Archive for 2009
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The Delicate Balance of Life and Death
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009I don’t like talking about the sad and difficult aspects of birth. But these two stories struck me and made me want to again bring up the simple truth that the birth process is not inherently simple and safe and the balance of life and death is delicate. We have to be careful not to put more emphasis on the “experience” rather than the “outcome”. Although these situations are vastly different they both show the precarious nature of bringing life into the world.
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Class Reunions
Monday, June 29th, 2009I have been away from here for a little over a week although it feels like even longer than that. The funny part is that I truly have been without an Internet connection for this entire time. That sure doesn’t happen often anymore. Either the WIFI signal was out or the dial-up wasn’t working or something or other. I have been traveling to the Midwest, specifically Ann Arbor, Michigan to attend one of my high school reunions (the number of which I will leave out).
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What Are “irregularly regular” Contractions?
Thursday, June 18th, 2009Yesterday, I attended a birth that had been pretty long for the mom. She had experienced a couple of days of mild, irregular and annoying (her words) contractions before labor really kicked in. What I was struck with was that she really had managed her labor by separating the “engine is warming up” portion of it (early labor) with the “engine is in full-gear” portion (active labor). She tried to be as normal about her day as she could even though she knew things were happening. This allowed her to have the energy to better manage the very strong, active labor contractions without feeling as though she had been in labor for days.
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Twins and Triplets
Friday, June 12th, 2009What an incredibly wonderful day I had today. This morning I had the pleasure of being a participant in the vaginal birth of breech twin girls. This is not at all common and needs to happen in the hands of a skilled provider and an excellent support team. The birth was lovely and everything went very smoothly. Later in the day, I shared in another wonderful birth of triplets.
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Waves, Surges, or Really Big Pain
Tuesday, June 9th, 2009Decades ago when Dr. Fernand Lamaze wrote the book “Painless Childbirth” the natural childbirth movement was born. Thousands upon thousands of women diligently learned their breathing techniques and prepared themselves for their births. Unfortunately, what many women found out was that labor and birth actually did hurt for them. A lot.
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Orgasmic Birth
Friday, June 5th, 2009I recently viewed a film called Orgasmic Birth. In it several women discuss the “bliss and ecstasy” that they felt during their “natural” childbirth experiences. Other “experts” discuss how this occurs with references to blood flow, sexual hormones and anatomy. I found the dialogue and the described certainty with which we can achieve this to be quite fascinating. And I wondered where these women were (and why I hadn’t been one of them).
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Better Birth
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009Childbirth is on my mind. Not merely because pregnancy and birth are part of my very fabric but because I see a new trend in birth again becoming terribly “polarized”. Historically, it happens every couple of decades. Today, as the holes in our health-care system are glaringly apparent, birth has become a hot topic for dissection. You can see it in the multitude of childbirth books with titles such as “Better Birth”, “Your Best Birth”, “The Best Birth” . Every pregnant woman will tell you that, more than once she has been asked the million dollar questions. Doctor or midwife? Home or hospital? Natural or medicated? Epidural or not? And then, regardless of her answer, she is told what is “better, best, what she absolutely should or shouldn’t do” and on and on. It is exhaustive and rather than being helpful, more often leaves a woman feeling confused, frustrated and unsure of herself and her choices.
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Memorial Day: Honoring Soldiers and The Women Who Stand Behind Them
Sunday, May 24th, 2009On Memorial Day we honor those soldiers who have protected us and have given their lives for our country. Let’s also honor those young men currently serving our country in the military. Behind so many of those men are strong and courageous women with families at home.
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Scheduled Birth – What’s It About
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009Scheduled birth, labor induction, ever-increasing cesarean section rate, elective primary c/section…It’s enough to make your head spin. What does it mean? How do you make sense of it all? I’ve made a 1-minute video outlining the current trends around all of this. Take a minute to watch it and then let’s talk about it. Ask me your questions, let me know what you are hearing, what your friends are doing and what your feelings are about it. Let’s get the dialogue going.
