Another reason to seek the services of a birth doula to help avoid an epidural and why I am an aspiring herbalist.  One of the speakers at the Autism One Conference, Elaine DeLack, RN spoke on her hypothesis of the originating cause of autism.  One of the causes she believes is an epidural with pitocen during childbirth.  She theorizes this causes a change in the baby’s brain chemistry which later manifests itself during the natural changes of the child’s brain.  Here is an article explaining this more in depth.

Here is the synopsis of her lecture from the Autism One website:

“This presentation will explain how the metabolic imbalances, gastric problems, and core symptoms of autism may be the result of a malfunction of the mitochondrial enzyme, MAO-A. The presentation will discuss how stress, genetics, epidurals with Pitocin (oxytocin) augmentation during childbirth, toxins such as mercury, aluminum, high copper and cadmium are possible risk factors contributing to the overall symptoms resulting from the MAO-A deficiency. This science provides the rationale unifying the benefits seen from various therapies such as the gluten-free and casein-free diet, hyperbaric oxygen, methylcobalamin and Respen-A.”

I find this very fascinating and hope to see more concrete research in the near future.  Maybe this is the breakthrough that is needed to really understand this mysterious diagnosis and help families before their child starts showing signs.

As women we have fought for choice, we have fought for options with our lives, and we have fought for our voice to be heard.  What happened with childbirth?  It seems we have gone backwards.  We accept what the doctor says without exploring all our options, we suffer good patient syndrome,  and we lay on our backs to push because that’s what everyone else does.  It is time we take back our power over childbirth.  We are women of strength, and we are amazing! We need to give ourselves more credit! You really CAN do it with no epidural, I promise.

It saddens me that our c-section rate is going up and women don’t get that amazing pride of pushing out their baby. We have fought for the right to choice.  We so easily give up that choice to our care provider.  We have fought for options, however, we don’t explore them when it comes to having a baby.  If you are pregnant, research all of your options.   If your doctor tells you something and it doesn’t make sense, ask why.  If the doctor is concerned about something, go home,  do some research about it (unless of course it is life threatening to you or your baby), and find other women who have had the same experience.

For birth, the easiest way is to hire a doula.  If you can’t or don’t want to, do some research on different positions to labor and push in. The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin is well worth the investment!  If there is one book to get for pregnancy, find this one.  It’s a great conversation starter for your partner to help prepare him too. When you are in the midst of labor, you are more emotional and less analytical. Make sure you have a simple birth plan so the staff knows your wishes. Discuss your wishes with those who will be in the birthing room so they can speak up for you if need be and if there is a complication, they can rationally help you think through it.

Here is a post I did awhile back about advocating for yourself

Remember, if you choose a natural birth, when you start asking for drugs, you are in transition and pushing will commence shortly so hold on because you are almost there.

This is the U.S. Department of Defense’s guide on emergency childbirth. I think if doctors adhered to this, there would be many changes in our world; the US rate for maternal deaths during childbirth would decrees instead of increase, it would save some serious dough for the insurance companies who would pass along those savings, there would be many more women confident with their body, and interventions would be kept to a minimum.

Emergency Childbirth

A Reference Guide for Students

Medical Self-Help Training Course

Lesson No. 11

Emergency Childbirth

What To Do

1. Let nature be your best helper. Childbirth is a very natural act.

2. At first signs of labor assign the best qualified person to remain with mother.

3. Be calm; reassure mother.

4. Place mother and attendant in the most protected place in the shelter.

5. Keep children and others away.

6. Keep hands as clean as possible

7. Keep hands away from birth canal

8. See the babybr! eathes well.

9. Place the baby face down across the mother’s abdomen.

10. Keep baby warm.

11. Wrap afterbirth with baby.

12. Keep baby with mother constantly.

13. Make mother as comfortable as possible.

14. Identify baby.

What Not To Do

1. DO NOT hurry.

2. DO NOT pull on baby, let baby be born naturally.

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3. DO NOT pull on the cord, let the placenta (afterbirth) come naturally.

4. DO NOT cut and tie the cord until the baby AND the afterbirth have been delivered.

5. DO NOT give medication.

DO NOT HURRY – LET NATURE TAKE HER COURSE.

{emphasis is not mine – I copied this exactly as written}

During labor it can be hard to relax. It is painful and our natural instinct is to tense our bodies. This tension can have a very negative effect. When we experience pain and allow it to bring fear, our fear brings tension which creates more pain. It is a cycle created by Grantley Dick-Read to explain how emotional responses contribute to pain. The opposite can be true too. When we experience pain if we can manage our fear, our tension is reduced, and we will experience less pain.

