Why, oh why must nursery nurses be so rough with a newborn?  I understand being efficient.  I understand that some babies must be stimulated to breathe.  But why must a healthy newborn immediately be whisked aside, buffed vigorously with a towel until they howl in protest, suctioned repeatedly and aggressively, turned this way and that like a lump of dough, suctioned again and rubbed some more?

“Come on, get mad at me!” the nurse urges.  Where else is anger considered a sign of health and vigor?  Often the poor babe is screaming so hard that he can barely catch a breath.  He gets suctioned again.  I grit my teeth.

I have seen babies who clamped their lips shut and refused to even root for the breast after such treatment.  Others have been so upset that even their gentle mother had a hard time calming them enough to get them to latch on — 30 or more minutes after the assault.

As much as I dislike hospital births for all of the interventions that they “offer” to mothers (offer, as in “We’re going to do xyz now…”), the mother is an adult and has the ability to speak up for herself or may have a partner who will.  She has a choice.  I absolutely detest the way that new little soul is treated by the staff in the first minutes after birth.  It makes ME angry! 

Welcome to the world, sweet little one.  I’m so sorry that your first impression is one of violence.

I ran across a very interesting site this evening that offers some state by state statistics on birth.  The link above will take you to the Texas Peristats page, but you can change the state with a drop-down menu on the left hand side of the page.

Some highlights:

• In an average week in Texas, 7685 babies are born.
• In Texas in 2006, 33.2% of live births were cesarean deliveries.
• In 2006, 1 in 12 babies (8.4% of live births) was low birthweight (< 5.5 lbs.) in Texas.
• In 2006, 1 in 7 babies was born preterm (before 32 weeks), and between 1996 and 2006, the rate of preterm birth increased 17% in Texas.

“Pit to Distress”: A Disturbing Reality « Nursing Birth.

I had never heard of “pit to distress” before today.  This is a blog entry by a labor and delivery nurse describing the policy of some doctors to order pitocin for a laboring woman and specify that it be increased until it reaches the maximum dosage regardless of how it affects the mother or baby.  If the baby goes into distress because the contractions are too strong–oh well!  A quick c-section and the doctor goes home.

Am I shocked?  Yes.  Am I apalled?  Definitely.  Am I surprised?  Not at all.

God bless those nurses who advocate for the women they serve as it seems NursingBirth does.

Ladies, have you ever gotten one of those emails that say “Forward this email to every woman you know.  Don’t let your mother/sister/friend become the next victim”?  Yeah, I think you see where I’m going with this.  Read the second installment on this topic and I think you’ll know what to do. 

How often do we complain about hospitals and doctors trying to “fix” the birth process?  If it doesn’t start when you want it to–induce.  If it goes too slow–augment.  If it hurts too much–medicate.  And if all else fails–operate.

Unfortunately, there are those who desire a natural birth who try to “fix” things, too.  While they don’t use drugs and scalpels, they use things like herbs, oils, and even knowledge to try to make their birth go the way they want it to.

As a midwife, I’m often called upon for advice.  “Is this normal….?  What if….?  Is there anything I (or you) can do for….?  Have you heard of this (herb, technique, theory,…)?”  I tend to be very trusting of the normal birth process and I prefer to leave well enough alone until I have evidence that something is not normal.  It is very hard, however, to convince some women that they should do the same.

Do you trust birth?  Do you know your body and trust it to do what it needs to birth a baby?  Are you willing to surrender control to the natural forces that will sweep through your body during labor?  If you can honestly answer “yes” to these questions, you are more likely to have a smooth, uneventful labor and birth.

That doesn’t mean that there isn’t a time and a place for herbs, oils or whatever during a birth.  But, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

I attended a wonderful birth this morning.

Before labor began, the mother was afraid that her body wouldn’t go into labor without “help.”  (She was induced with her first birth.)  Surprise!  At 42 weeks, she woke up in labor with contractions 3 minutes apart.  She labored quietly and with strength until transition came.

“I’m afraid.”

“What is your fear?  What are you afraid of?”

“I’m afraid I won’t remember how to do this.”

“You don’t have to remember, your body knows and remembers.”

“Ok…”

And it did.  She didn’t need me to tell her what to do.  She just listened to what her body told her to do. It remembered quite well.

Afterward, she was in awe of the strength of her body and its ability to give birth.

“I am just awesome!  My body rocks!”

How many women sell themselves short?  Not just by insisting on hospital interventions like inductions and epidurals, but by the way they act, think and take care of themselves.  Why do they prefer to act weak, to take the passive role, to give their power to others without a question?

I loved it when I heard this mother tell her 3 year old daughter “You’re going to grow up to be a strong woman, too.”

The secret is out…

…but it’s written by a doula who works in the Rio Grande Valley area of Texas.

From One Mother to Another

It seems like doctors and hospitals do all that they can to disempower women and make them believe that they are helpless and “sick.”

Abuse.  That really is the only word for it.

…that the hospital is the safest place to give birth.

The arrogance of some doctors never ceases to amaze me.  This kind of thing angers me so much, that I have a hard time putting it in to words.  Fortunately, there are others out there that aren’t speechless with rage, and I refer you to one of the best rebuttals in lieu of my own.

Navelgazing Midwife’s Response (fair warning for those who need it: there is one immodest labor picture at the very top of her blog post)

Now that I’ve got this blog pretty much the way I want it (for now ) I’m planning on putting up some informative articles on topics that many women seem to have questions about. I’ve decided to start with water birth. I know of no hospitals in my area (northeast Texas) that offer water as an option during labor or birth. I know several midwives who do, however!

Water birth is gaining in popularity due, in part, to a man named Michel Odent. He ran a maternity clinic attached to a hospital in Pithiviers, France and he found that women in labor were often drawn to a warm pool of water when it was made available to them. It seemed to ease discomfort, enhance relaxation, and decrease the length of labor. Though he never actually encouraged women to give birth in the water, it happened sometimes and was not a huge deal.
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