What to Watch During Pregnancy — Giving Birth with Confidence

I Love Lucy

Everyone has seen, at least some of the I Love Lucy series. The classic TV series was the show to watch in the 1950's. The show broke many social taboo's and pregnancy depicted as normal was one of them. The fact that pregnancy was dealt with at all was new to most viewers and this show was watched by huge audiences.

Today, women have seen birth depicted on almost every media; books, print, movies, personal blogs, websites, etc. But do we really "see" birth? Most women, after having a baby reply, NO. So where can you really learn about birth? Lamaze International Giving Birth with Confidence reported on several films on birth. Check out the blog and order a few films. This blog is wonderful too....


Mama and the Media Part 2: What to Watch During Pregnancy — Giving Birth with Confidence

Celebrate the birth of your children!

Near Argonne Road access to Spokane Centennial trail

I was up in Spokane this weekend. I was attending a workshop on breastfeeding and medications, which was wonderful but I also planned to spend some time with my youngest son and other old friends. Well, it happened to be my oldest sons birthday... sort of. Actually Saturday was the day before his birthday. In the last few years I've made it a point to celebrate the day before my children s birthday, as the day I gave birth.

I always love a walk on The Centennial Trail. My favorite section is off of Argonne Road. I grew up a few miles from the trail head and I always think about my family, especially my dad, as I hear the railroad horns blare.

It's a quiet, peaceful, place and today was just for me. It's good to reflect on your life at special times. Today I remembered the day I gave birth. I was excited mostly. Time went by and the events took care of themselves. It was very hard and I was amazed at how I could manage the contractions, at least early on. The hours continued to go by slowly.

thoughts:

Time to reflect on the changes in my life.

the day my first child was born

Important to you always.

Mark it. Make it special, make sure you tell your best story. what did you learn, who helped you, how did your body respond to the power of birth. Did it rain, was the moon full. what did your baby look like.

Treasure this day. It will be a family story. Make it a gift of love to your child.

Snow surprised us this weekend

Snow surprised us this weekend

This weekend 5 couples joined me in learning about birth. I'm not sure what made this group so special, but it was. I think there is something about focus and the miracle of birth.

We laughed a lot, from the dancing at break, to emphasize movement helps in labor, to the simple wisdom from the dads to be, as they listed the ABC's of labor support.

Maybe it was the spontaneous exchange at another break when it all began with a simple question to our mom to be who has to take insulin for her gestational diabetes. During this brief exchange her partner, gave everyone a brief synopsis of gestational diabetes, why it's important to pay attention to carbs, eating small meals, how it affects the baby, along with the group adding their experiences with having to be tested for gestational diabetes and what they had learned from the nurses or drs. they've met. The mom to be who asked the question and heard from a circle of experience, what was important. I didn't say a word as I quietly observed adult learners who felt safe, respond to a question from their group. Learning that mattered and will be absorbed.

Maybe it was the fun we had in labor stations. The experimenting with positions to find what worked, trying tennis balls in a sock for counter pressure during back labor. Learning about pushing in weird positions and how pulling on a towel will help.

A weekend seminar creates a group with a focus. Make it fun, introduce the key topics in a creative way and let the group work.

As they passed around the googly eyed squishy ball the group identified each of the 6 care practices in responding to "what did you learn".

Is it possible to have the best class ever after teaching for 30yrs? Yes, if it involves families who are beginning their journey into the miracle of birth.

Make the best of what ever life gives you.

The Local Dairy Queen

Now what! I left my ID at home Tuesday evening and I'm unable to get into the building for our childbirth class. I could take the group up to the hospital for the class, but I still didn't have any films or other supplies. I was joined by one of the couples in the class and she laughed and suggested we should just finish the class at the local Dairy Queen about a block away. It was freezing outside and we didn't have a lot of other options. It was our last class and I didn't have a lot planned except car seats, so why not. This was a first though. I've never had class in the Dairy Queen.

We all trouped over to the restaurant and thankfully, the staff was OK with us using the tables in the back. Our group is small, only 4 couples, which also made this option ok.

Car seats, choosing a seat, read the instructions, get your seat checked by a certified technician. I invited the group to come by for an official car seat check at our facility. Car seat checks are offered on Wednesdays and Friday afternoons. Car seats can be complicated but generally once you've gone through a check with a certified technician it makes sense. You can find a certified technician and check facility at the NHTSA site. There are also several other great sites on car seats for families: carseat.org and the manufacturers of seats all have useful information on line.

