Baby Switching: Another Reason To Birth At Home

Here's another reason that makes home birth more appealing than hospital birth. There are no other babies present to get mixed up with your own. When the baby gets bathed (preferably by your husband or mother rather than a nurse) your sure to get her back. There's no need for baby identification bracelets at home.

Read this story about two babies switched at birth:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090511/ap_on_re_us/us_switched_at_birth

Join This Group On Facebook: One Million Babies Born Safe At Home

Are you on Facebook? If you are you should join the group, I bet I can find One Million Babies born Safe and Sound At Home!

I just joined and the group has 5, 618 members. But that does not reflect the amount of babies when you consider that I have given birth to 5 babies at home. There are certainly many people who have joined that have had more than one child born safely at home.

This group was created by Julia Wilson of Australia. What a great idea!

Freebirth: Controversial

Mamaroo.com posted an interview entitled, " A Controversial Interview About Freebirth." What I find most interesting about the interview is that the mother gave up the baby that she bore so that it could be adopted.

The mother is pro-choice and may have aborted had she realized that she was pregnant sooner. Since she found out too late for an abortion, she had to decided whether to keep the baby or give it up. She said:

I didn’t decide until I looked into the baby’s face to give him up. I realized that I had created, carried and delivered this tiny, perfect child virtually by myself and it was my responsibility to see that he could have everything the world had to offer. I wasn’t (and still am not) in a place in my life in which I could provide the kind of life that he had deserved.

This reminds me of when I once spoke with a woman who counsels pregnant women considering abortion. She told me of some of the things she says to such women. I recall her telling me how she shares the story of King Solomon and the two women who came to him because they were fighting over one child. One of the women's baby had died and she claimed that the other woman's baby was hers. Both women wanted the child. King Solomon decided he would cut the baby in half that way both women would have the child. But one woman said that she would not allow the baby to be killed, instead she would relinquish it so that it might live. The King new that she was the true mother of the child by her decision.

So this anti-abortion advocate would encourage young women to be like the mother in the story, and to let their child live by giving it to another. Praise God the woman who was interviewed was unable to end her baby's life and that she did the best thing and gave up so that he might be adopted by a couple who will love him and raise him as their own. God bless that baby and his biological mother.

A Home Birth

One of my favorite bloggers just had a baby! Her baby boy was born at home with a midwife in attendance, I believe. She has not posted her birth story yet, but she did share some lovely photos of her baby, Jeshua.

Nurturing Children From Pregnancy Breaks Cycle of Poverty

YahooNews put out this video on one man's mission to cure inner city poverty in Harlem. With three out of four kids being born into poverty and never breaking the cycle inspite of expensive social programs, he realized that efforts to thwart poverty needed to begin with pregnancy.

When his wife became pregnant eleven years ago he realized that children's brains are receptive from birth and parents need to, "put in valuable information," through singing, reading, talking, playing.

One study found that children of upper class parents have heard 30 million words by the age of three, with most of those being positive. For children with parents on welfare they hear only about 10 million words, most of which are harsh and scolding.

Fourth graders whose mothers have graduated from his "Baby College," are testing off the charts. Yay for Gregory Canada and his work helping children in Harlem!

If you want to learn lullabies to sing to your children, visit my other blog: http://singyourfavoritelullaby.blogspot.com

A Missouri Home Birth Doctor Dies At Age 72

STL.com ran an article yesterday about a family practice practitioner who delivered over 5000 babies and was the only home birth doctor in the St. Louis area. Dr. Duhart was the first African-American to graduate from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1970. Read the
article to find out more about his illustrious career. It is just as important to read the touching comments left by many people whom he had serviced in his 38 year practice.

I decided to write a letter to the editor. This is what I wrote:


Reading about Dr. Duhart's death, on 3-20-09, saddened me profoundly. I did not have the honor of ever meeting him, certainly I had never heard of him before. My sadness stems from the understanding that many women will not have someone like him to rely on during their births from now on. Who will replace Dr. Duhart? No one. I'd venture to guess that Dr.Duhart was the only home birth doctor in all of Missouri and many other states as well.

As the mother of 7 who has birthed in the hospital with midwives, at home with a lay midwife and four times at home unassisted, I have first hand knowledge of the desire that many women have to birth their babies in the comfort of thier own home. I am also familiar with the difficulty in finding a care provider willing to assist with home delivery.

Although we chose to birth unassisted, it would have been wonderful to have the option of having Dr. Duhart at any future births if I felt the need to have such assistance. I regret that he did not write a book about his life and experiences. I would love to read more about him. If possible someone should write his biography.

I wonder if any reporter had ever written any articles about him while he was living? This man was a jewel, and his trust in birth should be an example to all of the doctors who want to make home births impossible. It would be wonderful if this story ran nationwide so that other doctors might see that one of their own supported women and their right to choose home birth.

