Session 6

The Birth Empowerment Course

of

Welcome to

with Krystal Trammell, of www.BirthinginConsciousChoice.com

Session Six
New Horizons Dawning

The last few weeks of pregnancy can be fulfilling, frustrating, or most likely a complex rollercoaster of emotion as you approach your full moon or labor time. Many women are impatient for labor to begin, yet at the same time, anxious about having everything ready before labor is upon them both in practical and emotional terms! As a sweet midwife friend of mine once told me, when I asked if she was ready for her pregnancy to be over - Babies are much easier to care for before they're born--! She's right, of course!

In the last few weeks, you might be increasingly uncomfortable, and may have trouble getting enough rest at night, between frequent bathroom trips and the inability to find a comfortable position. It's important to make sure you take naps,

meditate, or just rest on the couch to ensure that you are still getting enough rest.

Waiting, waiting... Is it time?

Being overtired may bring on mild (or notso-mild) contractions but starting labor when you're already exhausted is something to avoid, if at all possible! The last days or weeks of pregnancy can be a relentless game of what came first?, trying to figure out if those contractions or back pains you're feeling are from physical tiredness, dehydration, etc or if labor is really starting. The best advice, in either case, is to have a big glass of water and/or a nutritious snack, and lie down for a rest. If it's really labor, then labor will wake you up and you'll be in a better state to manage the hard work of labor once it's in full swing. However, if the contractions peeter out and you find yourself still waiting don't get disheartened.

At least you're well-rested, well-nourished, and ready to handle contractions if they decide to ramp up again in the near future. Waiting can be so frustrating but it's also worth considering that your family, your life, will very soon be drastically different in a no-going-back sort of way. The end of pregnancy is a great time to cherish those moments with your partner, your other child(ren), and even alone with yourSelf. Take pregnancy photos, write a letter to your baby, go on dates with your partner; consider that your body will never look quite the way it does now again, even if you have another child in the future all pregnancies are different.

Embrace each moment, however mundane; connect with your heart and true desires; be present in the Now. Life will be very different, very soon don't be too quick to push the fast-forward button.

Mother's position, baby's position Your posture, including your sleeping position, have an impact on baby's position in the womb, which affects elements of your labor and birth, in turn. It's a fallacy that head-down is the only thing to be concerned with about fetal positon.

The good news, however, is that paying attention to your posture and positioning even a little bit is very likely to encourage optimal fetal positoning as you approach labor. Even if your baby is breech at 34 Much or 36 weeks doesn't mean there isn't time for him to turn before delivery. more on the topic of fetal positioning will be included in the Links & Extras for this Session! A word on natural labor induction

Here, I will give you good news and bad news. While I am a big supporter of all things natural, the very phrase natural

induction is a bit of an oxymoron, because induction is not natural. There may be thousands of folk remedies, herbal preparations, and acrobatics out there that are purported to put you into labor - but whether they are safe, effective, or necesasry is highly questionable.

Women start to get anxious about their due date because there's a lot of cultural fixation on 40 weeks as The Date, and also because there's a lot of pressure from medical professionals to induce, the further past the EDD that a pregnancy weeks is an average, an estimate not an expiration. Even the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology states that a normal pregnacy lasts between 37 and 42 weeks. In Texas and other states, however, there are laws in place that basically necessitate delivery before 42 weeks (because of increased liability for the care provider). That is why so many women are under pressure to induce. So, progresses. The thing is, however, 40

I acknowledge that there's a time and place for natural induction methods to be tried but not without due caution. Just because something is natural doesn't mean it can't harm you.

Cervical ripening & contraction stimulation

Basically, there are two categories that natural labor inducers fall into cervical ripeners and contraction stimulants. Both may work - but what few realize is that if the cervix isn't ripe, then stimulating contractions will mainly just exhaust mama, with little benefit or progress toward actual labor.

The contraction stimulants will work but aren't going to turn into real labor unless many other factors of readiness are present. The catch-22 of labor induction is that it works best if your body and baby are already nearly ready to begin labor and this is true whether induction is done medically or naturally.

