Birth & Beginnings

13/08/2019

In an editorial in The Lancet's EClinical Medicine, Hannah Dahlen looks at the meta-analysis by Hutton et al (2019), which looked at 14 studies involving around 500,000 women and showed (again) that home and hospital birth are equally safe and that homebirths in well-integrated settings appear to lead to better perinatal outcomes. She then raises an important question: 'Is it time to ask whether facility based birth is safe for low risk women and their babies?'

Dahlen HG (2019). Is it Time to Ask Whether Facility Based Birth is Safe for Low Risk Women and Their Babies? EClinicalMedicine doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2019.08.003

27/06/2019

******TOOLKIT THURSDAY*******

This week's tool is the good old-fashioned face cloth or face cloths really. You will want at least two in your toolkit that way one can be taken to the sink to run under the cold tap while the other is working it's magic cooling Mum on her forehead or across the back of her neck. Some mums will even pop a wet one into the freezer in the weeks before labour so as it will be very very cold for the main event.

According to the Gate Control Theory non painful input closes the nerves (gate) to painful input, which prevents pain sensations from traveling to the central nervous system, just like when you hit your head and then you rub the area. The injury is still there but the brain is focusing on the non painful rubbing action therefore the pain sensation cannot register. Similarly having the cool face cloth ie a pleasant sensation placed upon you can help close the pathways to painful input and help you during your labour. So simple!!

26/06/2019

This isn't groundbreaking for anyone but if your planning to meet your baby a birth must take place & that can be a scary thought! 😬😬 There are so many options and choices to make even before you actually go to meet baby that you can feel frightened or overwhelmed.
An easy step to make your journey a less stressful one is The GentleBirth App.🎧🎧 Created by an Irish trained midwife,its purpose is to help Mums have a better path through pregnancy and birth by retraining the brain. It provides tracks for you to listen to daily that are appropriate for where you are in your journey be that trying to conceive, awaiting a C-section, in hospital awaiting an epidural or even a new Mum at home who needs help to catch her breath and bond with both her new role and her new baby. 🤰🏻👶🏻🤱🏼

The GentleBirth App is available for a 7 day FREE trial so try it out! There's tracks for birth partners too!

20/06/2019

******TOOLKIT THURSDAY*******

The GentleBirth Program is about giving women the tools to have a positive labour and those tools include brain training AND physical comfort measures to help parents cope with actual labour. This week's toolkit addition is the TENS Machine.

A TENS machine is a small battery-operated device that sends mild electrical currents out through leads connected to sticky pads called electrodes. It is a non-envasive method of providing pain relief to women in labour. The electrical impulses flood the nervous system, reducing its ability to transmit pain signals to the spinal cord and brain thus reducing Mums feeling of pain and these same electrical impulses also stimulate the body to produce natural pain relievers called endorphins which is music to a birthing woman's ears!!

It is thought to work best when used from early in labour but is not suitable for showers or birth pools (electricity & water don't mix!!!) From personal experience I enjoyed using my TENS machine right up until I got into the birth pool at CUMH. I found it eased my discomfort and also provided a distraction from the surges especially in the car enroute to hospital. Not all women like the sensations but you just don't know until the time so it's another item to have in your . The up side to TENS is Mum can remove it easily & have no side effects if its not for them.

Mums can rent TENS units from pharmacys or purchase them for around €50. The one thing to be sure you get is a TENS unit with a boost button so you can increase the sensation as you have a surge.

07/06/2019

Fear(n)~ an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm.
The THREAT of, so in fact nothing has actually happened and we are already subjecting ourselves to an Unpleasant Emotion!! Fear is a liar!
Fear is a learned behaviour! We are not born afraid of spiders, clowns or labour but through watching those around us react to these situations we become conditioned to have similar reactions when our time comes.
The media often shows women screaming and laying on their backs begging for epidurals which doesn't exactly instil excitement or confidence but does continue to feed the fear. Our friends & family who suffer in labour strengthen our fear but we can work to change this. Watch positive, calm labours or read positive birth stories to recondition yourself & teach yourself how amazing birth can be. Check out the GentleBirth Facebook group & read all the amazing stories from fast births to inductions to csections you name it someone there has shared it🥰🥰🥰🥰

06/06/2019

Most of us have a 'greatest hits' of negative thoughts about birth...sometimes we don't even notice them...

