What if… A woman is told “there are no midwives available for homebirth”… May 23, 2013

Another guest post:

What if… A woman is told “there are no midwives available for homebirth”…

Quick answer: If couples decline hospital transfer and insist on remaining at home there’s a good chance that the hospital trust will be able to organise attendance by other midwives.

Longer answer: The government report ‘Maternity Matters’ (2007) guaranteed that every woman in England would have the choice of giving birth at hospital, at a birth centre or at home. This promise is far from being met as maternity services remain overstretched.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council say “Should a conflict arise between service provision and a woman’s choice for place of birth, a midwife has a duty of care to attend her… Withdrawal of a home birth service is no less significant to women than withdrawal of services for a hospital birth” (NMC 2010).

A health authority is legally obliged to provide emergency care, although it cannot be forced by law to provide a homebirth service. However, if women decline hospital transfer and insist on staying at home in labour then the trust do their utmost to provide a midwife.

If a woman’s local team is already busy or unavailable, midwives can be called in from other local areas. If other community teams are busy or unavailable the on-call supervisor of midwives will be asked to attend. As a last resort paramedics can be called to attend.

Birth partners should advocate for the woman clearly, calmly and assertively on the telephone. Calmly repeating phrases such as “No, she does not wish to transfer to hospital, we’re having a homebirth. Please arrange for a midwife to attend. There’s no way she’s getting out of the pool” sends out the message loud and clear.

Some women voice concerns that insisting on midwives coming out might mean that they get grumpy care providers… I have to say, when I’ve supported local couples in these circumstances as a doula, the midwives who arrive have always been professional and happy to be there.

Obviously, women should only stay at home if they still feel comfortable doing so.

If a woman is involuntarily pushing (especially near the beginning of each contraction) and a midwife might not arrive in time, birth partners are advised to call 999 just as a precaution and prepare for an unassisted birth… And keep calm!

Cornwall homebirth provision…

Maternity service commissioners here in Cornwall have requested that any incidents of threatened or denied homebirth provision should be reported to them.

Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group can be contacted directly, or you can pass your comments to the Maternity Services Liaison Committe via myself (Alice Kirby) of the chair Mandy Wells (07833 054664).

 

 

Many thanks to Alice Kirby and Mandy Bellenger of  Hypnobirthing Consultancy here in Cornwall for letting me post this very useful info. This is often a concern for pregnant mothers and it’s good to know where we stand.

Drugwatch.com: How to Treat Pelvic Organ Prolapse Naturally

A Guest Blog from Drugwatch.com

 

Pelvic organ prolapse is a condition that frequently develops in women who have had children, though it’s often not diagnosed until menopause. When the pelvic floor muscles are no longer strong enough to support the pelvic organs, they begin to move downward and out of position, placing pressure on the vagina.

Prolapse is characterized by feelings of pelvic pressure or pain, a pulling sensation or noticeable bulge near the vagina, incontinence, pain during sex, irregular bleeding, frequent constipation or infection. Some women may need surgery, but the majority can treat prolapse with alternative options.

Risk Factors and Treatment

Certain lifestyle factors can contribute to a weakened pelvic floor, including obesity, heavy lifting, smoking, high-impact sports, chronic cough and chronic constipation. Women can address these risk factors by losing weight, engaging in exercises like yoga and Pilates, and adding more fiber to their diet to avoid constipation.

Kegel exercises should be practiced daily to build and maintain pelvic floor strength. Contracting the pelvic floor muscles inward and upward can prevent prolapse, make pregnancy and childbirth easier, and improve women’s sex lives.

Pelvic physical therapy uses various techniques, like massage or manual stimulation, biofeedback therapy, and posture-correction to improve pelvic floor and core strength, which can prevent prolapse or be an effective treatment of prolapse symptoms.

Doctors may also suggest the use of a vaginal pessary. Pessaries are small devices that come in different shapes and sizes, and are fitted and put in place vaginally by a doctor. They support prolapsed organs and relieve symptoms. Pessaries do not cure prolapse, and symptoms will reoccur if the pessary is removed.

