Tag Archives: pregnancy

Doctor or Midwife? Which one is right for you?

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NOTEWORTHY WEDNESDAY!

Midwife or Doctor?

Many pregnant women ask this question and the answer is not an easy one.

Let’s face it, we have all heard the ‘horror story’ labor and delivery tales. They are very frightening to the first time mom-to-be. It is a wonder any woman who has heard one of these stories chooses to get pregnant.

As a former labor and delivery nurse I surely have played a role in someone’s birth story…I hope it was one of the nice ones.

If you are planning to have a baby or are currently pregnant you may be considering going to a midwife for your prenatal care. There are a few things you need to consider;

  • Medical health: how is your general medical health and would you be considered high-risk due some underlying medical condition?
  • Approach: what type of approach do you prefer…are you looking for a practitioner that is more holistic in his/her approach?
  • Personal needs:you will need to know your own individual needs and find a practitioner who is respectful of them.
  • Setting:what kind of setting are you hoping for your labor and delivery…would you consider a birthing center or are you more inclined to want a natural delivery with options, such as epidural anesthesia, that are only available in a hospital?
  • Cost factor: what does your insurance cover … does it cover a birthing center delivery with a nurse mid-wife or a trained mid-wife home delivery.

Practitioner qualifications are sometimes confusing as well:

Obstetricians are generally board certified in obstetrics and gynecology…they are trained to deal with pregnancy, labor and delivery and any complications and emergencies that might occur. Physicians are many times waiting for a disaster to occur which is why they are quick to intervene in many cases. It is simply their focus as physicians and surgeons.

CNMs, (Certified Nurse Midwives) many times work alongside physicians…they tend to take more time with their patients; they are more apt to try measures in labor that will help to avoid use of pain medications and other interventions unless absolutely necessary. That is not to say you cannot find a physician that will do these things also.

Direct-entry midwives..they are not nurses but they are licensed and trained to deliver babies. They do home deliveries as do some CNMs.

Life is full of choices. When you are pregnant choosing the right person to take care of you during your pregnancy is extremely important…you need to feel comfortable, confident and secure in their approach and their qualifications to assist you through a healthy pregnancy and a safe delivery.

 How to find a midwife

  • American College of Nurse-Midwives operates a toll-free hotline (888/MIDWIFE) that lists CNMs in your area. For general information, call 202/728-9860; write to 818 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 900, Washington, DC 20006; or check out the group’s website at www.midwife.org.
  • Maternity Center Association publishes a booklet, Journey to Parenthood($6), with information on choosing a maternity-care provider. Call 212/777-5000 or Write to 281 Park Ave. South, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10010. Visit the MCA website at www.maternity.org.
  • Midwives Alliance of North America can refer you to direct-entry midwives and CNMs in your area. Call 888/923-6262 or Visit their website atwww.mana.org.
  • National Association of Childbearing Centers can provide a list of birth centers in your area, as well as information on how to select a birth center. Send a $1 donation to 3123 Gottschall Rd., Perkiomenville, PA 18074.

Should You Use a Midwife? – Parenting.com.

Doctor or midwife: Which is right for you? | BabyCenter.

http://www.acog.org/About_ACOG/News_Room/News_Releases/2011/The_American_College_of_Obstetricians_and_Gynecologists_Issues_Opinion_on_Planned_Home_Births

Natural Birth in the hospital…

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Natural Birth and Hospital...can you ever have these words in the same sentence??? Can a natural birth be accomplished in a hospital setting?

In some cases, yes…but the key to accomplishing this feat is to “do your homework“. It is up to you to enable a ‘natural birth’ for yourself and your baby.

Whether or not you will be successful will be partly due to your preparation and partly due to your particular labor and your body’s and your fetus’ response to it.

It is my belief as a former Labor and Delivery nurse that every woman’s labor is unique as is their response to it. If you remember this, it will make sense for you to do your birth ‘homework’ because no one knows you like you.

You can use other mom’s experiences to help you plan what you would like your own birth experience to be. Always keep in mind that you are unique and things will happen that may throw your plan off kilter.

Homework Hints for Natural Hospital Birth:

  • Choose your obstetrical care very carefully… remember you should be aware of how your caregivers feel about ‘natural birth’. You will also need to know how their partners feel about it also. Remember to ask about what their hospital offers for women in labor. It will not help if your doctor is okay with tubs and showers during labor if they are not available at the hospital where you will be delivering. Put together a  great team…such as doctor, midwife, doula, coach/support person.
  • Take classes to learn all you can about labor and delivery … a one day class is, in my opinion, not enough…you are on overload by the time it is over. If it is the only option then by all means do it. Try to find classes to accommodate your needs…sometimes there are nurses who will do this privately if that is helpful to you. Remember, you have nine months to get ready use your time wisely and try not to procrastinate.
  • Get a good pregnancy book and use it…read it, dog ear it, discuss it with your partner. Stay away from multiple sources of information that will make you confused. Ask questions of your doctor, midwife and doula…trust them and yourself.