If it's the former, they may label it a failed induction, which often becomes a Cesarean section. Inductions fail not because women's bodies are somehow broken, but because baby and mother were simply not yet ready to be induced. Labor is a finely tuned symphony of readiness it can't just be turned on like a lightswitch.

from 36+ weeks onward; carry little risk and much overall benefit): Eating spicy foods and fresh pineapple Sex, & specifically, semen (said to be 10 times more effective if taken orally) Borage oil or Evening Primrose oil (taken orally or vaginally) Dancing, pelvic rocking or swaying (as in bellydance), bouncing on a birth ball, or swinging

Cervical ripeners (usually safe to try

Acupressure, particularly at points LI-4 and SP-6

Contraction stimulants (most of these are

to be used with moderate to extreme caution, if at all, and always under the care of a midwife, doctor, or health professional)

Nipple stimulation, especially with a breast pump Blue and/or black cohosh herbal tinctures can be dangerous, don't try this without consulting a midwife!

Oral ingestion of Castor oil (also called castor bean oil) taken in teaspoon-sized amounts can be a natural laxative option, but even slightly increasing the dosage can violently clean out the bowels,

thereby stimulating contractions. still not start labor. Not recommended!

This

can make you sick + miserable and

However, castor oil can also be warmed, rubbed lightly on the belly, and covered with a cotton or wool

cloth. This is gentle for most women,

and works well when combined with Arnica oil for pain relief.

Walking slow and steady, daily walking is great for preparing the body for labor, helping jump-start early labor, and increases your stamina when done over time.

Bouncing or rotating the hips while sitting on a birth ball. Especially while leaning slightly forward, this exercise puts pressure on the cervix by aligning baby's head properly, and encouraging her to engage into the pelvis. Excellent in the last month of pregnancy or in early labor.

Stretching or sweeping of

membranes this involves manually separating the bag of waters from the opening of the cervix, and is done by a health care provider during a vaginal exam. This can sometimes be This painful, and/or may result in bloody show/loss of the mucous plug. can sometimes stimulate labor within hours or days, and is useful in pregnancies that are otherwise

progressing normally but nearing post-dates (42 weeks). Induction, whether natural or medical, is no small matter, and is the main way that the undesireable cascade of interventions is put into motion. If you're being pressured to consent to an induction, remember your rights, and ask for detailed reasons and data that back up your health care provider's recommendation. There are certainly good, valid reasons to induce labor but not all labors are induced for those reasons alone.

It sounds clich, the the phrase Patience is a virtue is so very relevant in the last month of pregnancy.

Postpartum care and comfort: During pregnancy, we prepare so much for the upcoming labor and birth. We also think about how our lives are going to be with a baby around--but we dont give too much pause to consider that short yet

trying period of transition--the first week or two postpartum, with a newborn baby. Both you and your baby will need special care, comfort, and consideration during this time--but our culture doesnt really honor that.

We see celebrities out and about at two weeks postpartum, with scarcely a baby belly to speak, of and looking very puttogether and confident. Our own families might expect us to be up for entertaining or resuming business as usual, especially if you had a relatively easy birth experience. Our entire culture, with its absurd work-world policy of NO standard maternity or paternity leave, seems to expect women to emerge from birth unaffected, and ready to resume their normal lives almost immediately, regardless if this is beneficial for mother or baby, or even practical. Ironically, sometimes this aspect of birth misses the mark for women who birth in non-medical settings. Without heavy drugs

to get out of their system and the natural high of hormones and endorphins, many women who birth naturally are even more likely to feel like they can and should do it all, right away after giving birth. In a hospital birth, they might be coming in quite often to check on you and baby, waking you up for routine procedures and such, which also isnt beneficial or relaxing. Ideally, mothers should be free to rest and relax, and be as active as they wish, with NO outside pressures to hurry up OR to stay in bed. Following your bodys own cues and being especially loving and kind to yourSelf during this time is best for both yourSelf and your baby. Of course, honoring your bodys unique timetable for postpartum healing and recovery necessitates a sort of back-up plan to take care of the details of life outside of the mother-baby dyad. Older childrens needs, housework, and mealtimes need to be taken care of--but its unfair and impractical to expect the postpartum mother with a newborn to do all of this

by herself. Building your support team: The hands-on, no-strings-attached support of family and community is what the family of a newborn should be able to rely on. In indigenous cultures, this is a given--but in our culture, we usually have to make a conscious effort to coordinate the kind of support that new families need. This is another area where being polite and assertive is going to be helpful to you. When people want to bring you a baby gift, suggest a freezable meal instead. When friends call to say theyre stopping by to see the baby, dont pretend youre superwoman and crash-clean the house while babys napping--instead, relax, enjoy their visit despite the sink full of dishes or toy-strewn living room, and ask your friends if they could do a small task for you--such as moving along the laundry or brewing a pot of tea for everyone.

