Friday 30 September 2016
Friday 23 September 2016
Birth Announcement from a Daisy Mum...Lindsey
Lindsey had a very straight forward birth using her Daisy breaths and some gas and air which proved more successful for her this time as she was calmer. Her little man was delivered on all fours with no need for any intervention. Well done Lindsey
Monday 19 September 2016
Sunday 11 September 2016
Thursday 8 September 2016
Birth Announcement from a Daisy Mum...Melissa
Our baby girl is finally here. Violet Jane was born on Monday night, 13 days late and weighing 8lb 10oz. After being convinced that I was heading for another hideous induction (booked for the following day) I ended up having a natural water birth with gas and air that lasted six hours from start to finish. We were home by 7am the following morning.
I used a lot of the breathing techniques learned in class and wasn't afraid to just relax in to it and push her out!!
Learning to cope with no sleep again but all is well.
Sunday 4 September 2016
Come Fly with Me...Use your own natural pain relief to birth
If you read my post on Friday then you'll know it was birthday. To celebrate my partner booked me a helicopter ride this afternoon which was pretty awesome!
So was I frightened to fly in a helicopter? Hell no! I couldn't wait! It was exciting, a new experience and I enjoyed every minute of it...today I experienced something new...but would everybody approach this in the same way? Probably not. For some this gift would have filled them with pure dread. Putting that much faith in a process they don't know enough about. Although I joked to my Daisy mums if you don't see me next week you'll know it didn't go well I had complete trust that the pilot knew what he was doing and that the helicopter was mechanically sound and that should something go wrong he would have the skills to handle an emergency landing. I had faith in the process.
So how does flying in a helicopter relate to giving birth? Well fear of course and a lack of faith in the process.
Let's be honest most of us know lots of women who've had a pretty rough ride when it comes to giving birth and those who do have a great time, well it must be a fluke right? We get told not to bother preparing or planning because what's the point? We can't predict birth. Take your birth plan and rip it up because it won't really help you! I can guarantee that every pregnant woman has had this or something similar said to them at some point during their pregnancy. I know I did!
So it's no wonder why with this attitude that so many women approach birth fearing the worse.
I recently read a quote by the French Obstetrician Michel Odent which really resonated with me, 'there is a physiological pain during labour, but there is also a physiological system of protection against pain.' This well known secret is endorphins; our bodies own natural pain relief system.
So why as women have we never really been told that labour doesn't have to be painful? Why have we only been given the first part of the sentence...'there is a physiological pain.' We don't know that if we work with our own bodies we can create our own pain relief systems. It took a traumatic first birth for me to learn this shit but learning is what helped me have a fantastic second birth.
So what did I learn?
I learned that birth preparation is a gift to yourself.
I learned that no matter how much I read about birth it meant nothing to me without learning some actual practical skills to use in birth. Don't rely on someone else to help you achieve what you want to achieve without being clear on how you want to get there yourself.
Have faith in yourself and your body...I got this by learning how my body worked in birth.
I learned how to breath to help me stay calm, how to move to work with contractions, how positive touch from my partner could relieve pressure and how warm water was the best feeling to ease the intensity of labour for me.
I learned how to let go of my thinking head to stop fear interfering with the process.
And by doing all this I learned how to tap in to my physiological system of protection, my own pain relief system.
Although today I put my faith in the helicopter pilot, when it comes to giving birth we definitely need more faith in ourselves and what our bodies and minds can do.
So if the fear of birth has been holding you back then fear no more...if you'd like to learn how to prepare for birth and harness your bodies own pain relief systems then try Daisy Birthing...trust me this stuff works! 😉
Jo-fellowes@thedaisyfoundation.com
Friday 2 September 2016
How My Mum Rocked Birth... 1977 Style
So today is my 39th birthday, I know shock horror! :-) and all though most years my Mum will say 'This time xx years ago I was...' I've never really asked her how my birth actually went, which is even more important to me now that I'm a birth teacher and I'm reading, talking and writing about other women's births everyday. I was also really interested to find out what her experience of the induction process was because in the 70's there were lots of questions being asked about inductions.
In 1974-75 the TV show Horizon made a programme called 'A Time to be Born' questioning should so many mothers be induced. This can still be viewed at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01z4pcy. It's well worth a watch! Inductions were being hailed by some as the future of birth, it was sold as quick and efficient for both mums and hospitals but doubts were being raised over the long term consequences of inductions, the same induction processes used today! So what was going down on September 2nd 1977.
