MotherLoad

H1N1 Hospital Restrictions:

Top Ten Ideas for Families with Siblings

As doulas, we are also working to support our clients and their families through this challenging time. There of course is no easy or simple answer. (We haven't heard yet for example what single mamas are to do?) We have however come up with a few ideas to share with our clients and are eager to hear what mamas have to say here.

1. Communicate closely with all of your support team. Be as truthful (as age-appropriate) to your child about the changes explaining that their health is of your utmost priority.

2. Have a close family member or friend on call for you or hire a sibling support doula to make sure your child is well cared for. Someone the child adores is always a nice thing to look forward to.

3.Make Plan B exciting! Making a "surpise" birthday party for when baby gets home. Include big sibling presents, art projects, decorating and cake making as possible activities. Making the birth memorable now matter what form is likely a good goal for everyone involved.

4. Use technology: Skype and video chat is available on most laptops and mobile phones. See if a virtual meeting is possible. WiFi is possible in some areas of the hospital.

5. Video  or photograph the birth if appropriate or possible for a post part sharing.

6. Consider your postpartum plan carefully. If you are healthy, how quickly can you return home? Discuss options with your provider. Family members, friends and postpartum doulas are all solid options for filling in when parents can be there.

7. For those that are significantly impacted or feel they have options, consider your place of birth.  Even though it is likely that your sibling will be still under-age, there are some differences in the policy from hospital to hospital and there are home birth or freestanding birth center options that may not have this exclusion.

8. You have the right to express your thoughts and concerns regarding any issue about your patient rights either in person or letter format.

9. Recognize that this was not an easy decision for anyone involved and that creative dialogue may bring about continued positive solutions and safe measures with our community as a whole.

10. Love your family and recognize that any challenge can be turned into a positive memory with a little creativity.

Again, we recognize mamas are the most creative people on the planet so we're looking forward to hearing your responses!

Journey To Parenthood

Journey to Parenthood: Your Guide through Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond

This online book at Childbirth Connection provides a Childbirth Education quality information for those who need a refresher, are unable to attend a childbirth class or need additional resources.

Every Day Miracles: A Celebration of Birth

Enjoy this overview of a woman's birth journey.

Your Baby Your Way Baby Shower 9/13/09

Join YourBabyYourWay.com at an Open House and Community Baby Shower

September 13 ♦ 1-4 pm ♦ Southwest Washington Medical Center

Join us for prizes, gifts, and even mini-classes on breastfeeding, siblings and more. Meet Southwest healthcare providers, other local moms and moms-to-be, and support Babies in Need. Find out more >

(http://www.yourbabyyourway.com/content/view/658/112/)

How to Get Enough Sleep in the First Weeks After Birth

Adapted from handout by Penny Simkin

To get enough sleep, you must take your need for sleep seriously, which many parents fail to do. They wind up sleep deprived and after several days or a week, fall apart. Baby care and everyday tasks become much more difficult than they should be. The following approach will help you get as much (or almost as much) sleep as you need. (It does not work as well if you have other children, unless you have help with them.)

• Calculate how many hours of sleep you used to need regularly before pregnancy in order to function well. Six hours? Eight hours? That is the amount of sleep you now owe yourself everyday

• Since you cannot get this amount of sleep in one stretch because of interruptions for feedings and baby care, you will require more hours in bed to get your allotted amount of sleep.

• Plan to stay in bed or keep going back to bed until you have slept your allotted number of hours. This means that with the exception of meals and trips to the bathroom, you do not get up. You do not brush your teeth, shower of dress in the early morning. Make a mental note of approximately how many hours you have slept since you went to bed. You may have to stay in bed from 10PM until noon the next day to get eight hours of sleep! If that’s what it takes, do it. Then brush your teeth, take a shower, dress, and greet the day.

• Many parents find it easier to follow this regime if their baby sleeps with them or nearby.

• As your baby grows and begins to sleep for longer stretches, it will take you less time to get enough sleep.

Take your need for sleep seriously in order to prevent sleep deprivation. Sweet Dreams.