Click here to read about a home birth that Dr. Durhart assisted.

Obesity Linked To Prenatal Fish Consumption

The other day I wrote about how obesity deleteriously affects childbirth. Because of the rising numbers of obese teens, I encouraged mothers to develop in their young daughters the habit of exercising as a means of preventing pregnancy and childbirth problems when they are adults.

Today I came across the results of a study that claims that there is:

a link between obesity in women and pre-natal exposure to toxins found in fish. The study is the first to show that eating fish from polluted waters has an impact on contributing to obesity.

Apparently, the toxin DDT breaks down to DDE and bodies of water are polluted with this chemical. The study stated that, " Offspring from mother's with higher levels of DDE from DDT were more than twenty pounds overweight."

This study was conducted by the University of Michigan and was conducted with women who consumed fish from Lake Michigan.

An Unplanned UC in Singapore

Check out this interesting birth story. It is of an unintentional unassisted home birth. The couple, who live in Singapore, are Christian and were very prayerful throughout the birth. Although they had planned on going to the hospital, they had prepared for a home birth and so were not afraid. This was the birth of their seventh child.

The mother believes the baby was in a posterior position during the labor which made delivery somewhat slow. The following is an excerpt from her birth story:

Although neither of us knew what to do, what was awesome was that I was very calm inside. No fear, no pain. no panic.

Then comes the next awesome part, I felt her turn very slowly. Usually this part happens so fast I don’t feel it but this time I did! I remember yelling at dh, “Don’t pull her!” And he goes, “I’m not doing anything! She’s turning on her own!”

And then there was a pause.

I prayed for contractions to re-start, while dh was praying for Anna to cooperate with my body.

Another Not Politically Incorrect Post: Obesity Affects Pregnancy and Childbirth

I know that I once had happened across a blog whose author staunchly opposes linking childbirth complications to obesity. Unfortunately, I don't recall the name of the blog. Certainly that blogger would take issue with this post of mine. But I feel that I must share my belief on the subject.

In 2007 a study found that in the UK maternal deaths were at a two-decade high. The report stated that:

of the almost 300 women who died during childbirth between 2003 and 2005 from pregnancy-related conditions, more than half were obese.

I have never dealt with weight issues in my life, in part because of diet and exercise, but I am also sure this is due to my metabolism. Although I have not had to deal with weight issues, I have other issues in my life with which I have struggled, like my temper, so I can empathize with those who struggle with predispositions. But just because I have a temper, this does not mean that I can deny that anger is bad for you and has consequences.

I say this to soften the blow of my following statements.

I am concerned for the younger generation of mothers. I see so many teens who are dealing with obesity. I see young girls as overweight as their own mothers, even though they have not yet had any children themselves! What will happen when they begin to have children? How will this affect their pregnancies and births?

As a teen I was involved in sports like track, basketball, powder-puff-football and softball. I was very athletic and fit. I also worked out with weights into my early twenties. My husband, who is a bodybuilder and boxer was attracted to me because of my love for exercise and sports. So I went into motherhood fit and trim. Though I have not worked out regularly in the years since, I have always been active in walking, riding bikes, playing football and other sports with my husband and children, coaching their teams and practicing with them.

Athletes believe in the term "muscle memory." From the website MyFit.ca comes the following explanation of this term:

Muscle memory refers to the accelerated muscle retraining phenomenon when a muscle has been trained, detrained and then retrained again.

How does this apply to you? If you take a long break from working out you will be able to get your muscle back much quicker thank someone who has never worked out before.

I believe that muscle memory has helped me stay fit through the pregnancies and births of my seven children. Exercising as a youth is an important part of women being prepared for their future as mothers and I believe that there is opposition in this world trying to prevent women from having good births. What better way than to have teen girls be inactive, over weight, and even beginning to sow the seeds of illness.

By the time they reach high school, 64% of children are no longer physically active. Why?

Becoming a healthy adult starts with being a healthy child. Many chronic diseases of adulthood have their beginnings in childhood. For example, it is important for kids to build strong bones, so that by the time they’re in their 20s, their peak bone density will be higher and their risk of osteoporosis will be decreased. from: Kids In Motion

Because my husband has lifted weights and been active since he was 12 years old, he and I have always involved our children in sports and exercise. Since we home school we are their coaches and we believe that by encouraging, even forcing them to exercise (when they are being lazy,) we are preparing them for the work they have ahead of them as adults. The boys will need to be fit so that they can work hard to provide for their families and also to be able to run and play with them, too. The girls will have to be prepared to be mothers, to carry and birth their babies as well as tend to their families and also play with them.