I was 19 in 1977, Joanne was my first birth and I was 12 days overdue. In fact I'd been booked in for induction on the 2nd September but birthed in the early hours at 1.50 am. Induction wasn't discussed as a choice in those days and by 12 days over due I'd had enough anyway and felt like it was there to help even though I had no idea of the process. Midwives didn't perform sweeps in those days.
So the Monday before the 2nd I saw my Midwife who carried out an examination and confirmed that I was in early labour and every day following I had a show.
Thursday 1st September at around 10 pm my waters broke and my contractions started pretty much straight away. My Dad drove me to hospital where on arrival I was checked and found to be around 2 cm dilated. I was given a shave, a bath and an enema, all routine procedures at the time. I was told I wouldn't give birth until at least 8 am and with that at about 11.30 pm I was taken to a ward and left with immense pain and feeling very distressed.
At 12 am I started vomiting which set my then husband off doing the same in the corner of the room. I was lying on my side, I shouted for the nurse and asked for something to help with the pain. I was offered pethidine but told it was too early to have this as I was not in established labour and it would slow my contractions down. I was basically told that if I wanted my baby by 8 am then to stop being a baby and get on with it! So I lay there biting my pillow and I honestly thought I was going to die.
It was now about 12.45 am and this carried on until about 1.20 am when I rang the buzzer. The nurse came in and I told her I really needed the toilet, my husband was sent out and the Midwife had a look. I was told to take some deep breaths, the break was whipped off and I was rushed down to the labour suit. I was offered gas and air but by this point I didn't need it anymore. I thought I've come this far without it! It was now 1.45 am, it was too late my babies head had already started appearing. I was told to push if I felt like it and as soon as my body pushed the pain went and I thought 'this is quite productive.' Five minutes later Joanne was born. Once I realised I was doing this myself as no one wanted to help me, I thought 'well' and just got on with it.
The midwives congratulated me and said, 'for such a young lady you were a credit, a star pupil and the easiest patient on delivery that night.'
So there you go, I was born and it did bring a tear to my eye as my Mum described my birth. I'm so used to hearing other mums birth stories that to hear my own was awesome! My cord was cut, I was weighed and checked coming in at 6 lb 15 oz. I was brought back to my mum to feed as she delivered her placenta naturally and I slept easily for 12 hours! Still do :-)
I was a perfectly normal delivery. My mum birthed on her left side with a midwife supporting her leg. I said that seemed quite progressive for the time but she said it was that fast it was basically the position she landed in. Was this normal of her peers? no not really. Most of her friends had bad experiences and birth traumatised them; friends having forceps, c-sec's and one friend receiving 33 stitches!
She was kept in hospital with me for 12 days! she thought this was unnecessary and this started to affect her mood but the wards needed the beds filling up so they didn't look empty. Unfortunately even with all that time in there she wasn't supported with breastfeeding even though it was insisted upon. Once home she couldn't handle engorgement and stopped after two weeks. Going on to feed my brothers and sisters she realised it was the lack of support and education that failed her.
She went in expecting the worst as she knew nothing about the birthing process, she expected a tiny little baby, the size of a toy doll and was really shocked at how big I was even though I was pretty small. She was naive to the process.
My sister born in 1979 was 14 days over due. Again no sweep and this time an actual induction. Her waters were broken at 10.30 am and my Mum was put on an oxytocin drip. I asked her if this made labour worse but for her my birth had been so intense so quick she found induction felt the same. My sister was born without assistance at 1.50 pm.
My mum went on to have another 3 children, the third very traumatic leading to the near death of her (bum first baby), the fourth was quick and natural and the fifth induced, which she described as a slow labour where she wasn't progressing but yet pushing, My brother was born with a very bruised head.
My Mum concluded that with every birth she knew and understood her own body, even the birth that turned in to an emergency. She didn't like interference with her body from Midwives and other professionals and said so, but she has always been one strong willed mamma :-)
My birth surprised me a little as it was more normal than I was expecting but what I think is interesting is that nearly 40 years on, yes I said it I'm nearly 40! that we still have mums being told that they've got hours to go and then delivering. But what I find even more surprising is that the induction process has barely changed at all. My Mum was none the wiser to the process and she wasn't aware that at the time inductions were being hailed as the future of birth. Perhaps she swerved a curve ball by naturally going in to labour with me and I feel happy about that knowing that no drugs entered my system before I'd even entered the world.
So even though she was a scared teenager, not having a clue what to expect, that's how my mum rocked birth in 1977 :-)
In 1974-75 the TV show Horizon made a programme called 'A Time to be Born' questioning should so many mothers be induced. This can still be viewed at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01z4pcy. It's well worth a watch! Inductions were being hailed by some as the future of birth, it was sold as quick and efficient for both mums and hospitals but doubts were being raised over the long term consequences of inductions, the same induction processes used today! So what was going down on September 2nd 1977.
