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Choosing the Best Birth Environment

admin — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 17:45:18 +0000

Your choice of birth environment is the first decision you make that determines your pain-relief options. If you know you want to use modern medical pain-relief methods, you will need to select a birth environment that can accommodate these preferences. If you are leaning more toward a natural childbirth, but would like to keep your options open, you may want to be in a birth environment that offers not only nonmedical forms of pain relief but also allows accessibility to medical pain relief, should you change your mind during labor. If you are committed to using no medical pain-relief options and do not want to be in an environment where they are frequently used, you will need to choose a birth environment that has both the physical amenities and supportive caregivers you will need to successfully give birth free of any medications, using complementary and alternative pain-management techniques.

The staff of caregivers available to you during labor and birth can also directly impact your pain-relief options. For instance, if you think you prefer to use an epidural but are in a hospital where the only anesthesiologist is on another unit at the time when you are in need of pain relief, this can significantly impact your birth experience. Conversely, if you prefer to delay or avoid the use of medications, a busy hospital with a high percentage of epidural usage may not be the ideal environment for you to achieve this goal.

Pharmacologic methods (medications) should never replace personal attention and tender loving care of the woman in labor.1

Your birth environment and the people caring for you during your labor and delivery can dramatically impact how you will perceive your childbirth experience. By choosing the type of birth environment best for you, you are more likely to feel relaxed and comfortable when you arrive and throughout the rest of your labor and birth. If you are giving birth in the setting you desire, surrounded by people who are able to meet your needs, including your pain-management needs, you are more likely to have a satisfying “birth day.”

In this chapter we:

List the most common birth environments.

Describe what each has to offer with regard to pain-relief options.

Provide a description of the various professionals who may (or may not) be with you during labor and birth.

Provide an at-a-glance comparison between hospitals and birth centers.HospitalsMost women in the United States (approximately 98 percent) give birth in a hospital. But all hospitals are not alike, and maternity units vary greatly from hospital to hospital. In addition, the size of the hospital and its maternity unit can impact the type of birth experience you have.Reasons You May Want to Have Your Baby in a Hospital

You want to be in a place where all or most medical pain-relief options will be available to you.

You want to give birth in a setting that has equipment and staff ready to deal with an unlikely emergency.

You feel more confident in a birth environment surrounded by a variety of medical professionals.

You want a two-to four-day recovery period before returning home with your new baby.Larger hospitals typically offer more medical pain-management options than are found in smaller (community) hospitals. Larger hospitals are more likely to have an in-house, around-the-clock anesthesiology staff readily available if you are in need of an epidural. Often, these larger hospitals have anesthesiologists who are assigned specifically to the maternity unit. This reduces the likelihood of delays for women in need of pain relief that must be given by the anesthesiologist.Smaller hospitals may not have as many medical pain-relief options and may not offer epidurals twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. If they have a limited anesthesia staff, some smaller hospitals may not offer epidurals at all. On the other hand, many of these small hospitals, as a result of not having as much “high-tech” pain relief to offer, often have staff and equipment that can successfully support the mom who prefers to use fewer or no medications throughout labor and birth. So, depending upon your own preferences, either of these settings may be right for you. But, clearly, if you desire the full-throttle pain relief of an epidural, you are more likely to find this type of pain management taking place in larger hospitals with busier maternity units.Size of Hospital Maternity Unit and Their Epidural and Combined Spinal-Epidural Rates:

In hospitals that deliver fifteen hundred or more babies per year, 69% of women use an epidural or a combined spinal-epidural.

In hospitals that deliver five hundred to fifteen hundred babies per year, 50% of women use an epidural or a combined spinal-epidural.