Transvaginal Mesh

Some surgical solutions for prolapse are more dangerous than others. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued warnings that procedures using transvaginal mesh are riskier and not necessarily more effective than non-mesh surgical options.

Transvaginal mesh, which is used to support pelvic organs, can lead to severe complications, including infection and organ perforation. The mesh can erode through the vaginal, making sex impossible. Internal tissues grow into and around the mesh, which makes it hard to remove.

If prolapse symptoms require surgery, women should ask their doctors about procedures that do not use transvaginal mesh.

Linda Grayling writes for Drugwatch.com. Linda has a number of professional interests, including keeping up with the latest developments in the medical field. Join the Drugwatch community on our Facebook page to find out more.

 Some more interesting info on drugs for women here 

A letter to my baby boy January 14, 2013

Dear Leander,

I cannot believe that 4 months has gone by since you entered this world.  You are the happiest, most chilled out, loveliest baby I know. Ok, obviously I would say that…I am your mommy!

Getting to know you has been such an absolute delight:  from the moment I reached down and touched the top of your head as you were crowning just before you were born to watching you doze off on my breast just a few minutes ago.

Some of my favourite moments with you include holding you in my arms seconds after you were born, watching you breastfeed for the first time, climbing into bed with you a couple of hours after you were born and letting your smell and oxytocin inducing gorgeousness envelope me in bliss, watching you sleep, smile and nuzzling your neck.

Now you are a whopping 4 months old, well out of your 0-3 month old clothes and some of your 3-6 month clothes are on the small side. You are a proper little giggler now and it’s so contagious! I can’t look at you without getting an overwhelming sense of how much I love you, and how I just – selfishly – would like to freeze time and keep you in all your gorgeousness the way you are now.  You are  like a drug – intoxicating to the max – I want to bottle your smell, somehow store and save the way you make me feel.  I love the way you reach for me in your dreams at night, put a hand on my cheek or my chin and immediately settle knowing that your mama is close.  I love the way you wriggle close to me when you’re hungry or need comfort in the night and latch on to my breast.  I couldn’t not share my bed with you, that would be just too hard and too tiring for us both!

I love the milky smell of your breath, and I love spending most evening feeding you. Truly I do! I remember your big sister wanting to feed all evening – and being my first it spun me out a bit.  I wondered if it was necessary, whether I was spoiling her as some claimed, or worse still over feeding her. I also had the sense that my evenings, in fact my life, was no longer my own and this used to scare me a it. But now I know that either you are telling my body that you are growing and I need to make more milk, or you just want to be close to me and suck for comfort. And both are fine!  I also now know how quickly this time goes and I absolutely treasure and cherish it! I love the way you giggle uncontrollably when we snuffle your neck or tickle you, only a baby can laugh like that. I am so happy to be your mummy.

One thing daddy and I really enjoy is chatting to you.  You really make eye contact(and have done for months!) and you look so chuffed and joyful when we copy the sounds you make and give you a chance to answer back.  We have tried to get these chats on video, but you’re distracted by the camera…but they are so precious.  You can almost see the neural pathways forming as you have realised that you have control over your hands.  You have quick reflexes too and will have our bowl off the table in a second if we don’t keep our eyes on you!  You want to put everything in your mouth now, which we don’t mistake for you being hungry.  You are discovering, and this is the way you do it. You are also chewing on things and dribbling as your first teeth must be lurking under your gums, not too many months away from making their appearance. You have a lovely little amber teething necklace now, and I have one to match. You enjoy holding onto it and pulling it while you breastfeed just lately too.

Your sisters love you very much. You make them giggle when you accidently bash your rattle against your nose, or drop things repeatedly on the floor. They want to hold, cuddle and kiss you constantly, and it’s not unheard of for them to wake you up to do so! You love grabbing hold of their hair – this makes them shriek and giggle and you look so pleased with yourself.

