Items of Interest

On the Mindful Mama website this past week I was interested to read an article called Five Things Every Woman Should Know Before Giving Birth.

Written by the author of a fairly new book titled Homebirth in the Hospital, she suggests 6 "C's" for having a "homebirth in the hospital":

• First, take responsibility for your choices.
  

• Expect communication to be open and flowing both ways

• Pay attention to continuity of care

• The confidence you have in your provider and in your birth team is essential.
  

• In any hospital, there must be control of protocols...I can not stress this point strongly enough: Protocols are the most disempowering aspect of modern maternity care, giving the message that our bodies don’t really know how to have babies without someone else managing the process for us.

• Finally, the sixth C to consider, the one that should never be allowed into a birth: conflict. Conflict releases stress hormones that work against the powerful hormones that facilitate birth. Humans are mammals, and no mammal gives birth easily when fearful or in an unsafe situation. If you resolve most issues long before your first contraction, you shouldn’t have to fight for your choices while you are in labor.

The author is also interviewed in a video clip on the site about Finding Your Power in Birth:



Also from Mindful Mama is another short Penny Simkin video called Alternative Ways to Relieve Labor Pain (she teaches a hand massage technique):



Finally, I'm a little behind in mentioning this, but a Letter to the Editor from OBOS director Judy Norsigian regarding Evidence-Based Labor and Delivery Management was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in May. The conclusion of the letter was: "In the absence of adequate evidence, we believe that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists should retract its strong opposition to home births."

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Molly
CfM Blogger