My Birth Plan/Preferences

Ladd and Natalie’s Birth Preferences

Thank you for participating and assisting in this exciting event. We are thrilled to have a third child join our family and have greatly anticipated and prepared for this day. 

I wanted to make a list of my labor and birth preferences, so that you can get to know me and the style that I desire to labor and birth my baby today.

I will be using a program called “Hypnobabies” which uses self hypnosis to relax me and keep me focused. My room will have music, relaxation tracks, and the aroma of essential oils. I have also brought along my family to support me through this major event.  Here are a few things that are important to me.

Monitoring: I would like to have intermittent monitoring, with the possibility of being in different positions while I’m monitored. As long as external monitoring is sufficient, this is all I prefer.

Hydration: I do not want to be on a continuous IV. I will keep hydrated with clear fluids. A saline-lock is negotiable

Pain Relief: My goal is to have a low-intervention birth. I do not wish to have an epidural or other pain relievers. My birth team will help me by providing other comfort measures. Please do not offer me any medication. I know it is there and will request it if I need to. I’d prefer to not use drugs/pitocin to stimulate my labor.

Pushing: Since I will be going epidural-free, I would like to push when I feel the urge. If I need help, I will ask for coaching, but otherwise, I’d like to push on my own at my own time. Obviously my midwife can help and make suggestions as needed. I may also change positions while pushing to find ways that are most comfortable. I do not want an episiotomy. I appreciate hands helping to hold my baby and guide him, but my previous babies have slid out quite quickly, so I feel that my baby will not need to be assisted out.

Emergency: If any emergency arises, I want my husband to be with me at all times. I will also choose to have an epidural/spinal block, and not general anesthesia. I would like my husband to be able to take photos and videos of the birth. I want my baby on my chest as soon as possible, even if I’ve had a cesarean. My baby is to remain with me as long as there are no complications. Baby can stay on my skin as we recover, or in the room with me and my husband.

Baby Care:

·         -Please allow the cord to stop pulsating before it is clamped.

·         -When the time comes, my husband will be willing to cut the cord.

·        - Please allow me to birth my placenta on my own and on my own time. Please do not pull the cord.

·       - I’d like my baby to be put immediately on my chest after birth.

·        - Please take vitals and check APGAR while baby is on my chest

·        - No shots. No vitamin K nor Hep b shots. Vitamin K can be re-evaluated if baby had a traumatic birth.

·         -No eye ointment, please

·         -Baby is to stay in my arms if there are no complications.

·         -I have brought my own towels and blankets for my baby, and would like to dry him off myself.

·         -I want to start breastfeeding as soon as possible. Weighing and footprints can be taken later.

·         -Baby will be rooming in with me.

·         -No pacifiers or bottles of any kind.

·        - If my baby needs assistance in other ways, such as precautions taken for the occurrence of meconium, as soon as baby is suctioned and stable, I want him naked, on my chest. No other procedures, before I get to hold him.

If there are any questions or anything that needs to be discussed with me, please let me know. Again, thank you for the great job that you do and for being here with us at this special time.

Ladd and Natalie 

Can breast milk cure an eye infection?

Can breast milk cure an eye infection?

October 11, 2009 — Elizabeth Jay

One of the many healing properties attributed to breast milk is the ability to cure eye infections such as ‘pink eye’ – conjunctivitis – or ‘sticky eye’ – a gooey discharge that often accompanies conjunctival inflammation. Conjunctivitis is a common condition that rarely requires treatment, usually clearing up by itself within a week or two. For newborns, however, it can occasionally be quite serious, so ensuring it is properly treated is very important. For everyone else, it can be irritating and unpleasant, so any way of reducing the length of the infection is naturally welcome. Can breast milk really provide any relief?

A study in a hospital in New Delhi, India, examined the effect that routinely applying colostrum to babies’ eyes had on the likelihood of them developing an eye infection¹. On one hospital wing, mothers were asked to put a drop of colostrum in their babies’ eyes three times a day; on another wing, mothers were asked not to apply anything. The infection rate was much lower in the babies who received colostrum: only 3 out of 51 babies in this group (6%) developed an infection, compared to 26 out of 72 in the control group (35%).

At first glance, this seems like a convincing result for colostrum, but a closer examination of the figures indicates this isn’t necessarily the case. The normal neonatal eye infection rate recorded at the hospital was just over 5% – roughly the same as the one recorded in the colostrum group. Rather than infection rates going down in the babies who received colostrum, it seems they went up – considerably – in those who didn’t. This may have occurred because the normal practice of wiping eyes with a sterile swab just after birth was abandoned during the study. Fewer babies in the study group may have got infections simply because their eyes were rinsed, not necessarily because it was with colostrum.