I just finished reading  “Natural Hospital Birth: The Best of Both Worlds” and I loved it! It’s written by medical anthropologist and doula, Cynthia Gabriel and it’s solidly helpful for women hoping for this kind of birth.

Home birth is not for everyone for a whole host of reasons, but some women feel they’d like to have something close to it in a hospital setting. And for those women there are strategies. This book is dedicated to that concept.

via 7 Tips for Having a Natural Hospital Birth | Being Pregnant. by Ceridwen

“Performance Artist Births a Healthy Boy in a Brooklyn Gallery, as Planned | Being Pregnant”

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A Brooklyn Gallery was the chosen “birthing center” for this performance artist. It seems that the mom, who is an artist, delivered her son in the Gallery where she set up a birthing space similar to a home setting. It was her first baby and it seems that all went well with her labor and delivery.

As a maternal child nurse, I am always amazed when a woman chooses to deliver at home…because of my medical experience…I am afraid of “home births” no matter how well attended and how well planned they are.

But I do respect a mother’s choice…I recommend seeking an excellent support system and preparing a viable back-up plan should the unforeseen happen.

I am reserving my thoughts about the Brooklyn Gallery birth and whether or not it is life as art…I do find it fascinating that a woman would choose to share her experience in this way.

I never consciously thought about the art of birthing when I was assisting moms during labor and delivery…although I was always conscious that nursing care was an art and a science.

For me as a nurse, being present and assisting in the delivery of a baby was no less than a miracle each and every time.

I hope that those who see this exhibit in Brooklyn experience a little of that feeling.

The performance artist Marni Kotak gave birth to healthy 9 pound baby boy, Ajax, in front of a gallery audience yesterday.

via Performance Artist Births a Healthy Boy in a Brooklyn Gallery, as Planned | Being Pregnant.

Giuliana Rancic battles breast cancer…

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Giuliana Rancic has chronicled her attempts to get pregnant on her reality show, Giuliana & Bill, with husband Bill Rancic. Two in vitro fertilization treatments failed. On the season finale, they decided to try again.

via Giuliana Rancic reveals she’s battling breast cancer.

Since I am a women’s advocate and nurse specialist I wanted to include this news about Giuliana Rancic.

She has been attempting to get pregnant through in vitro fertilization which requires a woman to receive hormones to mature her eggs in order for them to be harvested during the first process of in-vitro fertilization procedure.

These hormones can encourage the development of breast cancer…they do not necessarily cause breast cancer but if a cancer is lurking around, hormones may give it the necessary hormonal support that it needs to surface.

It is very lucky for Giuliana that her doctor insisted that she have a mammogram prior to further in-vitro procedures.

I wish her well in her battle with breast cancer…she caught it early and seems to have good support and a hopeful attitude towards her complete recovery.

Women seeking to become pregnant should always make sure that they are taking care of themselves by having routine mammograms, continuing to perform breast self exams and preparing themselves physically for becoming pregnant…this is even more important if a woman is receiving hormone treatment to encourage pregnancy.

The 6 Best Baby Care Books

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NOTEWORTHY WEDNESDAY!

“SECOND ADDITION”

Back in the day, an extended family of wise women would be around to reassure parents about weird gurgling noises, breastfeeding “latch,” and infant acne. But for most modern Americans, that wise old aunty comes in the form of a big fat baby book.

But which one? There are a lot out out there, but the 6 I’ve picked here will teach you what basic  things there are to know about babies and how to keep them safe, healthy and relatively happy.

via The 6 Best Baby Care Books | Being Pregnant.

It is often said that our children do not come with “owner’s manuals” like the ones we get when we bring home a new car.

In a way, this is a good thing but where do we go when we really need answers?

The internet…Barnes and Noble…or to our cellphone to call an experienced friend or better yet the pediatrician.

If you are looking for books on parenting here are a few of the best ones out there …already reviewed and recommended.

My personal choices include these plus….The Happiest Baby on the Block and The Happiest Toddler on the Block…both by Dr.Harvey Karp.

New parents and not so new parents… this one is for you.

Happy reading…

Dental health and pregnancy…

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This is an interesting finding…many of us neglect our oral health. It is important to see a dentist regularly as the mouth is a source of many systemic infections.

So if you are trying to get pregnant make sure you also see your dentist.