In hospitals that deliver less than five hundred babies per year, 40% of women use an epidural or combined spinal-epidral.2Hospitals of all sizes are increasingly responding to women’s requests for more pain-management options, including baths, showers, the use of birth balls, and the promotion of movement and positioning during labor and birth. More hospitals are encouraging, or at the very least accepting, women’s choice to use doulas (described in this chapter) as their primary support people during their labor and birth.Many hospitals throughout the country have made their birthing rooms more appealing and homelike, with the goal of helping women feel relaxed and comfortable in the unfamiliar and sometimes intimidating surroundings of a clinical setting. Even with these changes, the hospital stay (which, for most women, is their very first hospital stay) can make you feel like, well, like you’re in a hospital! Many caregivers recommend you bring your own homelike objects of comfort that will promote a sense of familiarity and relaxation in an otherwise unfamiliar setting. You may want to bring your favorite pillow, fragrance, photos, and a radio or CD player to listen to your favorite music. If you feel more comfy in your own clothing, let the hospital staff know you would like to wear your own threads instead of their hospital gown.Two more factors may also determine where you ultimately give birth: your insurance coverage, which may or may not cover your care at your preferred hospital, and your obstetrician’s hospital affiliation. The hospital in which your obste- trician or midwife works will be the hospital where you will have your baby. If you like your obstetrician or midwife, but do not like the hospital with which he or she is affiliated, you may find you will need to switch to a doctor or midwife who works in the hospital where you want to have your baby.

Are Women Who Have Their Babies in Hospitals Satisfied with Their Experience?

According to a survey of sixteen hundred women across the country:

Ninety-six percent said they were satisfied with the health care they received.

Ninety-four percent felt they were treated with kindness and understanding.

Eighty-seven percent said they were free to make their own decisions.

The Birth Center

Birth centers grew popular in the 1970s as an alternative to the hospital birth experience. Birth centers may also be called alternative birth centers (ABCs) or childbearing centers. According to the National Association of Childbearing Centers, “birth centers are guided by principles of prevention, sensitivity, safety, appropriate medical intervention, and cost effectiveness.”4 Birth centers, unlike hospitals, do not exist in many communities across the country and, depending on where you live, may not be an option available to you.

Reasons You May Want to Have Your Baby in a Birth Center

You are committed to giving birth without pain-relief medications.

You do not feel relaxed in a medical setting and prefer a nonmedical type of atmosphere.

You feel more confident in a birth setting surrounded by your family and being cared for by staff (and equipment) that is geared toward supporting a labor experience using coping strategies instead of medical pain-relief strategies.

You may want to return home as soon as possible after giving birth.Birth centers are often operated by midwives, or midwives and physicians together. The prospect of giving birth in a birth center is usually most appealing to women who want a birth environment where there will be as few medical interventions (including pain-relief interventions) as possible during labor and birth. The birth center is a good option for women who do not want to have their baby in a hospital but also do not want to give birth at home.There are some in-hospital birth centers that provide a homey family-centered birth environment; they are attached to the hospital or are located on their campus. The in-hospital birth center is a distinct facility, separate from the hospital’s labor and delivery unit. Typically, epidurals are not offered in these centers. Depending on your preferences, this type of environment may also be a perfectly suitable option for you. A birth center within a hospital, however, may not operate in the same way an out-of-hospital birth center does, and its care practices and staffing may be more like hospital care than birth center care.If you choose to have your baby in a birth center, a certified nurse-midwife (CNM) will most likely be your primary caregiver. Although in birth centers midwives and obstetricians work together, it is the midwife who will likely attend to the birth of your baby, unless the obstetrician is needed due to a complication. Your health care provider must determine that you are healthy a woman with a low-risk pregnancy in order for you to give birth to your baby in a birth center. Birth centers provide care to women throughout their pregnancy, labor and birth, and postpartum.

The birth center itself is characterized by a homelike atmosphere that is less high tech in appearance than a typical hospital maternity unit. If you are laboring in a birth center and at some point need emergency medical intervention, you will be transferred to a hospital.

Around 15 percent of women who begin their labor in a birth center need to transfer to a hospital. Of these women, only 2 percent transfer due to an emergency. The remainder are transported to the hospital primarily due to slow progress or because the mom requests anesthesia.

Birth centers promote a relaxed, privte, nonclinical environment in which a variety of nonmedical pain-mainagement approached can be accommodated. Birth centers do not offer epidurals, and they ususally (although not always) do not offer narcotic injections. Birth centers are ot equipped to perform cesarean section deliveries. In fact, the cesarian section rate for women who began their labor in birth centers is around 4 percent.