Mother Nature's Mama Medicine

The journey into motherhood is only beginning the moment the baby is born. Next comes the real discoveries of creating a relationship with this new little person as well as the daunting tasks of 24 hour care, feeding, diapering, and integrating into the new life as parents. For most parents the joyful transition of welcoming baby tests every element of their life including a huge change for the mother’s body as she prepares to nourish the baby and release the hormones of pregnancy.

The good news is that Mother Nature has prepared the way to support this journey. Just as mom didn’t need to get up each day and consciously say “today we build the lungs of this baby” and set to work and instead learned to rely on her body’s inner wisdom, this wisdom comes prepared to follow through when the baby is born to provide support well into the postpartum period.

New research has shed light on the incredible intricacies of Mother Nature’s design at the moment of birth. As the baby reaches the breast and latches on, activating the miraculous customized milk supply made just for this baby, in this moment mom feels the rush of the peak experience of birth as oxytocin spreads through her system that will protect her and baby from numerous postpartum concerns including hemorrhage, depression, lack of bonding and disease, as well as providing the baby a lifetime supply of health benefits.

In addition to breastfeeding, stem cell research has many families now considering the value of the baby’s cord blood by either delaying clamping (so that baby can fully receive it’s cord blood at birth), banking or donating their baby’s cord blood.

And now new light has been shed on the powers of the placenta itself and it’s post-pregnancy healing properties that can protect a mother’s transition into postpartum. Just as the placenta has nourished a perfectly unique baby via it’s protective role, the mother herself can be nourished by her own placenta to help her recover from the dramatic hormonal shift in postpartum.

A carefully prepared placenta can be turned into pills that the mother can then consume as a supplement from early postpartum until menopause.

Placenta medicine pills may help to:
• Increase general energy
• Allow a quicker return to health after birth
• Increase production of breast milk
• Decrease likelihood of baby blues and post natal depression
• Decrease likelihood of iron deficiency
• Decrease likelihood of insomnia or sleep disorders
• Assist through menopausal hormonal changes.

(Provided by Placenta Benefits: www.placentabenefits.info)

What may have been viewed as a survival technique of other mammals, or reserved for indigenous cultures or the more hippy-esque of our culture, is now rapidly gaining acceptability amongst the conscious perhaps eco/sustainability-minded new parent.

“Mother Nature is the ultimate sustainable and efficient provider. She knows exactly how to provide the perfect nourishment for both mother and baby and the placenta holds many of the properties to ensure that,” said Raeben Nolan, a placenta encapsulation specialist and birth doula with Mother Tree, also known as the “placenta lady” in Portland, OR.

Nolan will prepare the placenta, dry it and turn it into a powder then encapsulate it for later consumption by the mother for a small fee. She also includes placenta art, the baby's cord dried in heart-shape, and a tincture.

“It is well known in oriental medicine and homeopathy that relies much on the energy and healing properties of all sorts of materials including plants, animals and minerals. There is nothing more suited to the mother and her baby than the specific placenta energy that she herself has made,” commented Nolan.

Some research in homeopathy shows it can be turned into the constitutional remedy for the child as well that then becomes their own natural “reset” button for boosting their body's natural healing abilities, Nolan added.

Nolan has served several dozen clients in the Portland area and has seen an upswing in requests from home birth, birth center and hospital birth clients.

In order to preserve the placenta, it must be fresh, and refrigerated soon after birth or frozen. Ideally , it is best to start preparing the placenta the same day as the birth so some prior planning is important says Nolan.

For more details feel free to contact Raeben Nolan at raeben@mothertreebirth.com or 503-380-2408.

Going Green with Baby

Introducing.....

