Happy Birthday Lincoln!!! You are the sweetest puppy that I know!

Happy Birthday Scarlette!

What a sweetheart you are!!

Feb. 12, 2012

We will find a book or article on almost any subject anywhere that we look.  We will find parents and well meaning adults who think they have the answers for how you child should be developing.  This can be challenging determining what is right for your child.  When I read this from Rebecca Thompson, I knew that I needed to pass it on to you

Optimal development is about allowing the unfolding of the child.  It isn’t on your time table or an author’s time table in a book you’ve just read, but rather it is about allowing your child to develop at the rate that is right for her.  You may find this challenging, because many children do not follow the charts indicated in parenting books.  Let go of the numbers in books and focus on the child you have right in front of you.  For example, most babies are not sleeping through the night at 3 months, like many parenting books suggest, but much closer to 2 or 3 years when the part of their brain responsible for regulation of sleep has developed.  Follow your child and let go of your own interpretation of what normal is.

©Rebecca Thompson, 2008
The Consciously Parenting Project

http://www.consciouslyparenting.com

The Consciously Parenting Project

I  love reading all things that have to do with birth. I found this great article today on :

The numbers of inductions of labor using artificial means like Pitocin and other medications has gone up dramatically in the last few years. A hospital in my area says that 90 of the women have their labors induced. Since science shows us that inducing labor can increase the numbers of complications in the labor and with the baby, you might be surprised to note that many of the inductions are not for medical reasons, but rather reasons of convenience, practitioner or mother, known as social induction.

One of the things that women tell me is that they are lead to believe that induction is completely safe and relatively easy, after all, Pitocin is just another form of the body’s own oxytocin, right?

While this statement is generally true, artificially created hormones, including Pitocin do not act identically to the hormones in ones body. For example, in pregnancy both the mother and the baby produce oxytocin. The oxytocin produced by each reacts differently in the body because they each have separate jobs.

Here are five things that you may not know about Pitocin and how it can effect your labor:

• Pitocin is released differently.
  Oxytocin is released into your body in a pulsing action. It comes intermittently to allow your body a break. Pitocin is given in an IV in a continuous manner. This can cause contractions to be longer and stronger than your baby or placenta can handle, depriving your baby of oxygen.
• Pitocin prevents your body from offering endorphins.
  When you are in labor naturally, your body responds to the contractions and oxytocin with the release of endorphins, a morphine like substance that helps prevent and counteract pain. When you receive Pitocin, your body does not know to release the endorphins, despite the fact that you are in pain.
• Pitocin isn’t as effective at dilating the cervix.
  When the baby releases oxytocin it works really well on the uterine muscle, causing the cervix to dilate. Pitocin works much more slowly and with less effect, meaning it takes more Pitocin to work.
• Pitocin lacks a peak at birth.
  In natural labor, the body provides a spike in oxytocin at the birth, stimulating the fetal ejection reflex, allowing for a faster and easier birth. Pitocin is regulated by a pump and not able to offer this boost at the end.
• Pitocin can interfere with bonding.
  When the body releases oxytocin, also known as the love hormone, it promotes bonding with the baby after birth. Pitocin interferes with the internal release of oxytocin, which can disturb the bonding process.

Your body’s own natural oxytocin is superior in many ways to Pitocin. There are also ways to increase the release of this natural oxytocin including skin-to-skin contact, lovemaking, breastfeeding, and others.

So, if you are presented with the option of an induction of labor, you might want to ask your provider about whether or not it is being done for a medical reason or if it’s something that a bit of time and patience will help alleviate.

_Sources:

_{American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists [ACOG]. (2004). ACOG Practice Bulletin No. 55: Management of postterm pregnancy. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 104(3), 639-646.}

_{Glantz, J. C. (2005). Elective induction vs. spontaneous labor associations and outcomes. Journal of Reproductive Medicine, 50(4), 235-240.}

_{Kramer, M. S., Rouleau, J., Baskett, T. F., & Joseph, K. S. (2006). Amniotic-fluid embolism and medical induction of labor: A retrospective, population-based cohort study. The Lancet, 368(9545), 1444-1448.}