About the Article
Excerpted from Easy Labor by William Camann, M.D., and Kathryn J. Alexander, M.A.. Excerpted by permission of Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

For the Love of Mommy

admin — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:06:36 +0000

For most of you being a mother is one of the most wonderful and rewarding experiences that you will have in your life. It can also be a time when you feel lost and out of touch with who you are outside of being a “mommy”. Maintaining an identity outside of your children is vitally important, not just for you, but for your family as well. So here are ten strategies that not only keep you connected with you, but also have the added bonus of being an important life skill to teach your children.

Be present – Often when we spend time with our children we are thinking about the things that we should be doing or we multi task and we are not really present with them. Then, when we are not with them, we feel guilty. Make the decision that when you spend time with your child to just be there for them, enjoy them, listen to them, and focus on them 100%. Spending this type of quality time with your child will lessen the guilt and help you focus on other activities with the same 100% attention. Added Bonus: Teaches your child to focus on and enjoy the moment.
Take care of yourself – This is a big one for most women since we get so busy caring for others we tend to forget about ourselves. Define what taking care of yourself means to you and develop a schedule to do it. Keep tweaking your schedule until you are actually fitting taking care of yourself into the day. Taking care of yourself helps to replenish your spirit, it helps you to relax, and it helps you to feel good about yourself. Added Bonus: Teaches your child to develop healthy habits that will last a lifetime.
Connect with you partner – It is so easy to get wrapped up in the kids and in everyday life that you forget about your relationship with your partner. Connect with your partner as often as you can, make a point to sit down over coffee on a Sunday morning and just talk about anything and everything, but the kids. It can be silly or profound, just make sure you connect with each other as a couple. Added Bonus: Teaches your child how to maintain a healthy relationship.
Get involved – Get involved in some activity that is only for you. It can be work, volunteering, a class, or a book club. Just get involved in some regular activity where you are not a wife or a mommy, you are just you. Added Bonus: Encourages your child to participate in outside activities.
Have meaningful conversations – Sometimes when you have children your day gets so caught up with “kid stuff” that you can’t remember the last time you had a meaningful adult conversation. Have you ever felt frustrated, aggravated and on edge and then gone out to a long dinner with a friend and felt like a new woman at the end of the night? That is why it is important to have meaningful conversations. Added Bonus: Teaches your child to get their needs met by more than one person.
Read – Who has time to read? We all do. It doesn’t have to be a long time, and reading is a great way to be intellectually stimulated. It exposes us to different subjects and new ideas, even when it is a light and fluffy read. Staying intellectually stimulated is important because it keeps us in touch with what we find exciting and gets those brain cells snapping. Added Bonus: Teaches your child to seek out and appreciate knowledge.
Take time for just you – Make sure you get some get some quality time for just you. It can be anything you want from spending time with a friend, to getting a manicure, or just being by yourself. Just do something that is only for you, it will fill you up and refresh you. You will feel like a new woman after you are done. Added Bonus: Encourages your child to be independent.
Remember that you have needs too – We have needs, and it is our responsibility to get them met. If you’re feeling frustrated, or unappreciated, instead of walking around feeling angry and misunderstood, figure out a way to get those needs met. Talk about them, ask for support, and be specific. And remember most people can’t read minds so you have to communicate with them to get those needs met. Added Bonus: Teaches your child how to effectively meet their own needs.
Give yourself permission – Why do we feel like bad mothers for wanting to do something for ourselves? Every woman who I have ever talked to that wants to express an unhappiness about being a mother feels the need to qualify it by saying “Well, of course I love my child more than anything in the world but…”. Of course you do, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t be unhappy about the way something is going or how you feel. This is how you feel right now, there is nothing wrong with that, you’re a normal mother. Give yourself permission to feel the way you do and do something for yourself to feel better. Even if that means stepping back from your child for a couple of hours. Added Bonus: Teaches your child to recognize and healthily deal with their emotions.
Be a role model – When you ask most parents what they want most for their children they say that they want them to be happy and successful contributing adults. The very best way to ensure that comes true for your child is to be a role model. If you want your child to be confident, get their needs met, be sure of who they are, and happy with their life, just remember that they learn that from you. Added Bonus: Teaches your child to act with integrity.

