How can I prevent my baby from being born premature?
Did you know you have power to help keep your baby from being born too early? Claim it! Here’s a few simple steps you can take…
Did you know you have power to help keep your baby from being born too early? Claim it! Here’s a few simple steps you can take:
Eat foods with protein
Every snack or meal you eat needs to include protein. Fish and seafood. Eggs. Meat. Cheese. Nuts. Yogurt. Beans. Dark leafy greens. Seeds.
Drink at least 8 glasses of water each day.
Dehydration will cause contractions. Drink lots of water each day. If you have trouble with water, purchase a pitcher and fill it up in the morning and drink from it throughout the day to measure your intake. When you pee, the toilet bowl shouldn’t change color too much. If it does, keep drinking! It’s annoying to go to the bathroom all the time but so worth it!
Hire a midwife (this one’s our favorite)!
Yes! Hiring a midwife cuts down your risk of having a baby preterm almost completely! Why you ask? Because midwives spend LOTS of time in prenatal appointments answering your questions, brainstorming with you about how to boost your diet, and finding solutions with you for all sorts of pregnancy related issues.
Drink good bugs.
Your immune system is made up of several pounds of good bacteria (you may know them as probiotics)! These good guys live on your skin, mouth, gut, and in your vagina. When your good bacteria are down, bad bacteria can take over and cause bad breath, cavities, sickness, and preterm birth. Boost your good bugs by staying away from sugary processed foods and eating or drinking probiotics. Foods kefir or yogurt, kombucha, water kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, natto, miso, and pickles are full of probiotics. Choose pickles and sauerkraut that come from the refrigerated section (Claussen are my favorite), because only the refrigerated kind have probiotics.
Eat the rainbow
A diet low in micronutrients will increase your chance of developing pregnancy complications and having your baby too soon. Look for fresh fruits and vegetables that are rich in colors. The brighter, the better. Eat as many colors as you can throughout the week in the form of fresh fruits and vegetables. I also recommend taking a supplement called Juice Plus to boost your levels of micronutrients.
Chocolate.
Doing things that make you feel good increases happy hormones in the brain called endorphins. When these hormones are boosted it goes to your baby and tells them to grow big and healthy. So be intentional about doing things you love during this pregnancy! When was the last time you took a bath with two cups of epsom salts for relaxation? Have you asked your partner or kids to give you a massage recently? How about just sitting down for a minute to enjoy a nice hot cuppa? If it’s hard for you to do nice things for yourself, consider that even small kindnesses you do to yourself will bring positive change to you and your family for years to come!
Chocolate increases levels of feel good hormones in the brain!
The Only 3 Essential Oils you Need
You open up a bottle of lavender, smell it, and go “Ahhhh” It’s perfect to calm anxiety and soothe nerves.
Lavender, lemon, and frankincense essential oils, the only three essential oils you need.
Lemon or other citrus oil (tangerine, bergamot, grapefruit, or sweet orange).
Citrus oils are safe during pregnancy and for children over 3 months. Citrus oils are uplifting. Lemon is a great choice for nausea, or an afternoon pick-me-up. Lemon essential oil can be used to clean and removes odors. It can be added to oil to polish furniture or mixed with water and sprayed to remove bad odors.
The main caution with citrus oils is that they are photosensitive, which means if you wear them on your skin, they will increase your chances of becoming sunburned.
Lavender for letting go.
You open up a bottle of lavender, smell it, and go “Ahhhh” It’s perfect to calm anxiety and soothe nerves.
Lavender was the first essential oil to be studied for it’s medicinal benefits. Lavender promotes relaxation and is wonderful on a cotton ball inside a pillow to aid sleep. Lavender soothes burns. It is safe for children but can cause uterine contractions, so is not to be used during pregnancy until after 37 weeks gestation.
During labor, lavender promotes a feeling of calm and encourages progress in a gentle way.
Frankincense
Of course frankincense always reminds us of the three wise men in the Christmas story. Frankincense has been used for hundreds of years in Ethiopia. Ethiopians use the frankincense sap to fill their homes with a beautiful smoky aroma during their traditional coffee ritual. They also use the smoke of the sap to flavor their butter.
Frankincense is very safe for children and during pregnancy. It is anti-aging, promotes skin integrity, and has been shown to shrink multiple types of cancer, including pancreatic, and skin.
Frankincense can be blended with oils or salves and applied to the skin. I think of it as an oil that creates sacred spaces.
How do you use essential oils? Do you have two or three go-tos?
Do midwives carry medications that would prevent me from bleeding too much?
The definition of a hemorrhage during a normal vaginal birth, is blood loss of more than 2 cups in the first few hours after birth, or more than 4 cups within the first 24 hours afterwards.
This is a good question to ask a midwife you want to hire because the answer is, it depends.
The definition of a hemorrhage during a normal vaginal birth, is blood loss of more than 2 cups in the first few hours after birth, or more than 4 cups within the first 24 hours afterwards.
There are the 3 types of medications typically used for postpartum hemorrhage in out-of-hospital settings. These are:
Synthetic oxytocin AKA pitocin.
