I love this blog post by Birthing Beautiful Ideas where she shares ways you can find a low cost doula!

I know that I did my first 3 births for free and then I did quite a few low cost births, before I started charging full price.  It was a great way for me to get experience!

Missy was my Hypnobabies Student and my 3rd Doula Client.  (It was filmed over 3 years ago and I just got her footage and made a video for her.  She said I could share it with the world!)

I am so excited because I get to be her doula again in a few months. 

This article was in Sunday’s Paper.

Rising maternal mortality rate causes alarm, calls for action

Why the rise?

Increased cesarean rates:  Although many are done to save the life of a mother and her baby, perhaps half are elective, meaning the surgery is medically unnecessary.

1/2 cesareans are medically unnecessary.  That is a lot of unnecessary risks for moms and babies.

Inductions:  The induction or prompting of labor by medication, which is sometimes medically advisable but more often performed for the doctor’s or patient’s convenience, has climbed so steeply — it now occurs in 22% of births — that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists felt compelled to advise its members last year to avoid inductions before 39 weeks’ gestation.

When labor is induced a week or so before the due date, the uterus may not be ready, leading to prolonged labor. After delivery, the exhausted muscle may not contract properly to stop bleeding. Blood can no longer clot and becomes the consistency of water.

I would like to add, whenever a mom is induced it is highly likely her uterus isn’t ready, otherwise her baby would be born on his own timetable.

Also I am shocked it is only 22% of moms get induced.  It seems like a lot more than that.

Electronic monitoring, Lu said, may have the unintended consequence of making the monitoring of women during labor so passive that they may be neglected, with warning signs missed.

I could see this.  Nurses are watching the monitors out at the nurses station and not actually with the mom for a good part of the birth. So they may miss warning signs of other problems.

So moms should choose care providers and birth locations with low cesarean rates and low induction rates as well.

I am kind of scared of who this title will lead to my blog, but I had to share this fun product line I discovered from Dou-la-la’s Blog

You can see all the products at their Cafe Press store.

I would like to add that having enormous balls with 3 boys in my house is a bit dangerous.  I have to store them in my garage or things get broken!

I know that my son had birth trauma, I had birth trauma from his birth as well.  It certainly put strain on our relationship through the years.  I think that we have cleared a lot of that over the last few years using energy clearing type of tools, such as EFT.

Here is a link to an article where a mom helps her daughter clear up some issues, that she wasn’t aware of from her birth.

If you are interested in learning more about EFT and how it can help you, come to the training in June!

It is all about traditions!  Vacations are a chance to break from your routine and spend lots of time together.  We travel 3-4 times a year as a family. (Frankly it is a bit much for me and makes being a doula quite a challenge.)  I find that having vacation traditions really help the boys know what to expect no matter where we go and helps create fun memories.

So my 5 Fun Vacation Activities are actually our Traditions – which lead to fun activities.

Timeshares or Rent by owner

OK, this is not an activity, but it makes it so much easier and cheaper to travel with kids if you have a kitchen and separate rooms!  This does allow for fun traditions such as making cookies together.  We do this every trip.  We started traveling this way when our first was little and frankly I can’t imagine doing it any other way.  More “activity time” for mom and dad too!    (Big hint:  Never buy a timeshare at a sales presentation, buy them on the resale market.  It is WAY cheaper)

Invite the Grandparents!

This is possible because of the timeshare aspect.  My parents actually own a few timeshares (each has 2 bedrooms) so there is room for us all to go.  The first one they bought was at Williamsburg and we had a family reunion there 5 years ago.  What a wonderful trip.  Williamsburg is like a living museum.  They boys loved it, the grown ups loved it too!

Traveling with the Grandparents helps the boys create great memories with them and it also gives us a hand with the boys.  It also helps to have extra eyes keeping track of the three boys, makes it much less stressful.  Especially at busy places such as theme parks.

Let the kids pick what they want to do

To help the boys be part of our trip, we let each of them choose 1 thing they want to do.  We get out the pamphlets and books, which they research and then they get to choose 1 thing, which we make sure we incorporate into our trip.   Sometimes one chooses to swim in the pool.  That is easy and free!   This tradition has led to fun and unusual activities.  For instance Thing 3 has chosen to go bowling on our last 3 trips.  We end up having a fun time and it is a nice filler for days with another smaller activity.

This helps us do something out of the ordinary.  For instance visiting the sewers in Paris or going to Gatorland in Orlando.  If you just do all the normal tourist attractions, then you miss out on some cool experiences.

