“Too Posh to Push”  Time Magazine, The Australian and Fox News

“Natural Childbirth Mom’s more attuned to babies’ cry”  US News and ABC News

“Orgasmic Birth”  Sydney Morning Herald, USA Today and ABC 20-20

These headlines are truly shocking! Do they help expectant mothers cope better with their birth preparation, or just cause unnecessary anxiety and stress? I am mother of 2, a midwife of 9 years, an internationally board certified lactation consultant and a passionate advocate for Natural Childbirth.  I continually see women on a daily basis have a poor birthing experience and as a midwife I know that they could have used simple, natural options to make their birth experience one of fulfillment and joy.

Reflecting on the headlines, “Orgasmic Birth”, what does this say?  While possible, the last thing a woman expects to experience during childbirth is an orgasm. She is at her wits end dealing with pain, discomfort and the impending marathon that is childbirth…..and now she hears women are having orgasms! I know this film is about choice and showing how a group of women give birth, but again, the headline gives women more pressure and expectation.

When is it enough?  Why can’t we just give women some real and proven options to have a natural childbirth, rather than pressure?  This is my mission in life, to give women choice and educate them on the wonders of childbirth so they can work with their body and their baby. 

2009 is The Year of Hopefulness as mentioned by OPRAH, so how about we give women hope rather then fear and expectation.  With all the choices available to them, women can create an atmosphere that is positive and allow their confidence to shine.

I have endeavored to help women around the world gain the confidence back in their bodies.  I have interviewed 7 of the worlds leading authorities on natural childbirth techniques such as Acupressure, Acupuncture, Hypnobirthing, Reflexology, The Bradley Method and many more. 

In the 7 part natural childbirth series the experts have opened women’s minds to a new world of possibilities and options they may not have heard before.  Natural childbirth will become more about choosing what type of method works for them rather than just choosing whether to have a cesarean section or not.  Most women will enter into their birth journey with the pretense of ‘trying not to have drugs’, this is all well and good, however, ending up with a fulfilling natural birth is rare.  Women need to plan for their birth and equip themselves with knowledge of how their bodies work, how to work with their body and baby and have complete faith that their body was made to birth.

This new interview series is available online as a complete audio download from www.child-birth-options.com.  A transcript of the interviews is also available as well as a comprehensive birthing plan, an easy to follow exercise and stretching regime, a  breastfeeding survival book and great links to natural childbirth videos.

My aim is to try and change the perception of how woman view birth and hopefully influence the birthing statistics.  After all the choice isn’t between natural childbirth or cesarean section…..it is all about informing women and nurturing their skills and confidence to have a fearless childbirth that will permanently bond them with their child and partner.

I just want to leave you with one thought:

"Why avoid medications and take such good care of our

Body’s all through pregnancy only to pump it full of drugs for the last few hours?"

Take Care,

Loretta

What’s the Rush?  We live in a society that wants everything NOW, even our babies!  Can we slow down and really feel what pregnancy and birth is all about?  I hope we can and I hope this article makes you think about how you want your birth to be.  There are so many options for women to help have a Natural Birth, so many experts out there to help and so many women who have amazing insights to share.

In an attempt to see our baby sooner, the word "induction", is thrown around like it is part of birth and the birth process.  Induction is not a word that should be used in everyday conversation with pregnant women!  Induction should only be used if medically indicated and not for social reasons…………………..when are we going to understand this!!  Natural Birth is such an amazing event and it cannot be achieved if labor is artificially started.

Let us stop and think for a moment, why can’t we just wait for our precious child to enter the world when they are ready, honestly What is the Rush!  Many doctors offer induction like offering a piece of cake with your coffee! It is ridiculous………..as women we need to take a stand and say no to induction unless there is truly a medical problem.

Induction is the start of a whole cascade of intervention. Let me take you through a typical induction of labor that I witness day in day out in the birth suite. A woman is brought into the birth suite at 38 weeks for a "social induction", which is basically being induced for a reason that is not needed.  The woman either has gel placed in her cervix until it is open enough for the waters to be broken or if the cervix is open then the waters are broken then and there.  The gel may take 24 hours to work with a new application done ever 6 hours.  Once the waters are broken an IV is inserted and an artificial hormone is commenced to make your uterus contract.  At this time continuous fetal monitoring is necessary so your baby does not get distressed with the force of the artificial contractions!!  This medication causes contractions to start strongly rather than the gradual build up of natural contractions during Natural Birth.  The strong contractions are hard to take due to the immediate start of them; therefore, pain relief is usually needed in the form of narcotics and epidurals.  So you can see how one event leads to another and another and before you know it, your birth is totally taken over by a medical team and you are left feeling empty and alone.  I haven’t even mentioned the baby and how the baby copes with these forced events.  Some narcotics such as pethidine stay in your baby’s system for up to 2 weeks and effects your baby’s sucking ability.