My only one regret is that I can’t be fully with you 100% of the time, that I have other jobs to do, but in a sense this makes the undisturbed times with you all the more special. I am so grateful for your calm and happy soul! Our family would not be complete without you!

Lots of love

Your mummy

Spring tonic January 12, 2013

Ok, so it’s not quite spring, but there are definitely signs of it on the horizon.  And with spring comes new colds and coughs.  Here is the perfect antidote… I made it originally with Jane from Nature Workshops, it is her recipe.

Collect equal quantities of:
nettles (the freshest, greenest leaves) – for your kidneys
cleavers(also known as goose grass – also freshest bits) – for your chest/lungs
dandelions (leaves only, preferably of ones that haven’t flowered yet) – liver/gallbladder
dock leaves (freshest greenest leaves) -blood

I collect a shopping bag full of each.

Rinse, put in a pot with a little water(about an inch) in the bottom, and put on low heat for about 15 minutes. (Don’t boil!) Leave to cool and gently squeeze water out of the plants. Throw away leaves and mix the ‘planty’ water with honey (or molasses for extra iron kick).  Mix a pint of the water to a pound of the sweetener of choice… bottle and take about 2 tablespoons a day.  Drink within a month – although probably keeps longer in the fridge.

Exploring an alternative to Christmas… January 6, 2013

This is not written in the spirit of The Grinch, but is simply an exploration…

First a bit of history.  I grew up in the Plymouth Brethren (aka Exclusive Brethren) which is a strict Christian sect, or more appropriately – a cult. We didn’t celebrate much, and certainly didn’t celebrate Christmas. Jesus’s birth was mentioned in our usual daily meeting (church) on Christmas day, and “the world” was looked down upon for using it as an excuse to have a party..

I was never told about Santa, or given presents, and to be perfectly honest was never bothered about it…just a bit confused. I remember asking my mom loudly in a supermarket about Santa at Easter time.  :-) She blushed and shushed me.

When I was 18 I left the cult and was excommunicated from my family, and celebrated my first christmas with the lovely family who took me in.  I don’t remember it in lots of detail – emotions were high from having recently left home and there was a lot going on – but I do remember feeling blessed and lonely all at the same time. Blessed that I had such a lovely family including me in their celebrations and lonely because almost everyone else seemed to be spending time with their real families whilst mine wouldn’t even talk to me. I had joined a charismatic church at this point, so Christmas had some meaning. (By the way I am no longer completely excommunicated…my mom even sends parcels sometimes and we chat on the phone about twice a year, but their rules do not allow me to see her so my husband and children will probably never meet her. My 3 brothers don’t communicate with me.)

For a few years after that I celebrated Christmas in various rave clubs in Somerset West and Cape Town where I lived at the time. I had been shunned by the happy clappies at this point, as you can imagine – and to my great relief I began exploring a world where there may or may not be a God and where fear wasn’t a factor in determining this. Christmas in South Africa was a different affair to here in the UK – buffets and braais (barbecues) around the swimming pool and swims at the beach…and I don’t remember getting loads of presents at any point.

Then I came to the UK on a working holiday – almost 8 years ago now – and a year later I met my husband.  Christmas officially become a stress. It’s not anybodies fault, and is slightly tricky for me as I don’t really know which of my experiences are ‘the norm’.  We spent our first christmas together at my in-laws. We were presented with astonishing amounts of presents – a bin bag full each- nevermind the bigger stuff for the kids in the family – and not just the immediate family. I was overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity, and whilst I got some really useful  and lovely presents, I also couldn’t help noting the quantity of stuff that I may never use.  I also felt terribly guilty that I could not possibly reciprocate.

Before long Steven and I discovered The Story of Stuff Project and other more balanced ways of living.  We became much more aware of what we buy and have even requested no presents from family members. We started shopping at charity shops (we very rarely go into a regular clothes/toy shop). It is truly liberating! I can now not fathom how people are bustling about spending all their money on an i-phone or playstation that is going to be upgraded again in a years time – only to be left broke and in debt.

