I had my first appointment this morning with the midwife. The practice has four midwives and they encourage you to see all throughout the pregnancy as one of them is on call when you go into labor. This is much like my experience with the OBs, however THAT is the ONLY similarity.
I waited less than 5 minutes and was taken back right at my appointment time. The midwife emphasized the shorter wait times, longer appointments with her, and a general sense of attention being on me, her patient, as the utmost priority. Obviously, I know this to be true for most midwives, but there are some out there who practice along a more medical, OB-type model and I am so relieve to say that these midwives are going to be awesome!
This first appointment was simply a time for us to take, get to know each other, ask questions, to a pap and quick pelvic exam and attempt to hear a heart beat. My little bean is so tiny and swimming around in there so quickly right now that we were unable to catch one. That does not mean anything is wrong, though, just too early to tell. :)
Our conversation was great. I told her right off that I chose the midwives because I want to be one myself and I want the experience of a midwife-attended pregnancy and birth. She was so intrigued by my interest; we instantly had something in common.
The rest of the appointment went well and I spent 30 whole minutes with her!! This is unheard of with an OB unless there is a problem. I also loved how she actually said, "we don't like putting things in your vagina that don't belong there", like a trans vaginal ultrasound! While I would have loved to have seen the bean on the screen, I am so glad and at peace by how low intervention these folks are. If I had asked for the ultrasound, that would have sent a mixed message to the midwife and simply been selfish of me. My first appointment with the OB last time was JUST with the TV ultrasound. We loved seeing a blob on the screen, but the differences in practice are so obvious. I am so proud of be going into this profession and even more excited to have a real, midwife experience. Remember, if you want to follow my journey into midwifery you can follow my other blog, Midwife101.
Showing posts with label midwifery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label midwifery. Show all posts
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Monday, January 24, 2011
Book Review: Your Best Birth
>
Wow! I am finished with the first book on my giant reading list for Brio Birth Class. This particular book was not actually a required reading but I have to read one extra that's not required and here it is. In fact, most of the books on my bedside right now are not required. But I figure different perspectives never hurt anyone. In fact, I can now pick those ones up easily and quickly skim them. That is how informative Your Best Birth is. Ricki Lake & Abby Epstein did a fabulous job describing all the ins and outs of child birth in today's America. The tag line on the front of the book reads, "Know all your options, discover the natural choices, and take back the birth experience." This sums up the book perfectly.
I remember when I was pregnant and I saw this book sitting on the shelf in Barnes & Noble, thinking to myself that it looked like a good read but I did not feel like I had the patience to read a book on child birth that was nearly 200 pages long. No thank you. Now that I have read the book cover to cover and literally had a hard time putting it down, I would recommend this book to EVERYONE, even if you have had 10 babies. GO READ THIS NOW!! Ricki and Abby take turns writing about different aspects of child birth starting out with what birth plans used to be like, choosing your provider and birth place, while ending with medical interventions and c-sections. Yes, people, you CAN have your best birth even if you end up with a NECESSARY c-section.
I was instantly drawn into the book. Maybe it was because I had watched "The Business of Being Born" while I was pregnant and knew what to expect. Or maybe it was because these two women outlined child birth with so much honesty and depth I was wishing I had read it before having Logan. Not to say that I could have changed the outcome, but I may have allowed myself to be more confident in the things we did and did not want apart of our birthing experience. In the moment, I got wrapped up in such a fuzzy daze due to the pain, epidural and lack of sleep. Ricki and Abby talk about this. Your inhibitions go out the window. Whether you strip down naked for all the world to see or you suddenly do every single thing the doctor is telling you needs to happen, because hey, they are the doc-tor! It hard to say no to a medical professional. That is why it is SO SO important for women to educate themselves on child birth. Whether you take a class, read books, or actually witness a birth. Any of these options will help educate you on all aspects of child birth. The funny thing is that I felt like I had educated myself quite a bit: I read books, took a Bradley class, and obsessively talked about my pregnancy and birth wishes with other veteran friends. If I had read this book, I would have been that much more informed.
Ricki and Abby include "Birth Goddess" stories. If you're anything like me, then you really enjoy reading and hearing about others' birth stories. These are not all flowery and happy. However, the featured birth goddess certainly makes an effort to have a better birth the second go around. Just because you have had a c-section or a high risk pregnancy, does not mean that you can't have exactly what you want with your next pregnancies. This is so encouraging, especially for someone who has had difficulties in pregnancies or previous births.
There is a list at the end of the book "World Health Organization Recommendations for the Best Birth". This list is essential for any expecting mother. It provides a crutch so that if you are planning on a hospital birth, regardless of what they want you to have, you know what the WHO wants you to have and that is THE BEST BIRTH with as few medical interventions as possible.
Your Best Birth outlines what everyone should know about child birth. Interventions, medications, providers, and birth places. All of these things shape your birth. I feel very confident in saying that the next time we decide to have a baby I will certainly aim for not only a unmedicated, natural birth, but also one which takes place at home. I am not longer scared of being away from all those beeping machines. In fact, I am more afraid of those machines!! If you have read this review, thank you. I hope that it is helpful. Now, go read this book. Please. ;)
Wow! I am finished with the first book on my giant reading list for Brio Birth Class. This particular book was not actually a required reading but I have to read one extra that's not required and here it is. In fact, most of the books on my bedside right now are not required. But I figure different perspectives never hurt anyone. In fact, I can now pick those ones up easily and quickly skim them. That is how informative Your Best Birth is. Ricki Lake & Abby Epstein did a fabulous job describing all the ins and outs of child birth in today's America. The tag line on the front of the book reads, "Know all your options, discover the natural choices, and take back the birth experience." This sums up the book perfectly.
