Gentle Methods to PREVENT & TURN a Breech Baby

Gentle Methods to PREVENT & TURN a Breech Baby

Interview with Dr. Daoshing Ni and Dr. Jessica Chen, by Allie Chee

 Just the word “breech” can strike fear in pregnant women—and rightfully so.

 In the U.S. hospital environment, a breech presentation would “almost certainly mean a cesarean section, considered major abdominal surgery that generally leads to longer hospital stays, longer recovery and, like all surgery, the risk of complications[1]”—and loss of any hope of a natural childbirth experience.

In the case of home birth with a midwife, some midwives will deliver breech babies and some won’t. World-acclaimed midwife, birth educator and activist Ina May Gaskin said in one of her lectures, “At first, we brought breech pregnancies to the hospital, but we found after a while that we could deliver them here just fine. Footling breeches, which are thought to be the most difficult, in our experience, they often just slid right out.”[2]

However, today more than 90% of breech babies are born by Caesarean [2]. A woman will be hard-pressed to find a provider who will happily encourage a vaginal birth with a breech presentation and she will likely find herself in the OR on her big day.

But for any woman wanting to avoid that scenario—great news!

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers an extremely gentle, painless procedure with a high success rate for turning breech babies.  Further, TCM offers suggestions and ideas for how to avoid a breech presentation in the first place.

To find out more, I interviewed two doctors considered top in the field:

BOOK REVIEW: Cut It Out: The C-Section Epidemic in America, by Theresa Morris

If you're planning a natural childbirth in the hospital...

I read this new release immediately upon receiving it yesterday. Though I can see its great contribution to these fields, I did not read it from a childbirth provider's, scholar's, or politician's point of view. I read it as a mother who chose home birth at 42 years old---amongst other reasons--to avoid being caught in the "cascade of interventions"--or what I call the "birth template" prepared for us by committees. I read it as someone who writes and advocates for natural childbirth.

Cut It Out, written by Professor Theresa Morris, offers new insight to answer the question: "if most women do not want or choose c-section and most maternity providers claim not to prefer c-section over vaginal birth, why has there been an astronomical increase in the c-section rate in the United States?"

Is DAD the Ideal Postpartum Doula?

Is DAD the Ideal Postpartum Doula? 

 Is DAD the Ideal Doula? as published on The Birthing Site

by Allie Chee, with comments from Darren Mattock, Darla Burns, Elly Taylor, and Dr. Ning X. Fu, O.M.D., Ph.D

Postpartum care around the world has well elaborated traditions that support healing, bonding, and growth for the new family. They are respected and received by families in all financial strata. These traditions are considered essential not only to the mother’s immediate recovery, they’re believed to benefit her subsequent pregnancies, menopause, and golden years.

The postpartum time for women in the US historically involved at least periods of bed-rest, during which an experienced woman—usually one or several family members—supported the new family.

However, the concept of postpartum care for the family is currently the subject of debate in the United States where

YONI BLISS: Postpartum Care for Our Most Delicate & Tough Body Part

 Postpartum Care for Our Most   

 Delicate & Tough Body Part!

 

Our bodies were made to give birth. It’s natural, it’s miraculous, and when we allow it to…it just happens.

But that doesn’t mean that we emerge from the experience unscathed.  Let’s face it—though breastfeeding and childbirth are the major role of our nipples and yoni[1]—those delicate parts (and others) take a bit of a beating in childbirth and the early days postpartum!

Prenatal Glucose Test: Is it Necessary?

Do I need to take the glucose tolerance test?

•50 grams of glucose •tap water •artificial flavor

 

 That's not what you'd expect to find on a “recommended” list for pregnant mothers, but those are the ingredients of the drink a pregnant woman must consume if she follows doctors orders for glucose tolerance screening.

Women who are discerning with the things they consume during pregnancy--or at any time in their life--are not likely going to drink the glucose test beverage without, at least, asking: “Is this really necessary?”

When pregnant,

The Secret to Calm & Confidence in Childbirth

 

The Secret to 

CALM & CONFIDENCE  in Childbirth

With Excerpts from New Mother

 

Throughout my thirties I watched not one or two, but almost all my friends enthusiastically enter the hospital in labor, having claimed for nine months that they would have a natural birth. Yet they came out two (or ten) days later having been induced, forced to labor on their back, drugged, cut, and observed by countless strangers. Their babies had been taken from them immediately after birth and they were having problems nursing.

I wondered what had gone on behind the doors of the L&D that all of them were checking out with dramatically altered birth stories.

In my third trimester I attended an all-day birthing class at a store for new moms and babies. The women in attendance were from around the world, highly educated in their fields of work, and well to do with all conveniences of life available to them.

And yet... here are some things I heard during class:

AFTER MISCARRIAGE

 

AFTER MISCARRIAGE

Postpartum Care for Mothers Experiencing Loss

By Allie Chee

People in the US are rediscovering the mind/body benefits of a 30-40 day postpartum recovery period for new moms during which they rest, are cared for, eat special foods for rejuvenation, and are supported by family and postpartum care providers. This, of course, leaves mom better able to care for and bond with her new baby, and to return to her old strength, if not even an increased vitality—quickly!