MOM-TESTED TIPS FOR A HEALTHY BABY AND HAPPY PLANET Itsabelly’s Guide to Going Green with Baby is the first book to evaluate eco-friendly baby gear and to educate parents about organic and natural family living. We’ll tell you why it is important to go green, how to do it without breaking the bank and give you a list of mom-approved green products for baby. • Over 300 product reviews of eco-friendly baby gear and necessities. We cover it all from slings to strollers, bottles to skin care products, clothes and nursery furniture. • Expert opinion and insight on living a more natural life by Dr. Sears, Earth Mama Angel Baby, Under The Nile, The Soft Landing and Organic Exchange. • Simple and practical Eco Mom Tips from real mothers practicing green living. • Discover how to go green on a budget and what products are important to choose natural. • Learn about non-toxic feeding products, organic apparel, sustainable wood and natural skin care products. • Make shopping for eco-friendly products easier. Decipher product labels with our green dictionary, green label and organic certification chapters.

 A green registry for easy shopping Itsabelly's Guide to Going Green with Baby by Jennifer Lo Prete and Melissa Moog

Print your coupon here or get hundreds of savings in the Birth Bucks Book

Birth Bucks Savings for your little bundle!

With your little acorn on the way finding a supportive community of trusted resources is very important.  So is finding savings to help your resources go as far as they can. We have worked closely with over thirty family-owned businesses and organizations that our mama-community highly recommends and bring to you this year's 2009 Birth Buck's Book.

Save on the services you need including baby clothing, slings, diapers, acupuncture, chiropractic support, doula services, childbirth classes, toys, baby massage classes, breastfeeding support, midwifery services, home grocery delivery, green cleaning services, prenatal yoga, naturopathic pediatric care, pediatric dentistry, pure-water, counseling services, mothering subscriptions, meals-to-go, infant massage, doula training and much more!

Get one FREE until May 31st: info@mothertreebirth.com with SEND ME A FREE BBB in the subject line.
Please include your name, mailling address, e-mail and phone. (Feel free to forward to a friend!)

COMMUNITY COUPON SNEAK PEAK
This month's Community Coupons are: Eco-Baby Gear. Print this  coupon and use today!

April is Cesarean Awareness Month

Knowing that the number one surgery for women today is a Cesarean and it is on the rise world-wide reaching 90% in countries like Brazil and over 30% in the United States--we have but one choice and that is to stand together this month in awareness.

What is the impact of such a dramatic change in the way women give birth? As French Obstetrician Michel Odent said so frighteningly and eloquently at the 2009 Midwifery Today conference, birth as defined as women birthing their babies under their own power is nearing ZERO percent.

In other words, birth as we know it is nearing extinction.

What can we do to make a difference? How can we move to see a reality that fits the mama-wisdom that is held in memory in our bones?

Start this month with supporting Cesarean Awareness and Prevention.

SEVEN STEPS TO CESAREAN PREVENTION

(Adapted from an article by Judy Edmonds, CPM)
1. Understand Why
-Cultural beliefs, medical advancements/acceptance, Disruption of the natural process
2. Realize the Danger
-maternal mortality is 4-8x higher than in vaginal birth, 200% increase in pelvic injury and uterine infection, 2-6% of babies accidently cut/injured during the delivery, increase in postpartum complications (hemorrahge, gallbladder diseases, genitourinary problems), breastfeeding problems, increase in baby intervention/"work-ups", large permanent physical scarring, emotional trauma.
3. Consider the Cost
Immediate cost of a cesarean is about twice a vaginal birth and does not yet include the long-term costs of additional healthcare needed for mom and baby
4. Acknowledge the Aftermath (postpartum healing/bonding with baby)
A significant number of women will require post-cesarean rehospitalization for associated complications and some even maternal death. Subsequent pregnancies may have additional complications. Postpartum depression and emotional trauma to the family can extend the dangers associated with cesarean delivery.
5. Educate Others
The only way that we as a society will be able to see a paradigm shift is to find ways to educate eachother on the value of natural, organic birth.
6. Take Action
 Seek Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC), Join ICAN . Support a Mom Today! Blog, write, share, discuss. Seek good nutrition and supportive providers. Hire a doula (reduce Cesarean Birth by 50%)
7. Provide Leadership
Become a Doula . Donate to the Safe Motherhood Quilt Project founded by Ina May Gaskin

Welcome to the MotherLoad

Welcome to the MotherLoad! Upcoming includes events, ideas and inspirations for mamas and their families relating to the childbearing year in the Northwest!