With fear, our fight or flight response is activated. The adrenaline our body releases begins to give our limbs more of the blood supply which takes away that blood supply from our internal organs (i.e. where baby has taken up temporary residence). Also, our bodies produce epinephrine. This causes the the muscles near the cervix to tighten which prevents the cervix from dilating. Back when we were cave women, this would be useful. The body naturally sought out a quiet, safe place to birth the baby. When that safety was threatened, we needed to find another safe place to birth our baby.

Skip ahead to modern day. Stop and think what this could do to your labor. What happens when the cervix doesn’t dilate? It can make the labor process take more time or cause doctors to intervene. The doctor may give pitocen to speed things up, he may even send you home saying labor hasn’t progressed far enough. Sometimes the doctor may say we have stalled and we are rushed in for a cesarean surgery. If there isn’t enough time for an epidural to take effect, the anestheologist would then knock us out. How would that make you feel if you didn’t hear your baby’s first cry?

This is the sad truth for some women. It can also have long lasting negative feelings in the new mommy. Sounds like a rotten way to begin motherhood, huh? It is incredibly important to have a support team you trust. If there is a particular aspect of childbirth that you fear, seek out evidence based information. Knowledge IS power. Oh, and hire a doula (my shameless plug). A good doula is well worth the money!

After any major event, it is good for us to stop and reflect on what took place, how we feel about it, and what we can learn from it. Childbirth is definitely a major event! Many women years later are still very emotional about all that took place (good and bad). For some the experience is a dream, however, for many there are parts that didn’t go so great. We know when we have moved passed a negative event when we can recall the event with calm emotion. Reflecting is a great way to sort through the positive and negative emotions, as well as learn the lessons we are being taught. It is only when we learn the lessons life offers that we get to move through onto a greater awareness and new experiences. If we don’t stop to learn what life teaches, we will be caught in the same cycle until we do. It may manifest itself in a different way, nonetheless, the essence of the lesson will be there waiting for our discovery. Let’s celebrate the positive and digest the negative of this life changing moment.

Describe the experience (factually, no emotions).
It helps to stand back as if just an observer. Pretend you are a “fly on the wall”. Be as
unbiased and objective as possible.
What was the succession of events?
Where were you?
Who was there?
Are there parts you don’t remember or are hazy?
What were people saying?
What thoughts went through your head?
Now, add in the feelings.
What were your different feelings through the whole experience? Why?
What was your partner feeling?
How did you know the feelings of those around you?
How was your body feeling? Was it tense and stressed? Was it relaxed and calm?
Reflection.
Why did you act as you did?
What alternative choices could you have made? What could the outcome have
been?
Were your goals and expectations met? Why or why not.
What was good and bad about the experience?
What were your assumptions at the beginning? Did they help or hinder you?
What internal/external factors influenced your decision making and actions?
Your new insight and learning.
How will this experience affect future choices?
What did you learn about yourself?
What did you learn about those around you?
Have your assumptions changed? Why or why not.
If the situation arises again, what would you do differently?
Share what you have learned with a close friend and be proud of your accomplishments!

Anchoring

Step 1
Think about how you want to feel when you’re birthing your baby, perhaps one of relaxation, feeling in control, or confidence?

Step 2
Now think about a time when you experienced those feelings, bring that moment clear into your mind and everything about that moment. What could you see, what could you feel, smell, taste, really use all of your senses to bring back that memory as vividly as possible.

Step 3
Anchor that feeling either by pressing your thumb and forefinger together, or by associating it to specific music or a specific picture.

Step 4
Repeat this process and each time experience the feeling more vividly and use the same anchor.

Step 5
During birth, or whenever you want to experience that feeling again, use the anchor and those feelings will wash over you.

To ensure they continue to be effective, anchors need to be distinctive, unique, intense and reinforced.

Remember that all of these techniques are not only useful during pregnancy and birth, but also when looking after your baby as well as passing these skills and techniques on to them as they grow up.

There are many more techniques out there which can be learned, if you are interested in an NLP course then contact the original Society of NLP which was founded by Richard Bandler. You can find courses and seminars on this website: www.purenlp.com

Juliet is the founder of the “Natural Birth | Birthdownload” website and the creator of the antenatal programme The Psychology of Giving Birth. You can also follow her on Twitter.

We always see celebrities as better than us in some way.  I always try to humanize them in my own mind.  I think childbirth is the great equalizer.  Yea, maybe they can afford better surroundings or the best doctor out there.  When it comes down to it, it is still a painful process and there is always a time of healing and adjusting to a new baby.

The good lookin’ Kim Kardashian had her her first little one on the 14th.  He weighed in at 7lbs 6oz and was 19 1/2 in long.  His name is Mason Dash.  It is nice to see a celebrity name their baby something down to earth.  I bet he is going to be one handsome little man!