_{Leaphart, W. L., Meyer, M. C., & Capeless, E. L. (1997). Labor induction with a prenatal diagnosis of fetal macrosomia. The Journal of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, 6(2), 99-102.}

_{March of Dimes. (2006). If you’re pregnant: Induction by request. Retrieved May 15, 2007, from www.marchofdimes.com/prematurity/21239_20203.asp}

_{Sanchez-Ramos, L., Bernstein, S., & Kaunitz, A. M. (2002). Expectant management versus labor induction for suspected fetal macrosomia: A systematic review. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 100(5), 997-1002.}

_{Vahratian, A., Zhang, J., Troendle, J. F., Sciscione, A. C., & Hoffman, M. K. (2005). Labor progression and risk of cesarean delivery in electively induced nulliparas. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 105(4), 698-704.}

_{Vrouenraets, F. P., Roumen, F. J., Dehing, C. J., van den Akker, E. S., Aarts, M. J., & Scheve, E. J. (2005). Bishop score and risk of cesarean delivery after induction of labor in nulliparous women. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 105(4), 690-697.}

5 Quotes to Remind You Not to Induce

by Birth Without Fear on November 15, 2010

“We can make a woman have contractions, but we don’t always succeed in forcing her body to release the baby and give birth. If we start a labor with chemicals, we may very well have to finish it with a surgeon’s scalpel.” – Gail Hart, Midwife

“Inducing tends to create longer, more difficult, more painful births in general, and it ups a woman’s chance of having a c-section by two to three times.” – Jennifer Block, Author of Pushed

“I firmly believe that mothers are not informed enough to know that this [labor induction or augmentation with Pitocin] is not a good idea, and that any woman who has the right information would not want to have her baby induced.” – Kathleen Rice Simpson, PhD, professor of nursing at St. Louis University School of Nursing

“French obstetrician and author Michel Odent, also a critic of the induction ‘epidemic’, as he calks it, argues that labor begins when the baby is ready to be born. Odent likens gestation to apples ripening on a tree: ‘You wouldn’t pick them all on the same day, would you?’ ” – Jennifer Block, Author of Pushed (Michael Odent

“It used to be that a pregnancy lasting beyond 42 weeks was considered ‘post-term.’ But today, inducing on or before 41 weeks is fairly standard across North America.” – Jennifer Block, Author of Pushed

Hip Dysplasia can be avoided by properly positioning  your baby. Please read this important information.

IHDI Educational Statement

Hip Health in baby carriers, car seats, swings, walkers, and other equipment

Summary Statement: The Medical Advisory Board of the IHDI does not endorse nor advise against any particular baby carrier or other equipment. The purpose of this educational statement is to provide information about healthy hip development to guide manufacturers in the development of safe designs of infant equipment, and to help parents make informed choices about the devices they use for their babies. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to choose a baby carrier that allows healthy hip positioning, in addition to other safety considerations. When babies are carried, the hips should be allowed to spread apart with the thighs supported and the hips bent.

Please read the entire article at:

http://www.hipdysplasia.org/Developmental-Dysplasia-Of-The-Hip/Prevention/Baby-Carriers-Seats-and-Other-Equipment/Default.aspx

Car Seat Positioning

Not Recommended:

Tight car seats prevent legs from spreading apart.

Better:
Wider car seats provide room for legs to be apart, putting the hips in a better position.

Baby Harnesses

Thigh is supported to the knee joint. The forces on the hip joint are minimal because the legs are spread, supported, and the hip is in a more stable position

Baby Slings

Not Recommended:

Baby carriers that force the baby’s legs to stay together may contribute to hip dysplasia.

Better:

Baby carriers should support the thigh and allow the legs to spread to keep the hip in a stable position.

Have You Thought About Having a Doula at Your Birth?

by Penny Simkin

The journey through birth is unpredictable and stressful, and even well prepared women or couples, when in the midst of intense labor, often find it difficult to apply their knowledge. It helps to have guidance and reassurance from experts, to help you relate the intense physical sensations and emotions of labor to what you already know intellectually. Your nurse, midwife, or doctor will offer some guidance, but may be limited by their clinical duties and the needs of other laboring women in their care. To be sure you will get the kind of help you need in labor, consider having a birth doula.

Penny Simken Delayed Cord Clamping

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