Games and Puzzles

There are often down times during trips, which can lead to chaos with 3 boys.  So we have games we always bring and usually a puzzle too (left in room and we work on it throughout the week)

Here are some of our favorite traveling games.   Apples to Apples, Bannanagrams, Chess, Uno, Rummicube

Museums

Our boys love to learn and how better than a fun interactive museum.   In almost any area there are museums.  We visit at least 1 museum a trip.  We do a bit of research to find kid friendly ones.  It is much more fun if kids can touch and “do” things while they are there.  Another GREAT place to visit is Washington DC, we have gone there 2 times, there are so many amazing museums and most are free!

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the Williamsburg Tourism (which I have experienced twice and loved!) and TwitterMoms blogging program for a chance to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”

I got this comment on my birth video on You Tube.

Would it have been SO awful if you used pain relief? The only person that would have been put out would have been you. Why is there such a culture against pain relief in childbirth – I’ll bet the next time you have a root canal you won’t be opting for hypnosis, but all the narcotics you can get your hands on. Why the difference in childbirth?

Here is my response.

Would it have been SO awful if you used pain relief?

No, it wouldn’t have been SO awful if I had used pain relief.  But I didn’t need or want it, so why use it if I didn’t need it?

Why is there such a culture against pain relief in childbirth

Where is this culture against pain relief in childbirth?  Most women in our culture worship pain relief in childbirth.  I am not against pain relief, I used it with much joy in my first 2 births, but it was even more awesome not to want or need it with Brysons birth.

My Hypnobabies tools really helped me stay calm and comfortable, so why would I have an epidural I didn’t need.  (Epidurals do carry risks which the worshipers of pain relief tend to ignore or at least downplay)

I’ll bet the next time you have a root canal you won’t be opting for hypnosis, but all the narcotics you can get your hands on.

AHHH, what a great lead into my video

Also a wonderful post by Tonya – Using Hypnobabies Tools at the Dentist where she uses hypnosis instead of drugs at the dentist.

Why the difference in childbirth?

Just in case you didn’t take the time to watch the video.  Birth is a natural process.  Similar to a tooth falling out, you don’t need narcotics for that.

A root canal is a dental surgery, so most people would need drugs for that.  So if you are having a surgical birth (cesarean) I can see that most people would need drugs for that.

However many people use hypnosis to stay calm and comfortable during a root canal.

(you can see the other videos on my Birth and Teeth page.)  

Hypnosis works even easier for moms using it for vaginal birth, because it is a natural process. (And there are actual accounts of moms using hypnosis instead of anesthesia for cesareans, having a medical trained hypnotherapist in the room during the surgery.)

So thanks for this comment, because it brings up some interesting points!

I have a large lettering www.EnjoyBirth.com on the back of my van.  My oldest son, Thing 1 does not exactly love that.

About 3 years ago (when he was 9) he made up this scenario:

Destroy Birth with Hippo-Babies.  We let a herd of hippos loose in your hospital room while you are birthing.

He was even going to make a Lego Video about it.  I really want him to and keep saying, “Make that video for me!”

I sometimes feel like hospital births can be like that.

No, I have never seen a Hippo, but some of the other things they do and the overall chaos that can seem to enter the room (especially as mom is starting to push) can seem to destroy the peaceful birth mom is hoping for.

I will say that using Hypnobabies does help moms to typically stay calm and focused despite the chaos.  But it can be as crazy as hippos running through your room.

I will have to show him the post on My OB said WHAT?  About Hippo Birthing (indeed the comment is appropriate for a 9 yo boy, but not an OB).  Maybe it will inspire him to make the movie.   I am curious as to how he is going to have the Legos birthing?  Will the mom have a doula?  Maybe a Birth Ball?

I love this article in the Philadelphia Enquirer Test Leads to Needles Cesareans.

Fetal heart-rate monitoring is a screening test. Good tests get several things right; they are cheap, detect a possible problem when there is still time to act, and minimize unnecessary follow-up tests.

The Pap smear is an excellent screening test: By examining a few cells brushed from the cervix – where the vagina opens into the uterus – doctors catch precancerous changes – or even early cancer – when it is easy to treat.

But fetal heart monitoring is an appallingly poor test. The test misses the majority of babies with cerebral palsy, the condition researchers hoped it would prevent. It causes increased rates of a painful and invasive surgery: cesarean section. Even worse, almost all women undergo continuous heart monitoring during labor, not just those at highest risk.

There are Birth Wars going on and Vaccine Wars.  Why can’t we all just get along?  Why can’t we respect others choices and support them in what they choose?

PBS just did a show about Vaccine Wars and had interviewed Dr. Jay Gordon to get a balanced view of things.  But they ended up not showing his interview at all.  You can read what he had to say about that.  It is a shame that they chose to not show a balanced view about vaccines.

I also love what Dr. Sears has to say about Vaccines.

I think in all choices regarding health, parents should do their research and decide what is best for them and their family.  It is up to them!