Working with Anxious Mums for Natural Deliveries

Time to Consider the Emotional Side of Labour...

How much time is spent by midwives these days looking at the emotional side of labour?

Taking the time to address fear in birthing has reduced the c/section rate to the lowest in Queensland.

"After being given time to talk through her fears with obstetrician Anne Sneddon and then with midwife Jenny Fenwick, Ms Watts says her "faith has been restored'' in natural deliveries with the birth of her second son, Gyan, a month ago.

"They talked about how to labour, what would be the best position, what I could do that would reduce pain relief,'' she said. "I didn't even ask for gas, whereas I was asking for gas in my first birth and I was asking for an epidural.'' News.au.com

Hospitals reduce C-Section Rates

Physical wellbeing seems to be prioritised. What would happen if more time was dedicated to emotional support of a pregnant woman?

Natal Hypnotherapy™ Questions & Answers

Wednesday Lunch Club Q&A With Natal Hypnotherapist Maggie Howell

"Natal Hypnotherapy is recommended by over 3,000 birth professionals and Maggie’s one of the UK’S leading campaigners who are helping fight the fear that surrounds child birth and pregnancy. Through her business, she’s helped over 100,000 women have a better birth experience. She’s an experienced and articulate broadcaster and is passionate about supporting women through pregnancy, child birth and beyond."


Natal Hypnotherapy™ Q&A with Maggie Howell

Demystifying Home Birth

Beautiful Home Birth Photography

Julia Marincat shares her beautiful home birth photographs, shot by Jackie Dives. Jackie is a doula & photographer keen to normalise birth and out the dread which many pregnant women face.

 "The average woman is unaware of these choices, because they simply aren't shared in the mainstream. I hope my images will open doors for women who otherwise might not have known what their options are."

Beautiful Home Birth Photography

Natal Hypnotherapy™ - Home, Hospital or Bookshop?

Natal Hypnotherapy™ - Preparation for wherever you give birth...

With all the best laid plans - no-one actually knows when and how your baby will arrive. The baby is the following article was obviously interested in reading!

What would it mean to you to feel confident wherever you gave birth?

"We birth best when we are relaxed, when we trust our bodies to do what our bodies know how to do. We don't need drugs to relax; nor do we need drugs to block any "pain" -- our oxytocin takes over and that feel good hormone allows us to birth without as much fear, anxiety, and pain as we would if we were hooked up to machines in a hospital with nurses coming in and out of the room constantly checking on us and thinking we need to hurry it up." The Stir.

Natal Hypnotherapy™ teaches you the mental and physical techniques to create a safe birthing environment and protect your birth space. For more information see Calm & Contented Births.


Bookshop

Will you get the Birth Experience you want?

Birth with Dignity

Beverly Turner looks at birthing with dignity in the Telegraph:

"Yesterday’s inaugural Birthrights's Dignity in Childbirth Conference in London’s Royal College of Physicians sought to distinguish between the two and highlight the fact that British women are being treated with a shocking lack of dignity at the very moment when they should be revered. As President of the Royal College of Midwives, Lesley Page said on her opening address: “Birth is a time in a woman’s life when she is at her most vulnerable but has the potential to be at her most powerful. She needs to feel that her needs are uppermost. If you give her sensitive and understanding care, you set her on the path to motherhood with confidence.”

But according to a survey of 1,100 women, conducted by Mumsnet, the research around which the conference hinged, only 50 per cent of women in the UK are getting the birth they want. Twenty-six per cent had no choice about where to give birth and a shocking 24 per cent did not consent to some of the most intimate procedures available to a naked woman (including forceps deliveries, vaginal examinations or cervical sweeps). "

Why half of UK women not getting the birth they want

Blackpool Victoria Hospital

Blackpool Maternity Facilities

Great new that Blackpool Victoria Hospital is seeing a 100% satisfaction rate after the first month of opening.

“That is satisfaction not just from the mothers but from the fathers, grandparents and brothers and sisters. The unit is a fantastic investment to enable staff to promote a positive birth experience and to make sure we provide care to the best of our ability in the best environment to give our babies the best start in life.”
Nicola Parry Head Midwife, Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

45 babies were born between opening in August and 29th September 13.

100% Satisfaction

East Lancashire Hospitals - Formula Milk

East Lancashire Hospitals Axe Formula Milk

From the 1st November 2013, Lancashire NHS Trust will no longer providing formula milk. This will effect Burnley General Hospital and surrounding birth centres. Lancashire NHS will continue to support the neonatal unit and babies at high risk.


"Vanessa Hollings, divisional general manager for family care at the Trust, said: “We are proud to have been ensuring a high standard of care for pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers and babies for the past 15 years.

Research shows breast milk protects babies against stomach bugs, chest infections, asthma and eczema and we are committed to enhancing the feeding experience and the closeness felt between a mum and her baby.

Like all other hospitals, we support the initiation of breastfeeding with all new babies. However, we recognise that some mums, prefer to bottle feed their babies, and we believe that is their maternal choice.

We support all mothers in making their own choice on how they want to feed their babies and provide education and advice on all methods. However, like many other hospital Trusts, we will now be unable to provide formula milk and mothers will need to ensure they bring in their own provision.”

The Trust was recently praised after receiving the Baby Friendly Hospital (BFHI) initiative award for the 15th year, which promotes the importance of the relationship between mums and their newborns. Breastfeeding rates in East Lancashire have risen from 27% in 1998 to 70% in 2013."  Pendle Today

It will be interesting to see if other local hospitals follow suit and whether East Lancashire will continue to see a increase in breastfeeding rates...


Hospitals Axe Fomula Milk


DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor or midwife. This is blog for your interest only and does not give medical advice. If you have any concerns with your pregnancy or birth contact your doctor or midwife.

What is Foetus Ejection Reflex?

Listen to your Instincts (Not the command to push)

The 'foetus ejection reflex' refers to the reflex that animals have when they give birth to their babies in privacy. Away from disturbance, mammals are free to birth without interuption to the natural birthing process. When a Mother feels safe neither hormones or the physical body are disturbed enabling a safe and natural birth.

 This applies to human mothers too!

Pushing?

The foetus ejection reflex may also be refered to as the urge to 'bear down' or 'breathe the baby out' or the 'push!'. In a natural birthing senario, most women don't need to be told to push! The reflex is instinctive. If a woman doesn't have an overwelming urge to bear down, she may find the baby works his way down with each breathe as the uterus eases him down the birth canal.

What exactly is foetus ejection reflex?

Marianne Littlejohn describes "It is a sudden awakening, a series of irresistible and uncontrollable surges of energy that empower the mother into expelling the baby from her womb. It is a spectacular release of birth hormones including adrenalin, oxytocin, endorphins, dopamine, prolactin. The mother most often needs to be upright or bent forwards in some way, needs to pull on a bar or handle(usually her husband!) with her arms. The foetus ejection reflex works best when a mother is safe from prying eyes and interventions, secluded, warm, and feeling held and loved"

The following article by Marianne Littlejohn explains in more detail:

Foetus Ejection Reflex