diaper changes are much more bearable. She is prone to get them again, but for now the cream is discontinued and we will have to keep a close eye on it. I'm just happy that she should no longer experience any pain associated with that region of her body and that she shouldn't have any residual effects into adulthood.
Moral of the story... always trust your intuition.
For further information regarding labial ahdesions check out....

http://www.babycenter.com/0_labial-adhesion_10889.bc

http://leladavidson.hubpages.com/hub/The_Truth_About_Labial_Adhesions

Thinking of Hiring a Doula?

When I decided to become a Birth doula the most commonly asked question was,  "What is a Doula?"


A doula is a woman who supports another woman and her birth partner during the birth process. She is there to support a woman physically and emotionally, collaborate with the healthcare team, and encourage and support the birth partner. She gives undivided attention to the mother, thus never leaving her side, while providing educated answers throughout the labor process. She is there to help with positioning, pain relief, massage and many other techniques such as hypnotherapy and aromatherapy.
There is a lot of great studies done on the outcomes of those who choose to hire a doula and this is why more and more women are choosing to work with a doula today.

• 50% reduction in the cesarean rate
• 25% shorter labor
• 60% reduction in epidural requests
• 40% reduction in oxytocin use
• 30% reduction in analgesia use
• 40% reduction in forceps delivery

Information was obtained from Mothering the Mother: How a Doula Can HelpYou Have a Shorter Easier and Healthier Birth, Klaus, Kennell, and Klaus (1993).

I considered hiring a doula when I was pregnant with Paige but i had this notion that I only wanted my husband and I to be present during this special time. We looked into it but eventually decided against it as financially it wasn't feasible. Looking back I would have to say that my birth experience was amazing and went exactly how I wanted it to. I contribute that to several different factors. The main factor being that I was assigned a midwife and she never left my side. I didn't have to worry about getting a new midwife half way through as I wasn't laboring during a change of shift. She gave me her undivided attention and my mother-in-law (whom I invited to join us late in the game) reminded me that I focused on my midwife intently. She was my doula. I was also very fortunate to have a husband who was very actively involved. He felt every contraction with me, catered to my every need, breathed alongside me and even joined me in the tub for the entire 2 hours of pushing. Without all of these factors, the birth of my daughter could have very well been a different outcome.

I decided to become a doula because childbirth has always fascinated me. As a nurse I get to work with infants and their families, but it's often a very different situation when the babies are ill or premature. Being there to support a woman during one of her most vulnerable, fragile, life changing moments is a gift. Each birth I attend continues to amaze me as I see the transformation of a woman to a mother. To witness life firsthand is such a miracle and I look forward to many other lives that I hope to embrace.

All in all, I encourage everyone to research what a doula is and to explore the benefits to you and your family. It's important to get the laboring woman and her birth partner involved in the decision making as having everyone on board will reduce the amount of stress in the labor room and won't impede on the pending labor.

Women have been supporting women during childbirth since the beginning of time, it isn't until within the last half century that our current practices have started to take place. There is something to be said about having someone there who knows what you are experiencing and can lend a hand through her experience.

Below is a POWERFUL message from One World Birth!!!

Cancer Prevention in Breast Milk

As you have heard me say, time and time again, breast milk is a powerful fluid. One that is unmatched by man. There are many properties in breast milk that do incredible things and many are still being studied for their wondrous capabilities. Did you know that babies who are breastfed are less likely to fall ill from childhood cancers and mothers who breastfeed are less likely to suffer from breast, ovarian, cervical and uterine cancers?
Breast milk contains cells HAMLET cells (Human Alpha-lactalbumin Made LEthal to Tumour cells) which are composed of proteins and fatty acids that directly attack cancer cells and not healthy cells in babies! The linked article is one of many research articles out there, but I found this one to have the most medically detailed explanation of the process and the benefits.
http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~andersh/research/milkcancer.asp

Microscope images that show HAMLET's interaction with biological membranes. Using a red, fluorescent substance that shows the location of HAMLET, the researchers can clearly demonstrate that it binds to the cell membrane of a tumor cell.
(Photo Credit: University of Gothenburg)

Mothers who breastfeed their infants also reap the rewards as studies show that the longer a woman breastfeeds the greater the reward. In fact, those who breastfeed two years or longer reduce their risk by 50%. Women who breastfeed have lower levels of estrogen, reduced amount of ovulation and may be less likely to store carcinogens. All of these factors contribute.
http://www.breastfeeding.com/all_about/all_about_breast_cancer.html

All in all, breastfeeding continues to show us its amazing qualities and we should all be supportive of breastfeeding, especially for extended periods of time. The following link is a Canadian Poster displaying the ingredients found in both breast milk and in infant formulas. I'm always in awe of how many things are in breast milk vs formula. It goes to show that man has a long way to go before they can make anything even close enough to mimic breast milk. Breast milk will always be best and even though I like the slogan "breast is Best", I believe that breast is normal and that infant formula is inferior.
http://www.bcbabyfriendly.ca/whatsinbreastmilkposter.pdf

More to come.... How infant formula in inferior and is in fact harmful to your baby's health. Stay tuned!