Please look at all the Natural Birth Methods available and educate yourself on how to have a natural birth.  I have interviewed 7 experts on natural birth for all women to listen to and learn from.  These women are amazing and discuss such Natural Birth Methods as Hypnobirthing, Lamaze, The Bradley Method, Acupressure, Physical Therapy and Water birth.  If you want to have a listen then get your free grab by signing up to my blog and hear Barbara Harper talking about how women can have an orgasmic birth, why not enjoy rather than endure!  My blog is www.naturalbirthplan.com.  My eBook, which is the interviews, is available from this link  www.child-birth-options.  Take a look and remember to plan your birth as you would any major event in your life…………….no wait, it is THE major event in our lives, so plan well and enjoy your pregnancy and birth……….don’t rush nature.

Take care,

Loretta

Hi guys,

Just stumbled across this article from Texas, USA about a Natural Birthing Center that offers waterbirth in a Jacuzzi.  The article discusses the birthing centre that is within a clinic set up for services towards women.  A doctor by the name of Quezada, founded the centre which is called Primera Luz (which means "first light" in Spanish). It caters to women of all ages, ethnicities and economic status - and gives those women more of a voice in the health care they receive.  "We want to give them more of a choice. As opposed to ‘Do this,’ we give them options," Dr Quezada said.

This is fantastic to see that women all over the world are given the option of having a great natural childbirth.  Well done and good luck.

Below is a little snippet of the article or click on the link to read the whole article.

The natural birthing center consists of five suites named after pioneering women such as Rosa Parks and Frida Kahlo. They resemble luxury hotel rooms - with upscale decor, large beds, flat-screen TVs, DVDs and jacuzzis.

But the hot tubs are used for delivering babies, not the honeymoons that in some cases helped create them.

"In this day and age, most physicians tend not to put in the time for a natural vaginal delivery. Most of them push C-sections," said Norma Vasquez, a former Planned Parenthood staffer who is Primera Luz’s administrator. "Some women don’t get a choice. But that’s one of the big missions of Dr. Quezada is to give them a choice."

It’s a choice that Andrea Hernandez, 27, has made twice. Daughter Rory was born there 18 months ago, and daughter Lorelai, five months ago. Rory was born on a bed, Lorelai in the water.

"I knew it would hurt, but if I had them in the hospital, drugs would have been an option," Hernandez said. She didn’t want that. "I knew it was better for them (to do it naturally). That’s a benefit. And I figured that millions of women have done it before me."

http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_10463686

There are misconceptions surrounding the idea of “natural birth”. The definition of a natural birth is when a woman delivers a baby without drugs. She uses her own body’s systems and hormones to cope with the pain of childbirth, and the delivery is a vaginal birth rather than a cesarean delivery.

When we are talking about a drug induced, or medicated birth, it is one that the woman uses whatever means available to her, including epidural or pethidine to help with the pain of childbirth and to numb those pains.

In previous years, many women elected to have natural births; but we are currently moving down a track of intervention which starts with medication for pain relief. The statistics show that in Australia and overseas, women enter the hospital system to give birth and are almost immediately provided with drugs and interventions throughout the birthing process. We’d like to help make people aware that you don’t have to go down that path, and you can take measures to deliver your baby through a natural birth within the traditional hospital setting.

Women are typically not educated enough on their options, or what happens when they ask for medication to help with the pain of childbirth. Many women don’t realize that if they start using medication, it will almost always lead to needing more interventions – like medication to help bring the labor on again because labor is often stalled when pain relieving drugs are used. Some medications can cause distress for the baby, and then you may find you need a cesarean or forceps delivery – which possibly could have been avoided if there wasn’t any medical intervention in the first place.

So women need to be educated on the choices of what they can do, and what drugs actually do during your labor. It interferes with the natural process that women are designed to do. So it’s our goal to help education women, so they can go in and cope with labor better without having to use the drugs. That’s not to say that there are never instances when drugs become necessary – but it should be seen as a last resort rather than the standard process of admitting a woman who is in labor.

There are a variety of natural birthing methods recognized and registered as “natural birthing methods”. One of the more common natural birthing methods is called hypno-birthing. Hypno-birthing is basically a relaxation technique that has been proven to work during the childbirth process.

When a woman is giving birth using the hypno-birthing method, she has learned to relax herself and her body, and to let go of the fear to allow your body to do what it’s supposed to do. Your body knows instinctively what to do during the childbirth process, but fear often will prevent it from working properly. Using hypno-birthing, women start labor in a better mindset, the labor is quicker and not as painful.

Hypno-birthing was actually started by a woman in the US, and it’s a registered natural birthing method. So you join a short course to learn the techniques, and the person that is teaching you is accredited in this form of teaching. And basically they are going to teach you how to breath differently and how to relax your body so much that you are focused on your own contractions and helping your body, rather than thinking, “I can’t do this, I can’t do this.” So it’s all to do with just releasing that fear, and learning strategies to release that fear and implementing relaxation strategies while you are having your contractions.

There are other natural birthing methods as well, that you can educate yourself on either through the internet or by taking courses. The Bradley method also teaches you about relaxation, but incorporates the partner into it. The partner helps keep the woman relaxed as well, because if the partner is stressed out when their loved one is in pain, it doesn’t help the situation any. So by including the husbands or partners, you can help influence and support the labor process.

Lamaze is a well-known natural birthing method, and is a breathing strategy used primarily in the US. Some other methods use acupressure with pressure points on the feet that are supposed to help you cope with pain. Reflexology, water birth, physical therapy are becoming more common. Active birth is when the woman uses various positioning to help the birthing process.