But when most of the weeks leading up to your EDD feel stressful you can be sure you have a regular playlist happening behind the scenes.

Can you take a moment today and simply sit with your thoughts as an observer - no need to join in, judge or try to push them away... just notice these mental events crossing the screen of your mind and heart.

They are not you....thoughts are not facts. You are so worthy of a loving, joyous positive birth.

03/06/2019

We all want pretty things for our newborn baby and hope that the white noise machine or the fancy rocker will be the magic that gets baby to sleep but a postpartum Doula is trained to help Mums & families with the transition to parenthood and it's a gift worth its weight in gold.

If you don’t know what present to get for soon to be parents, think about it! 😉

16/05/2019

I've been a bit quiet here lately but when I look at my little girl I remember why it is so important to me to help women. I want my daughter to grow up in a world where she feels strong and heard and supported. For me pregnancy & birth are journeys and great opportunities for women to grow. I want to contribute to that experience by helping women to understand birth is a natural process, that it is part of our life cycle & that it does not need to be feared. It can be an enjoyable and positive life altering event and I want to use GentleBirth to help Mums have that.

08/05/2019

And so the unrealistic expectation of new babies and the pressure on New Parents to have sleeping happy babies in 2 and a half days continues!! SIGH!!

Who just sighed at the interview with Harry and Meghan and their new baby when the reporter asked this question?

This is possibly one of the most toxic (and stupid) questions we ask new parents. It sets up incorrect expectations, places undue pressure on the parents and perpetuates myths and misunderstandings about baby sleep.

Babies do NOT sleep 'well' - or correction, babies do not sleep like adults. They are MEANT to wake very regularly (by regularly I mean multiple times per night, hourly waking is not uncommon). They need to feed often, receive bodily contact from their parents (ie hugs) and frequent waking protects them against SIDS. Throughout the whole of the first year (and beyond) night waking is NORMAL. Night waking is common. It categorically does not make a baby 'bad' (I guess this is the presumption of a baby who wakes frequently - if those who don't wake often are considered 'good'?). It is not healthy for a younger baby to get long solid stretches of sleep.

Quite frankly, how a baby sleeps is nobody's business apart from the child's parents. We need to stop being nosy about it. If we must ask anything concerning sleep, it should be "how are you finding the normal frequent wakes? Do you feel you have enough support?". .

Sleeping abnormally does not make a baby 'good'. Sleeping like a normal baby and waking often does not mean they are 'not good' (or by default 'bad'). Similarly labelling a baby as good or bad is ridiculous. It's as unhelpful as labelling a toddler naughty, or easy. All children exhibit a range of behaviour, but they are not their behaviour. They are them. Unique individuals.

We really need to lay off piling on the sleep guilt to new parents. It is no coincidence that 'baby sleep problems' (and associated 'fixes'/consultants/gadgets) are so widespread in modern western culture. In many areas of the world they have no words for 'sleep training' and they don't understand what is meant when asked how their baby sleeps. They report significantly less problems when coping with their baby's sleep. There's no coincidence there!

29/04/2019

Who among us doesn't love food!🤪

If you don't feel like eating when you are in labour then don't do it but if you are hungry please do!! Evidence does not support the idea that food or fluid should be withheld during labour in case a woman might aspirate if she needs an emergency C-section. You are more likely to be struck by lightning!
The Uterus has a lot of work to do to expel baby into the world and over the course of your labour you will need food for energy to fuel your body and keep up the great work you are doing.
We know how important mindset and mood are to labour and we all know how exhausted, overwhelmed & snappy we can be when we are hungry so to help keep the "hangry" at bay, snack throughout the day!
To my mind one of the important things to pack in your labour bag is food/snacks for both Mum & Birth Partner, a busy team needs fueling💖