The odds of an adult being physically active during free time are greatly increased if they took part in organized sports as a child, according to newly published survey results appearing in the December issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise®, the official scientific journal of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). The results indicate that encouraging participation in youth sports could result in improved health outcomes for the general population. From CollegeSportsScholorships.com

As parents we must encourage our children to be fit. I have found that my children take the most interest in activities that my husband and I participate in with them. I encourage you to exercise not only for your own health, but also for the health of your children and grandchildren.

Have you ever thought that you'd do anything to save your child from harm? Making yourself eat right and exercise is the best thing that any parent can do.

Laborists Step In To Catch Babies for OBGYN's

So have you yet heard of the newest medical term.... A laborist?? Apparently, the new trend in hospital childbirth is going to be having a laborist deliver babies instead of the OB/GYN. This doesn't mean that the OB/GYN is going out of practice. This means that women who visit with their OB/GYN during pregnancy will be delivered by the laborist that is on duty, whoever that may be.

According to the laborist in the following FoxNews clip, pregnant women have little problem with meeting a new doctor while in labor. Funny that most of the women that I have spoken with over the years have never liked the idea of not being deliverd by the doctor of their choice. But then again who am I to judge since I consider an epidural or cesarean as much worse than natural birth, so I guess most women aren't going to care about having a laborist catch their baby.

I think this whole thing is just one more tally on the homebirth vs. hospital birth pro and con list.
What about you?

Birth Pain Doesn't Fade For Some: They Need Solace

FoxNews.com reported the following.... Study: For Some Women, Memory of Childbirth Pain Intensifies Over Time. This study found that based on a woman's birth experience, the pain of birth doesn't necessarily fade over time. Women whose births were positive remember childbirth as less painful five years later, whereas the memories of women who had a negative birth experience did not decline and in some cases they increased.

Researchers also found that women who received an epidural recall birth as more painful than women who did not. With time their memories also declined.

For those women whose pain has not declined or who have experienced greater pain after a painful or traumatic birth, there is a new source of help available. Solace for Mothers is an online resource for the healing of mothers, as well as a resource for spouses, family, friends, birth activists and professionals. The following statement comes from the Solace website (which has been beautifully designed both aesthetically and in its purpose:)

Birth can be beautiful for some women. And for some women, difficult deliveries bring fear, pain, grief, isolation, anger, and shame for months or even years.

Talking by phone to a trained and sympathetic peer counselor can help a mother to come to terms with the feelings and thoughts she is afraid to say aloud to anyone else. Calls are free and confidential. Monthly in-person facilitated support meetings allow women to come together to cry and to laugh. Call 877-SOLACE4 – sharing, understanding, and healing.

Please share this information with those within your sphere.

Ever Thought of Birthing In A Hotel Room?

This is an interesting post. One woman, (who felt her apartment was too small to give birth in,) was recently encouraged by her midwife to give birth in a 5 star hotel. She declined this suggestion for several reasons: 1) germs 2) the 'ruckus' 3) the mess 4) it's too late to change plans since she's 38 weeks.

Of course I had to share with her my viewpoint, as I see things totally different than she is right now. The following are my thoughts:

1) Hospitals are very germy places! So much so that thousands of people die because of the germs they harbor.
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Health/story?id=1213789&page=1

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/07/22/gupta.germs.hiv.otsc/index.html

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/1007/464319_video.html?ref=newsstory

2) As for the "ruckus".... yes, birth can be loud and overwhelming, but my 2 hospital births were louder and more painful than my home births. Why? I was terrified and forced to labor in bed. At my home births I had learned ways to minimize the pain and one of those is NOT lying in bed! I delivered 5 of my seven children at home and all were born out of the bed in various positions. I could share with you other things that I learned to help minimize pain if you'd like.
Also, hotels are pretty well insulated for noise, esp. a 5 star hotel!

3) As for birth being like a 'murder scene' you'd be amazed at how little blood there is generally at a home birth. I have never had any blood get on anything unintentionally, not carpet, blankets or even the bathroom floor! And only one baby was born in the bathtub. I just simply put down a sheet, some chux pads and a towel or two. The pads got thrown away and the towels washed. Simple!

4) As for changing plans this late...A friend of mine went from planning a medicated hospital birth to a medically unassisted birth in the same amount of time. Her birth was wonderful. If it is something that you want or feel led to, you can do it!!!!

5) Your apartment probably isn't too small to give birth in! You'd only have to accomodate you, your man, and the midwife/midwives. As for me I usually labor on the toilet, in the bathtub, or leaning onto a sofa. I only use one or two rooms. And I am sure that if you informed your neighbors of your plans they would be very excited for you. And remember, not all births take place at night! Three of mine happened during the day.