Wildbirth and Obstetricks

08/13/2023

So awesome!

Kissing your baby changes your breast milk. Did you know that the undeniable urge to cover your baby in kisses serves a biological purpose? When a mother kisses her baby, she samples the pathogens on baby’s face, which then travel to mom’s lymphatic system. Mom’s body then creates antibodies to fight those pathogens, which baby receives through breast milk. What?! Amazing, right?

💫 Words by
💫 📸: Dusktildawnphotography

09/24/2022

Skin to skin! ♥️♥️♥️

Placing your baby skin-to-skin on your body has been scientifically proven to be one of the best things you can do! Numerous research studies have found benefit after benefit from spending time with your newborn in skin-to-skin contact. It reaps multiple benefits for both baby and parents.

⚡️Better body temperature maintenance
⚡️Cries less often
⚡️Demonstrate improved weight gain
⚡️Experience more stable heartbeat and breathing
⚡️Higher blood oxygen levels
⚡️Long-term benefits, such as improved brain development and function as well as parental attachment
⚡️Spend increased time in the very important deep sleep and quiet alert states
⚡️Thermoregulation
⚡️Stronger immune systems

• Eva Rose Birth]

Daddy’s first skin to skin, and just look at that dimple!



📷 Eva Rose Birth]

03/05/2022

Here's a fun story about embroidery scissors. I have seen umbilical cords tied off and severed in many ways, sometimes using dental floss or a shoe lace. Sometimes a metal clamp or a plastic one. sometimes not cutting it at all, or using candles to burn through it. I have even seen a person chew through one. (Works for our other mammal friends).Did you know that if the cord is cut with a sharp object like scissors there may be a lot of bleeding if the cord is not clamped on either side of the cut, but if the cord is gnawed at there is no need to clamp. Just saying! I don't think I ever experienced a midwife doing embroidery, but definitely I have known them to bring along a knitting or crochet project.

Have you ever wondered why embroidery scissors are shaped like storks?
Well, these scissors didn't actually start out as scissors, but as umbilical clamps. Sometimes, the clamps would be used with a set of forceps shaped like snakes - To symbolise the Rod of Asclepius, the Greek god of healing and medicine.

Between the 19th century and now, these little stork scissors have gone through some really big changes. In the past, most of them were between four and a half to six inches long, with their heads mounted at almost a 45-degree angle. The beaks were heavy clamps not meant to cut, but to restrict the blood flow before the umbilical was cut. Some even had little babies hidden inside the stork's beak that would appear when the clamps were opened.

But why did these clamps morph into an embroidery tool? Well, the answer is actually pretty straightforward. There's a lot of waiting around with childbirth, oftentimes hours or even longer, and what do we do when we get bored waiting for something to happen? We pull out our embroidery kits and get to work. Because of this, midwives would often keep their birthing kit in their embroidery basket so they'd always have both on hand. Over time, the clamps began to change in shape and size, moving from the midwife side of the basket over to the embroidery side.

So there you go! If you're like me and you like to collect stork scissors, now you know the history behind them.
You can find out more: https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1422579
https://www.instagram.com/arnolds_attic/

01/15/2022

Here are La Leche League's guidelines for safe sleeping with your baby. Hospitals typically have very narrow beds and babies are "not allowed" to be in bed with their mom while mom is sleeping. I imagine there would be more success with breastfeeding if they could be together all the time. And wouldn't it be nice if partner could be in bed with person who has birthed and baby too. Would there be fewer issues with feeding and perhaps postpartum mood problems? What do you think?

Mothers and babies sleeping together is a normal, healthy, shared instinct as old as humankind. But certain situations can make this normal behavior unsafe. Let’s see what it takes to avoid those situations so you can enjoy being with your baby awake or asleep.

12/06/2021

*Imagine a time when people lived in small groups without strangers, with people that they had known all of their lives and whose ancestors had all known each other. Imagine a time when everyone slept together, going to sleep when the sun goes down and awakening at dawn. Imagine a time when the people ate together squatting or sitting cross-legged to eat food flavored with spices that the women ground while they sang ancient songs. When the children ran around playing during meals and were fed from the fingers of whichever person they stopped in front of. Imagine a time when birthing a baby was as ordinary a thing to do as going to the bathroom. For almost all of the time that there have been humans on earth childbirth has been a wild process. Women and babies have an innate knowledge of how to do it. It does not have to be learned any more than breathing, peeing or pooping have to be learned. We are the only species on earth that fears giving birth. It doesn't have to be this way.*