Being a mother in today’s modern world is tricky business. We are bombarded all day long with messages of what makes a “good mother”. Just forget all that, and be true to you. Being joyful, present, and authentically you is the very best gift you can give to yourself and your child.

About The Author
Jen Ottolino is a Personal Coach who works with individuals to eliminate blocks to success. She partners with people to actively attract the life they know they deserve, but haven’t quite managed to achieve. You can visit her website at coachjen.com and discover articles, tips, and strategies designed to enhance your life purpose. She also publishes the bite sized weekly newsletter Little gems to subscribe send an email littlegems@coachjen.com.

by Jennifer Ottolino

How to Give the “Gift of a Lifetime”

admin — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:58:22 +0000

by Van Day

Giving that special someone a special gift can be very difficult. Depending on the situation and occasion, it can be a very tricky thing. You want to do the right thing, but if you’re not careful, it can backfire. As many have found out, you need to give this some considerable thought.

But everyone wants to give the “right” gift. What makes up a great gift?

In my experience, a great gift:

Is truly unique, personal and creative;
Demonstrates to the recipient the thoughtfulness and caring that went into securing the gift;
Evokes emotions from the recipient whenever it is used, seen or thought about; and
Makes the recipient truly feel special.

A great gift doesn’t necessarily have to cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to be great. But also understand that getting a gift that is cheap can show how much “you don’t care.” Before you start to shop and buy, also consider the following:

Who is the recipient? Is it your spouse, significant other, sibling, parents, relative, close friends, neighbor or business associate?
Next, what is the occasion? Holiday, birthday, anniversary, graduation, wedding, engagement, promotion, a “just because” occasion, or “I-need-to-get-out-of- the-doghouse-occasion?”
Be yourself. The gift is from you, so make sure it shows it. But be appropriate, and be sure the gift is something that the recipient will relate to and enjoy.
Try to avoid excessiveness. Simple gifts tend to also be very well received.
Don’t wait until the last minute. It only gives you too little time to get a great gift, and also shows how much you don’t care.

Being creative is a fantastic way to ensure getting the right gift. People love it when it’s obvious their gift required some imagination and creativity. So as you’re going through the “what do I get them” process, remember that a little bit of creativity, uniqueness and personalization will go a long, long way!

The true measure of a great gift will be seen in the eyes of the recipient when they get it. You’ll know it, you’ll feel it, and you’ll feel great yourself when you’ve given the “Great Gift”!

About The Author
Van Day is a renowned pianist and musician, and creator of “Piano Music 4 You.com .” “Piano Music 4 You” specializes in creating personalized, custom and unique CDs of piano music, created especially for each customer and all occasions. He can be reached at vanday@pianomusic4you.com. www.pianomusic4you.com.

Parenting Yourself When You Have Small Children

admin — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:51:49 +0000

by Margaret Paul, Ph.D.There’s no doubt about it – parenting small children takes a lot of time. So much time that it’s very easy to forget about your child within. Yet you cannot be a really good parent while forgetting about your own feelings, needs and well-being.

Haven’t you noticed that if you do not take care of yourself by having enough time for yourself you are much more irritable with your mate and children? Whether your job is being with your children all day, or you work out of the home all day, or you work in your home and tend to your children all day – you need some time for yourself.

When my children were small it was challenging to find the time for myself. I worked at home, tended to my children, and had very little money for household help. Yet if I didn’t have time to myself to read, take a bath, do creative stuff or just stare at a flower, I had a hard time being a patient, loving and fun mom.

What I did at that time is seek out adolescents who loved playing with little kids. I hired them (for not a lot of money – they were delighted to earn a little spending money and get to play with children as well) to play with my kids while I was in the house taking time for myself. After an hour or so of restful or creative time, I was filled up enough within to be able to give to my children. When I didn’t take this time, my own Inner Child would feel unloved, unimportant and resentful.