The last class is important. We need to put the information together. I like to do a labor rehearsal at the last class. This is a review of a typical labor and the couples respond to common situations that might happen. Contractions begin, what do you do? Try to rest, take a walk, find comfortable positions, finish packing your bag. Do something to get your mind off the contractions. Bake cookies, clean, dance, read a book. Let your breathing help you relax. A Long labor, how can your partner help? Be your companion, rub your back, help you get comfortable. Make you a snack. Share this time. Take deep slow breaths. Let your breathing relax you. It's time to go. Your contractions are coming every 5 minutes now and they're lasting at least one minute. You go to the hospital and labor gets harder. Keep moving. Try the birth ball, the rocking chair, the tub. Keep moving, rocking and finding someone to rub your back. It feels good, when you rub my back. You find help from the nurses and your labor continues. Time goes by. What sounds good? A drink of Gatorade, a Popsicle, oh that's wonderful. The evening turns to night, turns to another morning. You find a rhythm, your partner must be tired too, but still at your side, which gives you comfort. The contractions get stronger. You find yourself pushing, the time is finally here, can you do it, yes, finally, with all your effort. Your baby finally is born. Relax and imagine the beautiful baby next to your heart, in your arms now.

Read about normal birth. There are birth stories listed on the side bar to this blog, they will give you an idea of what normal birth is like. Take a few minutes and read some of the the birth stories on the side bar of this blog. Read them to your partner. Think about what you would do as you read the stories.

Nothing really can prepare you for the miracle of birth. A class gives you some information that you can use, questions to ask. Some skills you can try. You will find your way. All of these things will help.

It's only a rehearsal, but the time spent preparing for birth helps you sort out facts and fears. It gives you a chance to learn what happens during labor and birth. It gives your partner a chance to see what happens and how to offer support in labor. You will still have fears. Talk to your partner, your family, your Dr. Birth is a normal event. You can learn about the process. Your body is made to do this. I hope all my students have gotten what they've needed from our Lamaze class. My final words are simply; you will know how to do this and, make the best of what life gives you.

Enjoy this time. You are growing a new life. Take time to be peaceful. Anticipate the joy of meeting this small little person. Prepare simply. Love your baby, sing a lullaby. Soon, very soon, your miracle will be here.

Welcome the miracle of birth

Labour of Love Birth Dance

The new year begins. It's cold outside and the roads are treacherous. We have only a handful of families signed up for classes this month so it looks like we'll try combining the regular 6 week class and the seminar. It's just a reminder to me that birth is all about being flexible. A new year begins with flexibility, perfect.

I had to call all the families this week to confirm a date for our seminar and this gave me a chance to talk to the moms to be and introduce myself and our program. The introduction to a birth class is very important. Our classes at St. Joe's the Lamaze International program. I've been certified in Lamaze for almost 30 yrs. This program offers a scientifically comprehensive, research based, family centered philosophy that is committed to reaching out to all families in the most up to date formats. I love teaching about birth. Pretty simple introduction.

The Lamaze philosophy is just as simple: Birth is normal, natural and healthy. Birth profoundly affects women and their families. We'll be learning about the birth process and how a woman and her support team can fully respond to this amazing miracle. It is a miracle. It will transform you and your birth partners.

Most parents are excited about starting their birth class. They've most likely been reading about birth, asking questions, preparing for their baby in countless ways. Eating better, going to their Dr. or birth midwife. Preparing their home and family for the newborn baby.

I've invited the group to start reading the Lamaze website. The expecting parent section has many helpful articles, online videos to watch, The Giving Birth with Confidence blog, an online magazine and a newsletter to subscribe to, and several articles for fathers to be. I hope everyone will take some time to cruise this great site.

I'll try and post a few blogs before we meet to introduce more information. In fact lets start with this cute You tube video: labour of Love Birth Dance. We're

January 2011 Begins

Welcome 2011

The new year begins. It's cold outside and the roads are treacherous. We have only a handful of families signed up for classes this month so it looks like we'll try combining the regular 6 week class and the seminar. It's just a reminder to me that birth is all about being flexible. A new year begins with flexibility, perfect.

I had to call all the families this week to confirm a date for our seminar and this gave me a chance to talk to the moms to be and introduce myself and our program. The introduction to a birth class is very important. Our classes at St. Joe's are based on the Lamaze International program. I've been certified in Lamaze for almost 30 yrs. This program offers a scientifically comprehensive, research based, family centered philosophy that is committed to reaching out to all families in the most up to date formats. I love teaching about birth. Pretty simple introduction.

The Lamaze philosophy is just as simple: Birth is normal, natural and healthy. Birth profoundly affects women and their families. We'll be learning about the birth process and how a woman and her support team can fully respond to this amazing miracle. It is a miracle. It will transform you and your birth partners.

Most parents are excited about starting their birth class. They've most likely been reading about birth, asking questions, preparing for their baby in countless ways. Eating better, going to their Dr. or birth midwife. Preparing their home and family for the newborn baby.

I've invited the group to start reading the Lamaze website. The expecting parent section has many helpful articles, online videos to watch, The Giving Birth with Confidence blog, an online magazine and a newsletter to subscribe to, and several articles for fathers to be. I hope everyone will take some time to cruise this great site.

I'll try and post a few blogs before we meet to introduce more information. It's sunny and beautiful this New Years Eve day. Lets all great the year and new birth with flexibility and joy.