There is other evidence that breast milk could help ease the symptoms of conjunctivitis, however: in vitro tests show that colostrum, and to a much lesser extent mature breast milk, can potentially combat some of the bacteria known to cause neonatal eye infections^2,3, and another study provides evidence that it does seem to be an effective treatment for eye infections in young babies⁴. At a hospital in Spain, babies diagnosed with neonatal sticky eye were treated either with antibiotics or breast milk. Babies treated with breast milk generally recovered much faster: 26 out of 45 (57%) of those receiving milk had recovered after 30 days, compared with 3 out of 20 (15%) of those receiving antibiotics. Whilst this does not provide conclusive evidence that breast milk is the optimal treatment for eye infections in newborns, the study’s results were deemed sufficiently encouraging to switch from antibiotic drops to breast milk at the hospital where it took place.

So does this limited evidence that breast milk can treat some neonatal eye infections mean it can be used to treat infections in older children, or even adults? Whether breast milk would have a beneficial effect is not clear: its antibacterial properties mean that it may help to clear up an infection caused by certain types of bacteria, but not necessarily one resulting from an allergy or a virus. Having said this, there is, of course, no harm in trying the breast milk option. If you’re currently nursing, it’s simple and free, and whilst it may not get rid of the symptoms, it almost certainly won’t make them any worse.

1. J Trop Pediatr. 1982 Feb;28(1):35-7.
2. J Trop Pediatr. 1996 Dec;42(6):327-9.
3. J Reprod Immunol. 1998 Jul;38(2):155-67.
4. J Trop Pediatr. 2007 Feb;53(1):68-9.

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C-Sections and VBACs: Why our lack of choice matters

http://www.nj.com/parenting/index.ssf/2013/03/post_21.html

Our decisions as parents often begin even before the baby is born. I was thinking about this very idea as I read that the most common elective surgery in the United States is now the Caesarean-Section. Note that the word “elective” is used quite liberally. In sad irony, when a Tampa woman refused to go to the hospital for an elective, scheduled Caesarean-Section, her doctor threatened to call the police to force her to have this elective surgery.

When I had my first two daughters, I never thought of a C-Section as "elective" surgery. Perhaps this is because I was told I didn’t have a choice. Our first child was breech. My obstetrician advised a breech babies must be delivered surgically. Our second child was a repeat C-Section. My doctor advised I would have difficulty finding a provider who would agree to a vaginal birth after a C-Section.

As a highly educated person, I found that I was highly uneducated on my options and rights. I didn’t know I could have a breech baby vaginally. I didn’t know there were providers in NJ who encourage VBACS (Vaginal Births After C-Sections). There was so much misinformation and so much judgment. People talked to me about safety and unnecessary risk. I didn’t know what was true. I decided to do my own research into what research existed. The only thing I was certain of was a compelling force inside that wanted the opportunity to give birth as nature had intended. I wanted a chance to tap into the power of one of the most powerful experiences life has to offer. I wanted a choice, some control, and some respect. At 38 weeks pregnant with our third child, I didn’t want a third scheduled C-Section. I found myself crying at the kitchen table telling my husband what this all meant to me and that I feared not trying for a VBAC would be a life-long regret.

My husband agreed to explore these options with me. We learned that the chances of something going wrong in a VBAC were almost exactly identical to the risks of a repeat C-Section. We learned that a C-Section brought an increased risk for respiratory issues, jaundice, and other complications. Ultimately, we decided to try for a VBAC. I am eternally grateful to the Hackettstown Midwives, Dr. David Garfinkel, and the staff at Morristown Hospital for their care.

Some people may wonder what the big deal is about. If you have a healthy baby then so what? Some women even choose a C-Section. That's fine. I’m not against C-Sections. Sometimes they are extremely necessary. Rather, I support choice and sensitivity. I don’t think cost, convenience, insurance companies, and my doctor or hospital’s fear of a lawsuit should dictate such a personal decision. How our children enter this world effects us as mothers. It impacts our families. Parents should have more say about what is best for their family with regard to risk, recovery time, and other relevant issues.

After surgery, I was even told to consider myself lucky I avoided the pain of birth. For anyone who’s missed out on having a c-section, try walking around with a constant feeling like you have been sawed in half. I felt like a botched magic-trick. I was then told I couldn’t exercise, vacuum, drive a car, walk long flights of stairs, or lift anything heavier than my infant for six weeks. With a toddler at home, three dogs to walk, and a household to run, that restriction lasted eighteen hours before I gave in. Personally, after 29 hours of unmedicated labor with my third child, I would choose the experience of naturally working through contractions to 10cm again over a C-Section.

In modern times, it is concerning that this issue remains so embryonic (no pun intended) .Many physicians and hospitals still prohibit VBACs. VBAC home births are still illegal. We live in a country where you can electively have your nose broken to reshape it, inject fat from your butt into your face to look younger, but pushing a baby out of your own vagina can be restricted. I can only imagine if men gave birth how there would be more convenience and choice.

I am interested to hear your birth experience and how it shaped you? How did your control or lack thereof effect your life?