In China the term for this time is called “sitting moon” (zuo yuezi in Mandarin—one month being “one moon”), but cultures throughout Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Far East have similar practices, each with their own special techniques and care providers. This postpartum care is not considered something only for

NO FEAR of BREECH - The New Mother Cover Story

NO FEAR of BREECH

 The New Mother book cover is based on the image of a woman approximately 32 weeks pregnant—me. When working on design ideas for the cover, the production team asked me to send a photo of myself pregnant, and that ended up being the inspiration for the cover.

But that’s not where the inspiration stopped.  In other words, it’s not a literal image.

New Mother Cover Design

We don’t see an umbilical cord; there’s no placenta in sight; and the baby, rather than in the ideal position for birth, is “cradled” in the mother’s arm and looking straight at the reader—smiling!

If the baby had been presented exactly as she was positioned at the time, she would have been head-down, nestled in the pelvic girdle, and the reader would have a lovely view of her back and bum, or maybe her curled legs and feet. That could be important for a medical journal, but the artist had an intention with her cover design.  She wanted the baby to interact with the reader—to say: I’m a participant, aware and involved.

I loved the idea and the image, and the idea that the baby was “breech” never crossed my mind.  After a reader contacted me saying

Avoiding Exposure to Violence While Pregnant

For a healthy, happy baby

take... a love bath?

•A Texas Twist on an

Ancient Chinese Precept•

 Of all the unusual things I learned from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Ayurveda about conception and pregnancy, this one caught people’s attention most. Probably because it was the one thing they’d never heard of...and because the effect on the baby is so profound.

A Midwife, Doula, and Postpartum Help for Healthier, Happier Mom, Dad & Baby

Who uses a doula, midwife, and postpartum help?

Barefoot hippies? Hollywood divas?

Yes, and millions of everyday, hardworking people around the world who have decided either through their cultural heritage or personal research that for them, a natural childbirth and postpartum care with the support of a midwife, doula, and other services makes for the healthiest, safest, and happiest ways to give birth to and care for the new spirit in their lives.

Natural childbirth in a hospital, home birth, and postpartum care have become so uncommon in the US (and increasingly in other countries) that they are now considered by many to be too difficult, unnecessary, or even frivolous.

But, just a glance at the number of women in the US who fail to have a natural childbirth (when that’s what they intended), fail to breastfeed (even when they wanted to and tried), and who suffer from

Baby Sign Language is Cool! Easy, Fun Communication with Your Infant Using ASL

After good morning hugs & tickles...signing time!

BABY SIGN IS COOL!

Easy, Fun Communication With Your Infant Using ASL

Several years ago I was friends with a deaf[*] woman and was always intrigued when watching her sign with her baby.

When pregnant I heard about the trend of parents who weren’t deaf teaching their babies ASL (American Sign Language) or a modified “baby sign” as a way to create clear, two-way communication before a baby was able to speak. I knew that parents and babies had many ways to communicate and express without needing to use sign, but again I was intrigued.

I read several books and websites to learn more. Many teachers and authors encouraged parents to begin signing with their children between 6-8 months, and advised that though babies would be learning—they’d usually remain unable to sign back until 9 months, 12 months, or older.

Encouraging parents to sign with their children at any age seemed beneficial and fun, but the information I found was a little different from what I’d observed with my friend and discovered in the deaf community (and what with a little contemplation makes sense):  deaf parents use sign to communicate with their newborns from day one. Just like newborns learning to speak from day one with their parents, babies can learn sign from day one!

CANCER, CIRCUMCISION & C-SECTION...What Will People Say?

 DARK AGE II: REPORT ON THE RITUALS & BEHAVIORS OF ANCIENT TRIBES LIVING IN NORTH AMERICA FROM 1950-2050.

  

“The philosophies of one age have become the absurdities of the next.”

-Sir William Osler

It is now the year 3013, and in this report we will discuss briefly three rituals and behaviors of the tribes of people living in North America: the tribe of the United States collectively called “Americans,” and the tribe of Canada collectively called “Canadians”—during an era now called “Dark Age II”—1,000 years ago in the period between 1950-2050.  As we’ll see in this report, Dark Age II was marked by extraordinary aberrations of nature and a reign of fear, exemplified in these three rituals/behaviors:

CONCEIVING AFTER MISCARRIAGE: When to Try Again & Increasing Ability to Carry Full Term

CONCEIVING

AFTER  MISCARRIAGE

In Part 1 of this article, AFTER MISCARRIAGE: Postpartum Care for Mothers Experiencing Loss, we discussed the care a woman should receive in the first several weeks after a preterm loss (or stillbirth) to help her through the grieving process, to assure her return to vitality, and—according to the precepts of Traditional Chinese Medicine—to increase her chance of a successful pregnancy the next time she conceives.

Here in Part 2, we’ll address the question: When should we try to conceive again? It would be nice if there were one, but the answer is that there is no one answer.  Conceiving life is a sacred event, and there is no single fact or consideration that can offer a single best answer for everyone.

However, since there are biological and emotional ramifications of pregnancy and loss, there are factors we should consider when deciding when it’s best to try to conceive again.

The western medical industry essentially considers one factor when making recommendations: What is the statistical likelihood of carrying the next pregnancy full-term when conception happened x amount of time after a miscarriage?” 

That is indeed the ultimate question in any woman’s mind. However, the western medical industry offers studies with tremendously conflicting results to answer that question.

For example,