I remember when I was pregnant and I saw this book sitting on the shelf in Barnes & Noble, thinking to myself that it looked like a good read but I did not feel like I had the patience to read a book on child birth that was nearly 200 pages long. No thank you. Now that I have read the book cover to cover and literally had a hard time putting it down, I would recommend this book to EVERYONE, even if you have had 10 babies. GO READ THIS NOW!! Ricki and Abby take turns writing about different aspects of child birth starting out with what birth plans used to be like, choosing your provider and birth place, while ending with medical interventions and c-sections. Yes, people, you CAN have your best birth even if you end up with a NECESSARY c-section.
I was instantly drawn into the book. Maybe it was because I had watched "The Business of Being Born" while I was pregnant and knew what to expect. Or maybe it was because these two women outlined child birth with so much honesty and depth I was wishing I had read it before having Logan. Not to say that I could have changed the outcome, but I may have allowed myself to be more confident in the things we did and did not want apart of our birthing experience. In the moment, I got wrapped up in such a fuzzy daze due to the pain, epidural and lack of sleep. Ricki and Abby talk about this. Your inhibitions go out the window. Whether you strip down naked for all the world to see or you suddenly do every single thing the doctor is telling you needs to happen, because hey, they are the doc-tor! It hard to say no to a medical professional. That is why it is SO SO important for women to educate themselves on child birth. Whether you take a class, read books, or actually witness a birth. Any of these options will help educate you on all aspects of child birth. The funny thing is that I felt like I had educated myself quite a bit: I read books, took a Bradley class, and obsessively talked about my pregnancy and birth wishes with other veteran friends. If I had read this book, I would have been that much more informed.
Ricki and Abby include "Birth Goddess" stories. If you're anything like me, then you really enjoy reading and hearing about others' birth stories. These are not all flowery and happy. However, the featured birth goddess certainly makes an effort to have a better birth the second go around. Just because you have had a c-section or a high risk pregnancy, does not mean that you can't have exactly what you want with your next pregnancies. This is so encouraging, especially for someone who has had difficulties in pregnancies or previous births.
There is a list at the end of the book "World Health Organization Recommendations for the Best Birth". This list is essential for any expecting mother. It provides a crutch so that if you are planning on a hospital birth, regardless of what they want you to have, you know what the WHO wants you to have and that is THE BEST BIRTH with as few medical interventions as possible.
Your Best Birth outlines what everyone should know about child birth. Interventions, medications, providers, and birth places. All of these things shape your birth. I feel very confident in saying that the next time we decide to have a baby I will certainly aim for not only a unmedicated, natural birth, but also one which takes place at home. I am not longer scared of being away from all those beeping machines. In fact, I am more afraid of those machines!! If you have read this review, thank you. I hope that it is helpful. Now, go read this book. Please. ;)
Monday, January 17, 2011
Reading Material
>I shared a few weeks ago that I am training to become a Brio Birth instructor. The actual date for my workshop has not been set yet but will be in April sometime. I CANNOT WAIT!! I am eating, breathing, sleeping child birth as if I was pregnant again. One thing I am doing in the mean time is reading. Now that I am a mother and have given birth before, I wish I would have read more. I did, in fact read quite a bit, but I don't think I was reading the right material. That may sound bad, but considering I was aiming for a med free vaginal birth I should have been reading more material focused on just that. I only recall reading things like What to Expect When You're Expecting, The Bradley Method Handbook and a book on my baby's growth. Nothing specific on being confident in the kind of birth I actually was going for. Sure we had a "birth plan"and I wanted certain things, but I was not confident in those things and aside from Logan popping a hole in his lung, I really didn't get the birth I truly wanted. HOWEVER, let me say that I LOVED how it turned out. But if you asked me if I could change anything about my birth, I'd pass you a list.
Because of this, among other things, I have discovered a new passion and I want to encourage women to know their choices and have the best birth they can. The following is a list of the books I am/will be reading:
Because of this, among other things, I have discovered a new passion and I want to encourage women to know their choices and have the best birth they can. The following is a list of the books I am/will be reading:
- Your Best Birth by Ricki Lake & Abby Epstein (I'm halfway through this and LOVING it!)
- Ask a Midwife by Catherine Parker (Also half way through this)
- Husband Coached Childbirth by Dr. Bradley
- Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way by Susan McCutcheon
- Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering by Sara Buckley
- Mind Over Labor by Carl Jones
- Having a Baby, Naturally by O'Mara
- Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin
- Born in the USA by Marsden Wagner
- Misconceptions by Naomi Wolf
Wow! I know that is a TON of reading. But if you think about it, it's not really any more or less than what you would expect while taking a true college course on the subject. Also, a few of the books are very similar and I will be skimming most of it. Starting off with Your Best Birth has been great. It's one of the more recently published which makes the skimming easy.
My goal as a childbirth educator is to NOT make any mom feel like she is making a bad choice, no matter what that choice is. I want moms to feel fully educated so that when they make a certain choice, they are fully away of the pros and cons. My Bradley instructor, while amazing and not intentionally, made me feel bad about ending up with an epidural. I remember sitting on the birth ball while B was holding my shoulders through a contraction. I had oxygen on and was nearly passing out from the pain. I had not dilated from a 4 in over 2 hours. My nurse was amazing, not asking if I wanted some relief. I cried as I told B that it was time for some relief and we were both so scared that it would lead to a c-section, because that is the fear that was instilled in us in class, that my guilt flooded me as I waited for the anesthesiologist. I know now that getting the epidural helped me relax, something which does not happen with all moms, and made things move along a lot faster. Regardless, I don't want one of my moms to feel guilty if she choses to get an epi.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)