I was 19 in 1977, Joanne was my first birth and I was 12 days overdue. In fact I'd been booked in for induction on the 2nd September but birthed in the early hours at 1.50 am. Induction wasn't discussed as a choice in those days and by 12 days over due I'd had enough anyway and felt like it was there to help even though I had no idea of the process. Midwives didn't perform sweeps in those days.
So the Monday before the 2nd I saw my Midwife who carried out an examination and confirmed that I was in early labour and every day following I had a show.
Thursday 1st September at around 10 pm my waters broke and my contractions started pretty much straight away. My Dad drove me to hospital where on arrival I was checked and found to be around 2 cm dilated. I was given a shave, a bath and an enema, all routine procedures at the time. I was told I wouldn't give birth until at least 8 am and with that at about 11.30 pm I was taken to a ward and left with immense pain and feeling very distressed.
At 12 am I started vomiting which set my then husband off doing the same in the corner of the room. I was lying on my side, I shouted for the nurse and asked for something to help with the pain. I was offered pethidine but told it was too early to have this as I was not in established labour and it would slow my contractions down. I was basically told that if I wanted my baby by 8 am then to stop being a baby and get on with it! So I lay there biting my pillow and I honestly thought I was going to die.
It was now about 12.45 am and this carried on until about 1.20 am when I rang the buzzer. The nurse came in and I told her I really needed the toilet, my husband was sent out and the Midwife had a look. I was told to take some deep breaths, the break was whipped off and I was rushed down to the labour suit. I was offered gas and air but by this point I didn't need it anymore. I thought I've come this far without it! It was now 1.45 am, it was too late my babies head had already started appearing. I was told to push if I felt like it and as soon as my body pushed the pain went and I thought 'this is quite productive.' Five minutes later Joanne was born. Once I realised I was doing this myself as no one wanted to help me, I thought 'well' and just got on with it.
The midwives congratulated me and said, 'for such a young lady you were a credit, a star pupil and the easiest patient on delivery that night.'
So there you go, I was born and it did bring a tear to my eye as my Mum described my birth. I'm so used to hearing other mums birth stories that to hear my own was awesome! My cord was cut, I was weighed and checked coming in at 6 lb 15 oz. I was brought back to my mum to feed as she delivered her placenta naturally and I slept easily for 12 hours! Still do :-)
I was a perfectly normal delivery. My mum birthed on her left side with a midwife supporting her leg. I said that seemed quite progressive for the time but she said it was that fast it was basically the position she landed in. Was this normal of her peers? no not really. Most of her friends had bad experiences and birth traumatised them; friends having forceps, c-sec's and one friend receiving 33 stitches!
She was kept in hospital with me for 12 days! she thought this was unnecessary and this started to affect her mood but the wards needed the beds filling up so they didn't look empty. Unfortunately even with all that time in there she wasn't supported with breastfeeding even though it was insisted upon. Once home she couldn't handle engorgement and stopped after two weeks. Going on to feed my brothers and sisters she realised it was the lack of support and education that failed her.
She went in expecting the worst as she knew nothing about the birthing process, she expected a tiny little baby, the size of a toy doll and was really shocked at how big I was even though I was pretty small. She was naive to the process.
My sister born in 1979 was 14 days over due. Again no sweep and this time an actual induction. Her waters were broken at 10.30 am and my Mum was put on an oxytocin drip. I asked her if this made labour worse but for her my birth had been so intense so quick she found induction felt the same. My sister was born without assistance at 1.50 pm.
My mum went on to have another 3 children, the third very traumatic leading to the near death of her (bum first baby), the fourth was quick and natural and the fifth induced, which she described as a slow labour where she wasn't progressing but yet pushing, My brother was born with a very bruised head.
My Mum concluded that with every birth she knew and understood her own body, even the birth that turned in to an emergency. She didn't like interference with her body from Midwives and other professionals and said so, but she has always been one strong willed mamma :-)
My birth surprised me a little as it was more normal than I was expecting but what I think is interesting is that nearly 40 years on, yes I said it I'm nearly 40! that we still have mums being told that they've got hours to go and then delivering. But what I find even more surprising is that the induction process has barely changed at all. My Mum was none the wiser to the process and she wasn't aware that at the time inductions were being hailed as the future of birth. Perhaps she swerved a curve ball by naturally going in to labour with me and I feel happy about that knowing that no drugs entered my system before I'd even entered the world.
So even though she was a scared teenager, not having a clue what to expect, that's how my mum rocked birth in 1977 :-)
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