Pitocin can be administrated in IV form or intramuscularly, as a shot in the thigh. In out-of-hospital settings pitocin is more often given via a shot. Pitocin works quickly to control bleeding but does not last longer than 10 minutes, so it may have to be repeated, if the bleeding is not controlled by then. It doesn’t have significant negative side effects, although there have been some studies that show it slightly delays milk production, and is correlated with slightly increased rates of postpartum mood disorders.
Misoprostol AKA cytotec
Cytotec works really well to cause contractions of the uterus to slow a hemorrhage. It also has the negative side effect of causing a potential fever and loose stools. It comes in pill form and is either given to the mom orally to chew up and put in her cheek or under her tongue, or it is administered rectally.
Methylergonovine Maleate AKA Methergine
Methergine cannot be given to women who have high blood pressure. It is administered orally in pill form, or intramuscularly via a shot in the leg. It works well to contract the lower segment of the uterus. Methergine has several negative side effects, including loose stools, lowered breastmilk production, changes in blood pressure, and nausea.
Choosing the right medication:
For most midwives I know who carry medications, they choose to use pitocin first as a medication during a postpartum hemorrhage. If the pitocin doesn’t work, they will usually repeat with a second dose of pitocin, or administer cytotec, or both, depending upon the severity. Midwives usually use methergine for too much bleeding that occurs several hours after birth or if the mother doesn’t respond well to other therapies.
So ask your midwife, does she carry medications to prevent too much bleeding? If so, which ones? What is her usual guideline for controlling and preventing too much bleeding? The answer depends upon the individual midwife and the locality she practices in.
What to do and what NOT to do if you're exploring home birth as a first time mom!
Women who come from families where natural birth is the norm tend to have straightforward natural births. Why? Because they’ve been thinking about birth as normal their entire lives. Some of us have to work hard during pregnancy to undo all the subtle messages we’ve been told-that our bodies don’t work well or we just aren’t strong enough.
So you’re interested in having a home birth, but not sure if it’s a good idea since you haven’t had a baby before? Trying to decide if you’re crazy, dumb, or doing the right thing?
How do you decide?
First of all, you’re courageous to ask questions and seek out answers! You could have just signed up with the local ob group at your closest hospital, not knowing anything about them. But you are brave, you educate yourself about your options.
Here’s some things to keep in mind as you decide what’s best for you and your family:
-Remember you Remember
Your birth story will be with you for the rest of your life (Simpkin, 1991)! Set yourself up for a good one. Think about where you feel safe and who you feel safe with. What things do you like? What makes you feel comfortable? How do you want to remember your experience?
Sometimes finances come into play when deciding who to use as a care provider. Keep the long term in mind as you decide who to hire. If you really want to have a home birth, but aren’t sure you want to spend the money on it, think, “What would I think of this decision I made 10 years from now?” You won’t regret spending money on the experience you want!
-Discover your overarching goal
Planning a home birth means you have a high chance of having a natural vaginal delivery and a low chance of having a cesarean. You have a low rate of interventions and a high rate of breastfeeding success. For a first time mom planning a home birth, compared to a mom who has had babies before, you have a higher chance of deciding to go in for pain relief or needing to go to the hospital for better monitoring or IV fluids. Research transfer rates for first time moms (or ask midwives). Compare cesarean rates for first time moms at local hospitals. Many hospitals have a first time mom cesarean rate close to 50%!!!
What’s your overarching goal? Is it breastfeeding success? A natural or vaginal delivery with as few interventions as possible? To give birth in a place you feel safe? Is it worth the risk to plan a home birth and know you may transfer to a hospital? Is it worth it to plan for a natural hospital delivery, and know you may have a much higher chance of having a cesarean? These are questions you can only answer for yourself, but keeping in mind you will remember it, and surrounding yourself with positive people will help guide you.
-Don’t be Afraid to Change Plans
The process of pregnancy, birth, and parenting, is a journey. At the beginning of your pregnancy you may want your best friends, mom, husband, and doula there. As things get closer to your due date, you may realize you just want it to be your partner and doula. It’s okay to change plans last minute! It’s better to switch care providers at the end than to stay with one who is going to push unnecessary interventions upon you.
When women get close to giving birth, they enter a deeply primal state. They crave darkness, warmth, quiet, and a place of safety. These are necessary for the cascade of hormones that promote physiological birth. They are harder to create in certain environments. At the end of pregnancy and in labor, women become instinctual. Listen to that instinct.
-Pursue Positive People
My biggest piece of advice to first time parents who want to have a natural birth is to surround yourself with positive birth stories. Women who come from families where natural birth is the norm tend to have straightforward natural births. Why? Because they’ve been thinking about birth as normal their entire lives. Some of us have to work hard during pregnancy to undo all the subtle messages we’ve been told-that our bodies don’t work well or we just aren’t strong enough.
“Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth”, “Spiritual Midwifery”, “Everyday Birth Magazine”, and “Birth Without Fear” are some great resources for good stories. Find your friends and family who have had natural or positive births and listen to their stories. Go to a local ICAN meeting or find a local home birth support group. In Cincinnati we have both the Home Birth Circle group on Facebook and the Home Birth Collaborative (http://cincinnatihomebirthcollaborative.com/) . The Home Birth Collaborative holds monthly meetings where home birth families share experiences with potential home birthers.