Becoming Baby Friendly

Our hospital has been exploring the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative. In case you’ve never heard of Baby Friendly Hospital in a nut shell, it is a global “best practice” standard for supporting breastfeeding in the hospital setting. The initiative identifies 10 research based practices that will offer women and babies the best chance to be successful breastfeeding. The 10 steps look fairly simple to the casual observer, but in reality, many hospital struggle. Most of our common newborn care practices, such as formula discharge bags, and early separation of mothers and babies for weighing and baths are not supportive of breastfeeding, deeply entrenched and very difficult to change. There are only 90 hospitals in the US who have achieved the Baby Friendly status and this fact alone makes us ask why?

Breastfeeding is one of the most researched health practices you could find. Every professional organization associated with mothers/infants supports and encourages the 10 steps. The US government CDC (center for disease control) identifies breast feeding as the primary step in ensuring a healthy newborns start in life. What more could you want to answer the question why not. I’ve been aware of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, the first mention of it in 1990 or so. I have only recently taken the process and decided it was doable. First of all I am just beginning to understand how much work is involved. As the lactation nurse in our facility the bulk of the planning and managing this process will be with me and my supporters. I am ready to take on the process. Most hospitals take at least 2 yrs. and as long as 7 yrs. to be ready for the Baby Friendly Hospital organizations examination visit. If you’ve ever been involved with the Joint Commission Certification visit you can expect a similar process, and if you’ve never been part of Joint Commission think of an Internal Revenue Service audit. I do not take this lightly.

The process needs support from all the hospitals staff. I am fine explaining the need for a quality support for a breastfeeding mother/infant to the OB staff I work with but what about the CEO or the head of Radiology or ER? Will I need to have support and help from them, yes. It is called the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, not the Baby Friendly OB dept. A mother needs support from all health professionals she might encounter, from the admission secretary who asks her about her admission to ER for mastitis, to the physician who will prescribe medications she can take while continuing to nurse her baby. We’re all needed in the process. Collaboration is essential to a new family’s success.

Moms and babies appreciate all our help

The science is clear. The perfect start for a human infant, is to nurse from it’s mother. This is not always how things work out for many reasons. We can’t solve all the problems but we can do our best to give families a good start. We need to have help from all of our partners in order to effectively incorporate the 10 steps I had a conversation recently with one of our Drs. about Baby Friendly and how MORE emphasis on breastfeeding would make his job even harder. He sees mothers in the very early post partum period and some of the mothers are miserable,; no sleep, difficulty getting the baby to feed, babies who have lost weight and the mothers feeling guilty. How can we possibly make it even harder for mothers and new families? I let him talk, mostly because I couldn’t get a word in, but he was talking about the problems they see at a critical moment . Our current breastfeeding initiation rate is almost 90%, but quickly drops in the first few months. The statistics also show that the Dr. has identified exactly where we have problems. We can start a family but the real problems come in the first few days and weeks home. Timely support for a mother will help the mothers and physicians too. Our OB department has talked about putting together a lactation clinic but the talk with this Dr. helped me see how important early help would be. If a mother could get help early her success would make the physicians job easier too. This discussion led to our clinic becoming a reality. We invite mothers to return to our clinic for hands on help and include this first visit in their hospital cost. Mothers are encouraged to come for an appointment if they experience difficulty.


In reality, the real cost expense is minimal. In an Economic Cost Analysis (U of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio Janet Williams MD, 2009) This document estimates an increase cost per delivery in the range of 1-5% in the initial year but falling to less than 1.5% in 5 yrs. across all delivery types. The long run benefits to baby friendly includes better patient outcomes, higher patient satisfaction, higher staff satisfaction, and positive community support. Our own data collection can support the investment that we commit to this project.

A major reason hospitals avoid the Baby Friendly process is that it sounds expensive. Why should an institution, in this day of fiscal problems, take on a project like this.? Up front the process identifies a 4 Step process with a total of $6000 in fees. The final step also brings in a two person team of professionals who conduct the review over 2 -3 days. The team is paid for their travel, expenses and time. Generally and additional $2-3,000. In addition, the hospital funds education to staff, the cost of formula, nipples and bottles. The hospital administration must be supportive of this kind of capital expense. Our mother baby staff can easily explain the value of the mother baby bond but we need to explain this expense in a more concrete perspective. Recently, AAP came out with a cost analysis of suboptimal Breastfeeding in the US . They reveal that if 80-90% (our rate of initiation) exclusively nursed for 6 mo. The us could save $13 billion. Our partners in public health can acknowledge the value in increased breastfeeding in just the cost of supplying formula for low income families. The value in a healthier community, especially in low income infants and children is valuable for any community health system. The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative program has research that shows increased initiation and duration with the initiation of the 10 steps. The value of working together to bring better health care to our community from the very beginning of life is worth our best efforts.



By seeking the Baby Friendly designation we commit ourselves to doing our very best that fits our hospital mission of a Christ centered organization, offering compassionate, quality care to all in our community. By becoming A Baby Friendly Hospital we tell our community that the health of our youngest citizens is important and worth our very best. If you want to learn more about the Baby Friendly Initiative go to www.babyfriendlyusa.org.