Your friends and family are often quite willing to help you in the ways you need it-but they dont want to be presumptuous, so theyll wait for you to ask! It might be useful to make a list of folks you can rely on to help your family in the two weeks following birth. Let them know youre counting on them--and they will probably rise to the occasion!

The Babymoon: The concept of a babymoon is a very old one, but in modern times its been coopted by travel agencies to mean something totally different. The term babymoon is now often used to mean a vacation during pregnancy with just the couple--a sort of last-hurrah before their lives are filled with tending to the needs of a newborn.

However, in the original sense, a babymoon meant a period of time (often a month, or moon) that the new family (or at least the

mother and baby) would spend in seclusion, right after the birth of the new baby. Family and friends would bring the mother things, and tend to her needs as much as possible, which freed up mother to completely and utterly focus on her new infant during the most critical time of bonding. This practice protected baby from illness or exposure to the elements, and helped establish the breastfeeding relationship as well. While a month-long sequestering isnt really practical in todays world, I think we can still apply the concept of a traditional babymoon to our lives, instead of rushing to resume normal operations ASAP. The grocery store run can wait--or can be accomplished without you. Especially if its extremely hot or cold outside, its just not much fun juggle the needs of a tiny baby with your own while youre at the store, at a friends house, or stuck in traffic. If youve got to go out, make your outings local, short and to the point. Even if youve got the best baby carrier and a

stockpile of diapers, its easy to miss the point at which youre in danger of overextending yourself--physically or emotionally. Items and practices to nurture yourSelf: Whether youre going home from a twoday hospital stay or lounging in your own bathtub moments after birth, youll want to take special care of yourSelf in the days and weeks after giving birth. Herbal baths can be deeply relaxing, soothing and cleansing to sore bits, and the herbal properties will actually speed your healing process.

You can make up sitz baths, or else use the entire bathtub as your herbal soak, and take baby in with you. Get some cheesecloth and yarn, and make a giant tea ball to tie around the bathtub faucet and steep in the warm water. Newborns often love this skin-to-skin time with mama, and a quick dip in the water will not harm their cord stump, contrary to

common advice. On my Conscious Birth Blog, I discuss some of the choicest things to have on hand for a comfortable and smooth postpartum transition. Too many mamas prepare themselves for every aspect of pregnancy, labor and birth but neglect to fully consider the practicalities of their own healing + needs in the postpartum period.

Read the full post here: THE LIST of Postpartum Supplies Truly, the best preparation for labor and birth starts in the mind. Try to worry less about the details and focus more on your overall health, wellness, happiness, and peace. on you. Relax as often as you can, and Protect your mental state, and don't allow others to place undue stress continue to cultivate trust in your body, your birth team, and yourSelf. Read positive, uplifting birth stories at least several times a week and avoid the

negative ones. centered.

Meditate, pray, do yoga, or Enjoy tasty,

whatever helps you to feel calm and Take bubble baths. healthy food. Connect with people who

you love spending time with, and who uplift and encourage you in your birth plans and otherwise. Try to avoid the tendency to be anxious, always looking toward the future, and be more fully present and mindful of the moment-to-moment.

Love your body, nurture yourSelf and trust in the wisdom of birth.

Read or write birth affirmations that resonate with you..

Visualize your ideal birth...

Write a fictional projection of your future birth story, or a letter to your unborn child.

Honor yourself, and trust that things are unfolding just as they should.

~*~

That's all for this eBook! concepts in this session, make sure you try the rest of the session 6 resources before you move on to Session 7. out the printable worksheets, and complete To further explore the techniques and

Wishing you a peaceful, powerful birth!

~ Krystal