Stay clear of naysayers. I’m talking about care providers too! If your care provider is speaking negatively to you about your ability to give birth, or says that you should be induced because your baby might be too big, run! “There’s such thing as induction police!”
References:
Simkin, P (1991). Just another day in a woman’s life? Women’s long term perceptions of their
first birth, pt 1. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1764149
Try this stress relieving technique to help reduce anxiety
The Roving Body Check is a relaxation technique that combines patterned breathing with touch relaxation and guided imagery.
When you are in a situation where you feel your heart rate pounding faster, your
stomach tightening, and your breathing becoming shallow, you are experiencing a surge of
adrenaline. Adrenaline is the “fight or flight” hormone that is released when we are
stressed. Relaxation is important in stressful situations to prevent fear and tension.
When we have adrenaline rushes we need to bring our bodies down to earth. Feel the
floor. Listen to your breathing when you inhale and exhale. Look around the room.
Remember that fear is False Evidence Appearing Real.
Feel the floor
The Roving Body Check is a relaxation technique that combines patterned breathing with touch relaxation and guided imagery. Notice that “every out-breath is a relaxing breath.” Let your tension flow out of you when you exhale. While you are breathing in, note a particular area where there is tension. Have your partner or friend place their hand firmly on that part. When you breathe out, focus on releasing tension in that area. As you exhale your partner or friend will relax pressure on that part. Repeat this over different tensed body parts. Body parts to focus on: brow and jaw, back of the neck, shoulders and arms, one or both hands, back of the chest, small of the back, hips, and buttocks.
The Roving Body Check
Notice that “every out-breath is a relaxing breath.”
Similarly, you can find a comfortable position that does not require much energy. As you stay in this position actively work on relaxing each body part from the top of your head down to your toes. Tell yourself what part you are relaxing as you go down. When you learn to actively relax your muscles you can eliminate pain and stress.
For practice you can do these techniques while holding a piece of ice in your hand to feel how it reduces the pain.
Relaxation and breathing exercises can be practiced during pregnancy before birth. Abdominal breathing is especially helpful because it increases circulation throughout your body and relaxes your nervous system.
Nervous about how you are going to handle the pain in labor? Check out our doula services below. We are experts in teaching natural techniques for coping with pain.
References and Resources:
DONA International (2011) Birth doula workshop manual
Strange, K. (2012) Simple tools for mothers handout.
Packing your birth bag? Don't forget these foods!
It’s important to fill your birth bag with food for yourself and your loved one. Not only will it be helpful during your labor, but also for the recovery after.
Protein will ground you. It will give you endurance and energy for the long haul. It will help stabilize your blood sugars and help you and your loved one feel less anxious.
It’s important to fill your birth bag with food for you and your loved one
Not only will it be helpful for your labor, but for your recovery after. What foods should you pack? Here are some suggestions:
Protein will ground you.
It will give you endurance and energy for the long haul. It will help stabilize your blood sugars and help you and your loved one feel less anxious.
Protein suggestions:
Cheese and salami, which are good sources of sodium and calcium, important electrolytes.
Yogurt or a smoothie
Nuts, trail-mix, a bar, or sweet nut clusters from Trader Joe’s or Costco. Nuts are good sources of trace minerals.
Eggs or any kind of protein you can stomach. I’ve seen a mom munch on chik-fil-a chicken, sitting on the toilet, in between contractions
Fresh fruit for energy
Eating fresh fruit is a great way to boost energy quickly. It’s important the fruit is bite-size so a laboring mom can eat one or two pieces in between contractions. Fruit is a great source of vitamin C for immune system support and potassium for electrolyte balance.
Fresh fruit suggestions:
Grapes are easy to bring. Try freezing them for a delicious treat!
Berries such as blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries are full of antioxidants, which reduce inflammation. Plus, they already come bite-sized!
Bananas are portable and don’t require refrigeration.
Melons can be sliced up and prepared ahead of time for the big day.
Salt for electrolyte balance
Having a baby is hard work! Your body needs fuel to help your muscles work properly.
Your uterus, the strongest muscle in your body, will work best if you have been staying hydrated by drinking enough liquids and eating foods which provide electrolytes. Electrolytes are the minerals, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, phosphate, and bicarbonate. They regulate muscle and nerve function. Electrolyte imbalance can occur from dehydration caused by excess vomiting or diarrhea, which sometimes occur with labor. If your electrolytes are imbalanced, you may experience a headache, fatigue, muscle cramps, or weakness. Pack a salty snack to include electrolytes sodium and chloride.
Salty suggestions:
Potato chips. These are my favorite. If I think a mom I’m supporting is really dehydrated, I will add more salt to the chips.
Crackers are easy to digest and readily available.
Popcorn is salty, buttery, and comes in small pieces.
What’s your favorite snack?
Not sure what to bring to the hospital? Schedule a free consultation! Call (513) 399-7263