 

Study of 3416 pregnant Australian women

Women with gum disease took longer to get pregnant

Dental hygiene just part of “whole package of healthy lifestyle”

WOMEN who wish to fall pregnant should be advised to brush their teeth and floss regularly as gum disease affects chances of conception, a fertility conference in Stockholm was told.

Periodontal disease can delay the time it takes to conceive by two months on average, an effect similar to that of obesity in women, the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) heard today at its annual meeting.

via Brush, floss if you want to get pregnant, Stockholm fertility conference told | News.com.au.

Prenatal vitamins and autism risk…

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FROM NEWS MOMS NEED:via The March of Dimes

Prenatal vitamins and autism risk

Use of prenatal vitamins before pregnancy and during the first month after conception may significantly reduce the risk of having a child with autism, according to a new study.

Researchers of the UC Davis MIND Institute interviewed approximately 700 families in California who have children aged 2-5 years who have been diagnosed with autism. They found that mothers who took the prenatal vitamins for three months before pregnancy or during the first month of pregnancy were only half as likely to have a child with autism as those who didn’t take them. For mothers who began taking them in the second month of pregnancy, there was no effect, however. This suggests that by the time most women learn they are pregnant, beginning to take the vitamins will provide little or no benefit in terms of autism. This underlines the importance of women taking prenatal vitamins when they’re just thinking about having a baby.

These findings appear to be especially relevant for genetically susceptible mothers and children. The study found an increased risk for women who had one of two particular gene mutations (MTHFR or COMT) who did not take prenatal vitamins early on (4.2 and 7.5 times greater risk, respectively)

This study, soon to be published in the July issue of the journal Epidemiology, is the first to report such findings. While the report is quite promising, further research is needed to confirm the results.

Tags: autism, COMT, MTHFR, prenatal vitamin

via News Moms Need » Blog Archive » Prenatal vitamins and autism risk.

Pregnancy, Exercise and Heart Health

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NOTEWORTHY WEDNESDAY!

“Now, new research suggests that the bond may be stronger than had been suspected. When you exercise during pregnancy, your baby is not, as most of us would have thought, a passive, floating passenger and ballast on the bladder. Instead, he or she may be actively joining in the workout, with the fetal cardiac system growing stronger and healthier as a result of the workouts.”

This is such important information…when a pregnant woman exercises it is beneficial to her fetus. Although this seems to be something that we should just assume to be true when it comes to health it needs to be proven. Now it is!

“Unborn children, as it turned out, did exhibit a training response, even though their mothers were seemingly doing all of the work. When Dr. May examined the fetal cardiac readings, in an earlier report published last year, she found that fetuses whose mothers had exercised showed lower heart rates and greater heart-rate variability than those whose mothers had not worked out.”

So there should be no excuses for us not to exercise when we are pregnant. If we want to be healthy and we want our fetus to be healthy then exercise should be included in prenatal care just like healthy eating and going to prenatal check-ups.

The exercise that we do during pregnancy seems to have healthy effects that last and are detectable in the newborn.

“The babies born to exercising mothers continued to have lower heart rates and greater heart-rate variability four weeks after delivery than the babies born to the other women. The effect was especially robust in the children whose mothers had exercised the most, Dr. May said; they had the slowest heart rates and presumably the strongest hearts.”

There is no excuse…we must find time to exercise when pregnant for the health of the fetus and the newborn.

The jury is still out as to whether these healthy findings will continue into toddlerhood and thereafter.

via Phys Ed: Pregnancy, Exercise and Heart Health – NYTimes.com.

Keep your fruits and veggies healthy…

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From your friends at the MARCH OF DIMES

Wash your fruits and veggies

When I was pregnant, I couldn’t seem to get enough eggplant. Whether it was sautéed, grilled, roasted or breaded, I had to have it! And since eggplant falls into the veggies section of the food pyramid, I often indulged my craving. When preparing veggies or fruits, be sure to wash them thoroughly.

Recent studies in Environmental Health Perspectives found that for some pregnant women, being in contact with pesticides during pregnancy may affect their baby’s brain development in childhood. Pesticides are sometimes used on crops to protect them from insects and other organisms. Pesticides can be found in soil or on certain foods like fresh fruits and veggies.

However, don’t shy away from fruits and veggies!  It’s important to get plenty of veggies and a fruits in your meals, especially if you’re pregnant. If you’re concerned about the pesticides on your fruits and veggies, just be sure to clean them well before eating or cooking, even if you plan on peeling the food. If you prefer to buy organic, that’s fine, too.

Tags: Baby, environmental exposures, healthy diet, healthy eating, pesticides, Pregnancy

via News Moms Need » Blog Archive » Wash your fruits and veggies.