Loving Womb Birth Services

06/28/2019

Thoughts or advice, especially mom friends, expectant mom friends, or friends who may be expecting in the future...
Not sure what to do... I never renewed my Bradley childbirth certification because it was so expensive and instead recertified with another CBE group. I also renewed my insurance because I was teaching the class that was offered for free through the county. I thought it was going well, but I guess the county decided that they weren’t going to offer the birth classes anymore as of beginning of this year.
Insurance is now up and I’m debating renewing certification and insurance or not or just sell all my books and be done. I love teaching the class and helping families learn about what to expect and how to relax and advocate for themselves, but I don’t know if the interest is really there for classes, especially if they aren’t offered for free. I would love to be able to offer free classes, but the money that goes into renewal and book materials, plus the time to prepare the classes and then actually hold the classes, not to mention finding a place to now hold the classes, it just isn’t something I’m financially able to do at this point. Hospitals offer free classes to mothers, but many of them just cover birth and your pain relief options and what to expect at the hospital and whatnot. I cover just about any and everything you can think of: pregnancy exercises, diet, importance of staying low risk, interventions, relaxation techniques, other pain relief options, birth plans, variations and complications, newborn appearance and procedures, postpartum... I just don’t know what to do....
Young moms and expectant moms (or moms that have taken classes before), what are your thoughts on this? Would you be interested in a comprehensive class like this for a cost? Or would you just take the hospital class and be done? Do you care about the other things?

05/12/2019

Awesome visuals for moving and positions in labor

Get moving in labor!

04/12/2018

To reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia, it is recommended that pregnant mothers consume salt and a minimum of 80g of protein daily.

03/12/2018

Wait until you feel that overwhelming urge before pushing.

Cervical dilation. It’s often believed that that once you’ve reached full dilation, your caregiver will instruct you to start pushing with all your might. But it's actually best to avoid "coached pushing" by anyone attending your birth. During the final stages of (unmedicated) labor a birthing woman will experience the Fetel Ejection Reflex. By working with your body and only pushing when YOU feel the urge, you’re able to better utilize your energy and work with your breath. Your tissues can stretch more slowly and you drastically reduce the risk of tearing. Birth is very intricate series of events with each one triggering the next. Imagine if someone started screaming at you to “PUSH-PUUUSH” as soon as you sat on the toilet for a bowel movement. It wouldn’t be helpful... because sometimes you just need a moment to get things moving, right? So even if your cervix has reached 10cms, it’s not uncommon to need a moment of rest before you “get the urge”. Only your body possesses the intrinsic wisdom of knowing when everything within you is perfectly aligned to finally push your baby into the world.
Photo x

03/11/2017

Ina May Gaskin; great story

02/25/2017

So my fourth little love was born just as quickly as two of my others. Figured I would share a bit of my contractions logs just to show that you can't always rely on just contractions to gauge where you are in labor. I've also included my birth story!
I spent all day Tuesday having CTX similar to the first picture, ranging from 20-30 mins, sometimes with shorter intervals. They gradually got a little closer, but still all over. Not until 2:00am did I start to really notice any pattern. I called my midwife around 3am after losing mucous plug and she said to come on in (we live about 40-45 mins from hospital). Called my mom to stay with the kids and we left here about 3:30/3:40. My CTX in the car were quite intense with lots of pressure. We got to the hospital at 4:20. Walking in was terrible and a paramedic who just got there brought a wheelchair. Got upstairs to the birth center maybe around 4:25ish and wheeled into triage room. The nurse asked if I wanted or had to use bathroom and I said I would try to p*e. As soon as I stood up from the chair I felt the baby and announced "the baby is coming now!" They got me into the bed and my bag of waters was bulging outside of me. I gave a push that brought baby down a bit (they were still getting a doctor and everything together). There was meconium in the sac and I opted not to have it broken. At 4:30, I was in the bed with nurses rushing all around and one out the fetal monitor on my belly. About 5 mins later the dr (my MW didn't make it there) was there and I felt the next contraction. I pushed and yelled a colorful word, asked them to ease the head out. Felt the contraction start to subside a bit, and just pushed through it. Baby boy was born completely in that one push inside the sac, which broke as soon as all of him was out. He was born at 4:37am, about 2mins after pushing.

02/09/2017

01/06/2017

Very interesting...

12/22/2016

This is wonderful! Love it!

10/26/2016

By all means, if you don't feel comfortable with or don't agree with your current provider, find someone else! You are essentially employing them and deserve to get the treatment and understanding that you want and deserve!

08/25/2016

My next childbirth series for September will be Saturday September 17th and Saturday October 1st 9-11. Call, email, or message me to reserve a spot!!
(If Saturday does not work for you, I may be able to hold a Monday evening class if enough people sign up).