A part of good parenting is letting your children know that their needs are neither more nor less important than yours. In the past, children were supposed to be seen and not heard and were given the message that adults were more important than children. In more recent times, many children are given the message that their needs and feelings are more important than adults’ needs. Neither message is based on the truth of the equality of each soul. For children to understand this equality, parents need to role model loving their children and loving themselves – not one at the expense of the other. If children are taught that adults are more important then children, the children learn to be caretakers, putting themselves aside in deference to others. If children are taught that children are more important than adults, they learn to be brats, demanding attention and not caring about others. This is just one of the reasons why it is so important for parents to take responsibility for caring about themselves – for lovingly parenting the child within.

It might be helpful to imagine that you have an actual child that lives inside you. You are the mom and dad for this child. You are the only one who can feel and hear this child’s needs and who can take action on behalf of this child. You already know what happens if you ignore the needs of your actual children. In some way or another, they will act out until they get the love and attention they need. The same is true for your Inner Child. Our Inner Child, which is our feeling self, can even cause us to be sick if we don’t pay attention to him or her. Your Inner Child lets you know when you are not being loving to him or her with anxiety, stress, anger, or resentment. When you are feeling these feelings, instead of looking outside yourself for the cause, look at whether or not you are lovingly parenting yourself. It is one of the best things you can do for you and for your children. (For help in self-parenting through the Inner Bonding process, See our FREE Course at www.innerbonding.com).

About the Author
Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is the best-selling author and co-author of eight books, including “Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You?” She is the co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding healing process. Learn Inner Bonding now! Visit her web site for a FREE Inner Bonding course: www.innerbonding.com or margaret@innerbonding.com. Phone sessions available.

Hints And Tips On Scrapbooking Baby’s “Firsts”

admin — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:42:57 +0000

by Elaine Clay

It is true to say that a lot of people begin to get the scrappin’ bug after their child/children are born and usually their first attempt at scrapbooking is making a baby album.

Having a child is one of the most important events in our lives and baby’s first year is a busy, lively, ever changing journey of discovery. It is full of important milestones…

No wonder then, as parents we want to capture and record all those many memorable moments – preserving them in scrapbooks is a great way to safely keep and cherish those memories for years to come.

One timeless and extremely popular baby scrapbooking idea is to make an album that consists of ‘firsts’.

This is a relatively easy and flexible theme to follow, especially for someone new to scrapbooking and is a great way to create enchanting baby scrapbooks.

This kind of album usually consists of a scrapbook arranged in chronological order with individual layouts showing special and notable moments in your baby’s life.

New babies are so photogenic it’s hard to resist capturing all the big and little things that make up their day-to-day lives.

No doubt you will have lots of pictures to sort through – so here’s a small list of ‘firsts’ to give you some ideas for organizing your photos:

sleep/nap
bottle/breast feed
diaper change
dressed in their first outfit
ride in a car seat
smiles
bath
trip out in the buggy
solid food
teeth
sitting up
drinking from a cup
feeding him/herself
crawling
walking with the furniture
steps/walking on their own
hair cut
Halloween
Christmas

To add a little more interest to your album try and vary the layouts, for instance make some events into double page spreads. Such as coming home from the hospital or bath-time, which always presents an opportunity for some great photos!

Give your pages a personal touch by adding some memorabilia, using a pocket envelope, to your layouts – like the birth announcement or maybe a lock of hair from their first hair cut.

If you are new to scrapbooking and you’re unsure about starting out on your new album then a good choice would be to buy yourself a baby scrapbook kit. These kits contain everything you will need to begin scrapbooking and are a great shortcut to creating super layouts that you can be proud of.

You can also enhance your pages with some of the many baby-related products that are available on the market. Decorate your layout with an adorable or cute baby scrapbook paper.

Then, embellish your page with some charming baby scrapbook stickers like rattles, booties, bibs, bottles etc and when they’re done display all of your beautiful pages in a lovely baby scrapbook album.

Go on… give it a go. Make yourself a baby scrapbook to savor and keep all those incredible memories. You’ll find it’s much more than just a scrapbook – it will become a precious family keepsake that you’ll treasure forever.

About The Author
Elaine Clay is the owner of Online-Scrapbooking-Guide.com :: your one-stop online scrapbooking resource. Find inspiration, increase your creativity and have fun with our helpful tips, ideas, articles and much more.