Then there is the issue of quantity. I am used to nothing, but now like to get a present or two. Steven grew up with Christmas being about lots of presents.  We now have to find a happy medium. This year we bought quite a few charity shop pressies for each other and the kids, but I am still feeling rather like a consumer. Instead of 10 to 12 presents that will be thrown to the side while fumbling with the wrapping on the next present, how about two or three really treasured ones?  The thing is, I like giving and I don’t intend to give that up just yet. I like making a little something for friends and family – and I like seeing my daughters eyes light up as she rips the newspaper from a new swing (even if it is temporary while she grasps at the next present).  But perhaps less is more – I think we may try this next xmas.

But what we want to figure out more than anything – is what are we celebrating if not Jesus’ birth? Since we are not Christian I feel that if  we celebrate Christmas we really are just being sheeple(at best). Although I do really like the opportunity to spend time with friends and family, and have a good meal, and think we will continue to do this – I don’t think we should need an excuse to do this.

Winter Solstice/Midwinter is on the 21st and it was apparently around and celebrated by Pagans, with greenery(hence the christmas tree), before Christmas came along. We feel mucg more connected to the rhythm of nature rather than to any religion so really it’d make a lot more sense to celebrate this. We could take it the other way, and instead celebrate the New Year with presents…  So what do we do? Change the day we celebrate it? Change the way we celebrate it?

Will this make the kids feel left out? Does it matter?

I have friends who don’t give presents at all and instead go away for a few days together, or go out for a good meal. I have friends who buy lots of expensive presents, I have friends who buy lots of cheap presents, I have friends who make presents or shop at charity shops. I love home made presents. Most people say that they don’t have time to make presents, but isn’t it ironic that they don’t have time because they are working their butts off to make money to buy presents and pay off their credit cards?!

My husband has told our 4 year old that Santa is just a story. This Christmas I have felt cruel that she ‘knows the truth’, but really – why should she believe in a funny man bringing her presents if she’s good? It’s freaky, in my opinion. I’m happy for her to believe in fairies and elves…kids need make believe.

I think it’d be quite fun to have a treasure hunt for your presents…perhaps an idea to try next year.  Do you have any ideas for an alternative to Christmas? I’d love to hear from you…

 

Natural ways to calm a fussy or teething baby! December 20, 2012

Some ideas for calming a fussy baby:

• Get an amber teething necklace. Amber is a resin and works by releasing succinic acid, with it’s anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, onto warm skin.  Have a look at our lovely genuine Baltic amber necklaces here.
• Get some Nelsons Teetha – homeopathic camommila for teething.
• Wear baby in a soft comfy sling – babes love being close to mum or dads hearts. Choose a sling or carrier that spreads babies weight evenly over both your shoulders and has a support across the lower back (You can join your local slingmeet to test a few)
• Sing…babies don’t care if it’s off key, they love the sound of your voice
• Rock, pat, dance, talk gently
• Breastfeed -and don’t worry -babies can’t overfeed on the breast!
• Take baby for a walk (my three are complete nature babies, they nearly always settle when we take them outdoors)
• Drink chamomile tea..it’ll soothe your frazzled nerves, and if you’re breastfeeding it’ll work it’s magic on bubba too! (buying it loose leaf from a health food shop is cheapest, and you can get the quantity right – a teaspoon per cup)
• Put a pot of chamomile tea in baby’s bath. Being in water can also be comforting and soothing.
• Burn a couple of drops of lavender oil in an oil burner, or put a couple of drops in babys bath
• Gentle baby massage, if baby likes it!

Do you have anymore natural tips?

The perfect gift for mum & baby this Christmas! December 10, 2012

Reblogged from Nature's Mothers Blog:

Looking for something special for a baby or child for xmas? How about an amber teething necklace?!

They are £12.99 each and are made from genuine Baltic amber. They come in several different shades varying from 'black' to 'sunshine'. There are matching ones for mums & dads too! Postage is FREE if you are in the UK!

To find out how amber works, to have a look at the various gorgeous designs, or to go to my online shop…

Read more… 20 more words